So! Last night Barack Obama broke the hearts of D.C. doyennes everywhere by choosing to attend his first Washington dinner party at the home of George Will! Talk about taking team of rivals to the extreme. Also in attendance were Weekly Standard‘s William Kristol, New York Times columnist David Brooks, and Charles Krauthammer of the Washington Post. So maybe keep your enemies closer is the theme here — as everyone knows Bill Kristol responds well to being wined and dined!

Also of interest? As a piece in Politico over the weekend pointed out, unlike President-elects of the past (including George W.), Obama has yet to hold a presser with the New York Times White House team (conservative op-eders notwithstanding!). Michael Calerdone caught up with Times political editor Dick Stevenson to ask him about Obama’s lack of presser love.

Read more

For those of you who follow politics regularly (and at this point that probably includes anyone who’s literate) it may feel like the op-ed pages of the nation’s newspapers have been endorsing one candidate or another for the past eighteen months. However! Get ready because the real presidential endorsements have only just begun.

You may not be surprised to hear that thus far Barack Obama is leading the media love-in race. E&P is reporting that Obama “won the day” yesterday by a 17-2 margin and is currently leading overall with 28 editorial endorsements to McCain-Palin’s 11. Even the traditional conservatives have been jumping ship in droves. Gawker notes that Christopher Hitchens is the latest to join Charles Krauthammer, David Brooks, Andrew Sullivan (an early and ferocious adapter), Christopher Buckley, in giving Obama the nod.