PR and lobby shop Quinn & Gillespie is hosting their annual Flak Bash tonight to "honor D.C.'s most daring and verbally agile communicators." The awards--flak jackets--are handed out to flaks (or flacks) to the Best Spokesperson in the following categories: Presidential Campaign (Republican and Democrat); Capitol Hill Press Secretary (Republican and Democrat); and Industry (business and association).

According to Quinn & Gillespie's Ashley Prime:

Nominees come from the general public, and are judged by a top journalists including Jeff Birnbaum, The Washington Times; Eleanor Clift, Newsweek; Bob Cusack, The Hill; Eve Fairbanks, The New Republic; Arianna Huffington; Kathryn Jean Lopez; National Review Online; Charlie Mitchell, Roll Call; Brody Mullins, The Wall Street Journal; Bara Vaida, National Journal; and Jim VandeHei, The Politico.

This is always a pretty popular affair, of course, honoring the best flaks in each political party in campaigns, on the Hill and in industry.

We hear there were two full pages of names that were culled, topped by all the usual suspects: the Tucker Boundses, the Danny Diazes, the Bill Burtons, blah, blah.

But there are some names that pop out. Sarah Palin, for one. Joe Biden. Tim Kaine. T. Boone Pickens. Tom Tancredo?

And other, more reasonable and actual communications people: Ryan Loskarn, Pepper Pennington, Brad Dayspring and David DiMartino.

Where's Obama's smooth talking southerner Robert Gibbs, and McCain's Nicole Wallace? Surely they deserve respective kudos for being keeper of the message, and nearly-shot messenger/Needless Markups shopper?