Patrick O’Connor: Influential GOP lobbyist joins Altria Bruce Gates, an influential Republican lobbyist with close ties to House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), is leaving Washington Council Ernst & Young, the firm he helped found in 1996, to work in the Washington office of the newly reconstituted Altria, according …

Listen to Mortman: A Banks Shot For Hillary [free advice, that might work]

It’s no doubt the McCain camp has a firm grasp on the importance of bloggers and the role blogging will have this cycle – proof is in the fact that the left is paying close attention.  But also worth noting is the fact that the MSM has taken notice too. Below …

Here’s the famous New York Times Magazine article all of DC discussed over brunch this weekend. Benjamin Wallace-Wells: A Case of the Blues Cole’s strategy is not complicated, but it does contain an essential difficulty: at a moment when Washington is deeply unpopular, he wants his candidates to run as …

The second graph of the Beltway’s best round-up should get you back up to speed: Good Monday morning. The president is off to Eastern Europe, the HUD secretary is out, the Treasury secretary wants to rewire the nation’s financial regulators, Al Gore is launching an ad campaign featuring Pat Robertson …

Ryan Zimmerman delivers game ending home run in the bottom of the 9th! Nationals 1-0 in new stadium Michael Ruane: Cheers Not Just for the Home Team but for Timely Rails, Clear Roads Dick Heller: A permanent palace for baseball in the District Express: Opening Night at Nationals Park Selig: …

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Calderone: Pigskins and Politics The NFL and NBC reached a compromise today to run the game at 7 p.m. EST, instead of 8:30 p.m. So as long as there’s no overtime, the game should end before McCain hits the podium.

Mary Ann Akers soberly files: Major-League [Expletive] Newsman Finds Redemption [The Panama Canal?] Politicians who have been maligned by the media find redemption all the time. So why shouldn’t that be the case for journalists who have been maligned by politicians? It seems to have happened for Adam Clymer, the …

Work on the backdrop, bro JoMa: An off-message backdrop

Following his Entourage brother Ari – Rahm still holding out for the biggest deal Ambinder: Rahm’s the Only One Now, Rep. Rahm Emanuel is the only Illinois superdelegate who hasn’t taken sides.

Amanda Carpenter and Ed Morrisey are knocking out the cable news outlets!

Suite Talk 3/18 IT-ISAC makes moves and names Phil Reitinger as new president Neil Adler leaves the fourth estate for the Mac J.P. Fielder leaves NAM to join the Chamber Suite Talk 3/20 MSHC sits in Yahoo’s purple chair Jim Murphy named COO and CFO for DDC Baker Donelson expands …

If the McCain campaign is dumb enough to fire a blogger for posting an Obama video, shouldn’t they consider letting Meghan McCain go for posting this terrible YouTube clip?  [for the love of hypocrisy]