• Heard on the Hill: Sen. Hillary Clinton and her staffers felt “snubbed” when Clinton was kept out of the loop concerning a press conference about Democratic efforts to win an increase in the minimum wage. Clinton aide to spokesperson for Sen. Harry Reid: “You suck… How could you do this?” [Roll Call]
• Reliable Source: Valeisha Butterfield, daughter of Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), was briefly engaged to the rapper known as The Game…. Dick Cheney has a deer in his backyard. [WP]
• Rush & Molloy: Celebs turn out for the launch party for The Senator and the Socialite, Lawrence Otis Graham’s new book about Blanche Bruce, the first African-American elected to a full U.S. Senate term… Sen. Joe Biden can live without the presidency: “I’d rather be at home making love to my wife while my children are asleep.” [NYDN]
• Under the Dome: House Majority Leader John Boehner has had many crappy jobs over the years. [The Hill]

• Reliable Source: First daughter Jenna Bush is popular with her students… Dick Cheney dodges questions about his daughter Mary Cheney’s new book. [WP]
• Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown: Anderson Cooper faces the challenges of his increased fame. [NYDN]
• Rush & Molloy: Rev. Al Sharpton is upset at Hillary, because Clintonistas Howard Wolfson and Gigi Georges are working against his favored congressional candidates. [NYDN]
• Page Six: Bill Clinton is worried that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg might run for president as a third-party candidate, spending $300 million of his own money, and siphoning votes away from Hillary. [NYP]

• Reliable Source: Matt Lauer hosts a dinner at Cafe Milano for Meredith Vieira… Sales of Ann Coulter’s new book are strong… Alberto Gonzales denies that his children download music illegally. [WP]
• Heard on the Hill: Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) is boning up on the Ten Commandments, after being unable to name all of them on The Colbert Report… Rep. Howard Coble gets invited to the White House, takes a female staffer — picked through a lottery — as his guest. [Roll Call]
• Page Six: Celebs turn out to try and convince DNC executive director Tom McMahon that New York should be selected to host the Democratic national convention; Barbara Walters promises to take McMahon out and get him drunk. [NYP]

There are ten people named in the byline — several of whom didn’t rely upon Karl Rove to write their new book.

But this is the best lede The Note crew could come up with:

Could it be that the Democrats’ inability to come up with a consensus “anti-war” position is more of a midterm problem for them than HarrietMiersDubaideficitsKatrinaearmarksimmigrationgasprices is for the Republicans?

After all the private meetings (including just endless ones in the Senate caucus), Democrats remain united in their disunity, defensiveness, and distraction.

Is Halperin really that worried about Rove not blurbing his book?

The Note: (Not) Cutting the Deck

As we mentioned earlier, last night Team Wonkette found itself at the book party for Peter Beinart’s The Good Fight. The festivities took place at the elegant Georgetown home of Mark Penn and Nancy Jacobson, and numerous superstars attended — including Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Sen. Hillary Clinton chats it up with author Peter Beinart and his lovely wife, Diana Hartstein. Over Hillary’s shoulder: Third Way’s Matt Bennett.

A comprehensive report — plus more fabulous Liz Gorman photos — appears after the jump.

This truly was one of the best parties we’ve attended — and as you know, we go to a lot of them. It did require us to shower and leave our apartments, but all in all, it was worth it.

Author Peter Beinart and host Mark Penn (in jeans; it’s his party, he’ll wear what he wants to).

Venue: Excellent. Mark Penn and Nancy Jacobson — he’s Hillary’s pollster, and she’s John Edwards’s finance queen, as the Hotline points out — have a stunningly gorgeous home, as well as an impressive art collection. Most of the guests congregated on the patio and in the well-manicured side garden, replete with reflecting pool.

Part of Team Wonkette, accompanied by foolhardy FishBowler Patrick Gavin, took an unauthorized tour of the upstairs living quarters got lost upstairs on their way to the bathroom. (Intrepid Girl Reporter Liz Gorman was against it and went under protest/embarrassment.) The mischievous trio peeked into Mark Penn’s private study and left proof of their visit:

Starpower: Off the charts. Bill and Hillary Clinton — need we say more? (As previously noted, they came and left separately, and didn’t overlap — which was probably a good thing, considering the star-struck reactions they engendered individually.)

Even Hillary by herself would have lit up the heavens. To paraphrase JFK on Thomas Jefferson, “This is the most extraordinary collection of starpower in D.C. since the White House Correspondents’ dinner — with the possible exception of when Hillary dines alone.”

Of course, in addition to the Clintons, Penn, and Jacobson, there were lots of other boldface names. We were too busy drinking and devouring hors d’oeuvres, but the eagle-eyed Patrick Gavin spotted the following: Leon Panetta, the Newshour’s Anne Davenport, Alexander Barnes Dryer, Rita Braver, Kenneth Pollack, Andrea Koppel, William Galston, and Sen. Ron Wyden.

Marc Ambinder’s additions to the list of notables: “Andrei Cherny, the wunkerkind former Gore speechwriter / Kerry adviser whose new journal of ideas, Democracy, launches next week”; and “Doug Band, Clinton’s erstwhile and harried-looking senior travelling aide.”

Food: Excellent. A wide-ranging selection of delicious hors d’oeuvres, served in copious amounts throughout the evening. The offerings included asparagus in puff pastry; crackers topped with tomato, mozzarella, and pesto; and our personal favorite, crispy tortilla-like shells filled with a scrumptious southwestern chicken salad. The only disappointment were the miniature roast beef sandwiches.

Entertainment: Excellent. The formal part of the evening was brief — warm introductory remarks by Mark Penn, followed by Peter Beinart’s eloquent precis of his new book. But the conversation and the people-watching — including eavesdropping on conversations involving either Bill Clinton or Hillary Clinton — were more enjoyable than pretty much any speech we’ve sat through this year.

Even conversations not involving the Clintons were amusing. One woman at the bar asked one of us who we were, where we worked, etc. She was familiar with Wonkette and asked how we learned about the party. We explained that we learned about it through a Harper Collins publicist, then said something about Peter’s agent.

The woman immediately turned to her husband and said, “See, Harold, Peter has an agent. You know, Harold wrote a book, but he doesn’t have an agent.” Her husband agreed that, yes, having an agent might be helpful.

If they were looking for a book agent, they came to the right party. Also in attendance: super-lawyer Robert Barnett of Williams & Connolly, who negotiated the eye-popping book deals for Bill and Hillary. Hopefully they caught him before he left!

Earlier: Team Party Crash: “The Good Fight” Book Party, Part One

The Good Fight’s Good Party [FishBowlDC]
Ideas, Please [Hotline On Call]

Last night, Team Wonkette attended the book party for The Good Fight, the new book by Peter Beinart. On a perfect June evening, in the garden of Mark Penn and Nancy Jacobson’s Georgetown mansion, we rubbed shoulders with numerous luminaries — including Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Don’t believe us? Well, we have eyewitnesses: Marc Ambinder and Patrick Gavin. And photos:

Yes, of course she wore a pantsuit. This one was pea green.

Attention Patrick Healy: A tuxedo-clad Bill arrived separately from Hillary. Hillary left the premises at least 20 minutes prior to Bill’s arrival.

More great photos, by Intrepid Girl Reporter Liz Gorman, appear after the jump. A more detailed write-up of the party, with even more pictures, will follow shortly.

The Good Fight’s Good Party [FishBowlDC]
Ideas, Please [Hotline On Call]

Poor Mary Cheney. PageOneQ reports:

Mary Cheney’s book, Now It’s My Turn, has sold less than 6,000 copies since it hit bookstores…. With a reported advance of $1 million, Simon and Schuster would need to realize a profit of $166.66 on each book sold so far in order to break even, an impossible goal for a book with a cover price of $25.00.

Sales numbers from Neilsen Bookscan, as reported by the Advocate, indicate that during the week of June 3, the books sold 574 nationwide. This number, the Advocate reported, is 77% less sales than the number sold during the book’s first week on the shelves, 2,445.

Sounds like Mary should leave literary lesbianism to her Mom.

An report on a recent book signing by Cheney, after the jump.

The signing took place late last month. Here’s the report:

Where were all the Lace Curtain Republicans? Everybody was ‘girlcotting’ Mary Cheney’s booksigning at Trover’s Book Shop on Capitol Hill. I remember when “Growing Up Brady” had people out on the sidewalk. Not so for “Growing Up Bratty.”

There were just some sales people & her security team. I didn’t want to get too close nor linger too long and be mistaken for a fan and/or stalker.

But the blame for the book’s poor sales may not rest entirely upon Cheney’s shoulders; she was limited by her material. It’s tough to pen a bestseller without a little bit of this.

Very few sales for Mary Cheney’s book [PageOneQ]

We gets lots of author spam around here, usually from authors of self-published conspiracy-theory books. But we weren’t cool enough to get spammed by John Podhoretz, whose new book on Hillary comes out tomorrow. Apparently Podhoretz is spamming prominent journalists and opinion leaders, here in D.C. and elsewhere — to snickering from some of them, of the “FW: !!!” variety. (Some might call this mockery; but Random House calls it a “viral marketing campaign.”)

Podhoretz’s author spam includes this plug for his book:

I think it’s full of surprising and unexpected observations and insights. I tried to make it a fun and fast read, and at least one early critic — Matt Drudge at the Drudge Report — described Can She Be Stopped? as “provocative” and “explosive” in a special report on the book last week.

Who needs a starred review from Publishers Weekly, once you’ve gotten a “flashing siren” review from Drudge?

After the jump, the full message from jPod, in all of its spammy glory.

Here’s the email. We’ve omitted the links to the Random House web page, ‘coz we don’t know want to encourage author spam.

From: John Podhoretz
Sent: Mon 5/8/2006 16:33
To: [Name Deleted]
Subject: My new book

I hope you’ll forgive the impersonal nature of this e-mail, but I wanted to let you and a bunch of other people know today that my new book, Can She Be Stopped?, is coming out tomorrow. I really hope you’ll consider clicking on the link here or elsewhere in this e-mail and buy yourself a copy.

You’ve probably figured out from the title alone that the subject of the book is Hillary Clinton’s presidential ambition. It’s my contention that conservatives and Republicans are kidding themselves if they think Hillary can’t win. Not only can she win in 2008, she will win—unless conservatives and Republicans get a hold of themselves and start thinking clearly about how to prevent it from happening. I describe her surprising strengths as a candidate, offer my analysis of the grave weaknesses besetting both parties, and then propose a 10-point plan for stopping the Hillary juggernaut in its tracks.

I think it’s full of surprising and unexpected observations and insights. I tried to make it a fun and fast read, and at least one early critic—Matt Drudge at the Drudge Report—described Can She Be Stopped? as “provocative” and “explosive” in a special report on the book last week.

If I’ve done my job right, Can She Be Stopped? will scare you, enlighten you and inspire you. So why not give it a shot?

Thanks—

John

Springtime in Washington isn’t just about the cherry blossoms; it’s also about the parties. Monday night found Wonkette at Viridian, for the launch party for THIS IS OUR WAR: Servicemen’s Photographs of Life in Iraq.

The party was thrown by GQ, with editor-in-chief Jim Nelson hosting, and it was just as glamorous and trendy as one might have expected. The crowd was exceptionally young, attractive, and stylish (at least by D.C. standards). One attendee quipped: “There is more Prada in this room right now than in the entire rest of the District!” Another guest speculated that Beauitful People had been brought in from New York to prettify the proceedings.

After the jump, our report card on the festivities — including an account of General Clark’s hand brushing against our crotch. That definitely made the evening complete!

Venue rating: Very good. Viridian was the perfect place for a GQ party. It’s a modern, loft-like, coolly elegant space, not far from Logan Circle. The pale walls were decorated with large photographic prints from “This Is Our War.” (Yes, it was a bit discomfiting to be looking at pictures of U.S. soldiers playing cards in the desert sand while sipping wine and munching on rare tuna.)

Starpower rating: Good. The party was hosted by GQ editor Jim Nelson and General Wesley Clark, both of whom are slender, boyishly handsome men. General Clark was much smaller than we expected — since, you know, he’s a general and all. Terry McAuliffe was present, looking very well-preserved. Also attending were Jack Kemp and Rep. Michael Conaway (R-Texas). Pollster Cornell Belcher was styling in a dark, pin-striped suit, which he paired with Converse sneakers (John Varvatos, natch).

Our brush with celebrity: General Clark’s hand grazed our groin area! It was totally accidental, and totally our fault. We were crossing the room a little too quickly, perhaps chasing after a tray of miniature crab cakes, when an errant hand gesture from the General resulted in the groin-graze. It was entirely our fault, due to our sudden movement across a crowded room.

Even though were to blame, General Clark graciously apologized — just like a military man to accept full responsibility. But really, General, no apologies necessary! It’s not every day that we get quasi-frottage from a former presidential candidate.

Food rating: Good. It wasn’t a dinner party, but the hors d’oeuvres — and liquor — flowed liberally. Professional bloggers get quite good at turning cocktail party appetizers into a full meal. We especially enjoyed the goat cheese puffs. Although we didn’t try them, we also hear that the tiny deviled eggs (quail eggs) were very tasty. Good stuff!

Entertainment rating: N/A. The formal presentations at the party were limited. General Clark and Jim Nelson both delivered brief, heartfelt remarks, discussing the genesis of the book and praising the men and women serving in the armed forces in Iraq.

(But it was pretty entertaining watching Terry McAuliffe cheer lustily for himself — to the snickering of other attendees — when Gen. Clark mentioned him during his speech. And did we mention that General Clark’s hand briefly touched our crotch?)

Swag rating: Very good. Each guest received a copy of This Is Our War, a well-made, nice-smelling hardcover full of photographs from the Iraq War (some beautiful and some disturbing, as one might expect). Retail value: $29.95 (but unlike the Tony Blankley book we got at the MRC Awards, we’re not reselling this one).

(Just kidding, Tony, we’re not hawking your book either! You were nice enough to write to us, so we love you. Great seeing you at last night’s Opinion Awards!)

This Is Our War: A Soldiers’ Portfolio: Servicemen’s Photographs of Life in Iraq [Amazon]
This Is Our War: A Soldiers’ Portfolio [GQ]
Reliable Source: GQ Goes Into War Mode With Photos from Iraq [WP]

Pity the once buttoned-up historian who, fresh from a harrowing plagiarism scandal, returns to the shelf with a little cleavage and some saucy shoptalk. This is Doris Kearns Goodwin on her latest biography:

"[Lincoln] looks vital, alive, even sexy. I dont want to sound embarassing, but he looks sensual. It's more the Lincoln I came to know and love.

Those are Doris's italics, and that's her hand on your knee. She's describing a photograph taken of the 16th president in 1857, wherein he appears beardless (in more ways than one, as Gore Vidal might say) and with rugged-gangly good looks.

In case you were wondering, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln has already been optioned for film. The director is Spielberg and the star is that "towering sequoia of sex" Liam Neeson, playing the original lob cabin Republican. We kid. This Lincoln is an Absolute 0 on the Kinsey scale.

(Goodwin finds no evidence he was gay, unlike C.A. Tripp, author of The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln, published earlier this year.)

Uh oh. You know what that means: Four more years of George Bush. --MICHAEL WEISS

Getting Intimate with Lincoln [USA Today]
Was Lincoln Bisexual? [Vanity Fair]