We'd been enjoying all the attention being paid to the earnest and diligent Mike Allen's move from the WaPo to TIME -- it's thrilling to watch someone make the transition from famous-for-DC to famous-for-DC-NYC-corridor -- but today's NYT hammers home the real reason for the Drudge-spurred interest in the move (though Drudge's interest in Allen himself may be unrelated). As the Times says, Allen's "hiring may have implications for the status of Time's other White House correspondent, Matthew Cooper." TIME honcho Jim Kelley notes darkly that "It's not a matter of appropriateness; it's a matter of effectiveness." Well, at least Matt has his show biz career to fall back on.

And, yes, we noted Allen's stated reason for his departure: "[T]hey aim for intellectual and literary seduction." If that was the reasoning behind the Coulter cover, we're thinking it's time for another set of focus groups. That thing was like saltpeter in paper form. Sheesh.

UPDATE: RE: "[T]hey aim for intellectual and literary seduction," a source at TIME comments, "Clearly, I've been going to the wrong meetings."

Time Fills Slot to Cover White House [NYT]