A blind item; funnies; news items; and more...
The Lineup
- MTP: Fred Thompson (R-TN); Tom Brokaw (author, "Boom! Voices of the Sixties: Personal Reflections on the '60s and Today")
- FTN: Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE); Mark Penn (Clinton strategist)
- This Week: John Edwards (D-NC); roundtable of E.J. Dionne, Michael Gerson, Ron Brownstein and George Will; Ashley Judd (YouthAIDS Global Ambassador)
- FNS: George H.W. Bush
- Late Edition: ex-British PM Tony Blair; Sen. John McCain (R-AZ); Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT); Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA); Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
More TV Alerts (all subject to change)
NOTE: The writer's strike would affect the late night talk shows (e.g. The Daily Show, Leno, Letterman, etc) immediately. Instead of first-run episodes (and the guests you see below), you'll see reruns for the length of the strike.
- Tim Russert Show (MSNBC, Sat, noon, repeats throughout weekend): Stephen Colbert (re-run of MTP interview); Howard Kurtz
- SNL: NBCNews' Brian Williams hosts 11/3
- Political Capital w/ Al Hunt (Bloomberg, repeats throughout weekend): Rudy Giuliani; Mark Halperin
- Chris Matthews Show 11/3-11/4: Richard Stengel, Cynthia Tucker, Norah O'Donnell, Ryan Lizza discuss "Did Hillary Clinton Have Just a Bad Week -- Or Are There Signs of Trouble to Come? Will Mormonism Block Mitt Romney's Chance for the Nomination?" Quotes here.
- Newsmakers (C-SPAN, 10am, Sunday): Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)
- 60 Minutes (CBS, Sun): Tom Perkins (a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and former Hewlett-Packard director); video of the Iraqi defector dubbed "Curveball"; elephant killers
- Q&A (C-SPAN, 8pm, Sun): ex US Amb to UN John Bolton
- Today Show: Al Gore 11/5; Caroline Kennedy 11/8;
- Tavis Smiley (PBS): Jeffrey Toobin 11/2; Valerie Plame Wilson 11/5;
- The Daily Show: rerun 11/5; Robert Reich 11/6; Lou Dobbs 11/7; John Bolton 11/8
- The Colbert Report: rerun 11/5; AJ Jacobs 11/6; Dave Isay 11/7; Jackson Browne 11/8
- GOP debate in IA, MSNBC, 11/6, 9-11pm
- LKL: Lou Dobbs 11/6
- Conan O'Brien: Lou Dobbs 11/6
- Regis & Kelly: Tom Brokaw 11/7
- Al Gore guest stars on "30 Rock" (NBC, 8:30-9pm) on 11/8
- Leno: Al Gore 11/8
Sunday Talk Ratings for Last Week's Shows
Last week, Bob Schieffer invoked the snark when it came to FEMA, and his show was beaten in the ratings (as usual) by MTP. Last week's guests here.
Can't Emphasize It Enough
... just how important it is that we stay on top of anything that hints of voting suppression or the possibility of it. It's good to see some congressional attention on the DOJ's Voting Rights Section.
Mitt Romney
Ryan Lizza on Chris Matthews Show:
"I had a lot of conversations this week with Democratic strategists, people working for the various campaigns. One question: If you could pick the Republican nominee, who would you want to run against? Overwhelming consensus, including the opinion of one of the Democratic presidential candidates himself: Mitt Romney."
I've heard that too about Mitt Romney, and this is why you can't put too much stock on those general matchups that people like to discuss these days. Romney has the money (his own) and is a practiced politician. He might be able to pull some sort of compassionate conservative gambit and try to take healthcare (as an issue) away from the Democrats because of the program put together in MA. Folks are also watching what happens in G. Scott Romney's re-election race (some board of trustees spot), and how that would affect Mitt Romney's chances for taking MI's electoral votes.
More
Genarlow Wilson's "life resumed."
Deadly HIV-TB co-epidemic sweeps sub-Saharan Africa Jeebus.
Iowans... get ready for lots of political TV ads during the holiday season. It's likely we'll be seeing heavy political ad traffic from Thanksgiving through Jan. 3 in Iowa's media markets.
The Democratic National Convention Committee has tapped Emmy-winning producer Ricky Kirshner and longtime Democratic Party strategist Mark Squier to serve as executive producers for the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.
Campaign Coverage Still Focuses On 'Horse Race,' Says Study Different year, same sh*t.
Code Pink Punks 'Politico' in Blackwater Hoax
Survey: Americans oppose media market concentration
More Hispanics Being Hired by Networks, Report Finds Tom Tancredo's head is exploding. The report also finds that Asians are still underrepresented on TV.
Jon Friedman on the media:
The media have to work harder to build the confidence of the American people. Our obsession with the likes of Britney Spears shows that even we don't have a lot of respect for genuine news. No wonder our standing is low.
The Sarkozy walkoff on last week's 60 Minutes is getting credit for a solid ratings performance for the show in the 18-49 demo.
How is Al Gore's CurrentTV doing?
October ratings: Glenn Beck is up, as is O'Reilly.
Eric Boehlert asks:
Colbert's race did momentarily seem to gain newsworthiness last week when a Rasmussen poll showed the Comedy Central host grabbing an impressive 13 percent when positioned as an independent candidate. (Even though Colbert claims he's not going to try to run as an independent.)
None of the news reports I saw about the polling results mentioned it, but what exactly is the point of conducting a national poll since Colbert is only trying to get on the ballot in one state?
Easy, so that Rasmussen can get some publicity.
Remainders
Stephen Colbert talks to the SC press.
Valerie Plame Wilson talks to People about keeping her marriage together, postpartum depression and her new book.
Just wanted to say that Alex Rodriguez is the biggest phony in major league baseball. Well, biggest not-yet-tainted-by-performance-enhancing-drugs phony in baseball, and he's been that for awhile now. Being the best player in the game isn't good enough for Alex Rodriguez. He has to be bigger than the game. And somehow, next season, we're probably going to see A-Rod whining about not being loved by the fans. Boo-hoo.
Jokes & Zingers of the Week
Senate 2008 Guru:
Louisiana: David Vitter reminds us that Johns of a feather flock together.
Leno:
"We hear FEMA members are all getting dressed up as reporters this year. ... You know about this latest FEMA controversy, this is just unbelievable. In response to the fires out here in CA, FEMA had a phoney press conference and they had FEMA members posing as reporters asking them easy questions. They had no reporters there, just FEMA members. As opposed to a disaster where it's all reporters and no FEMA members."
Leno:
"Yet another prominent Republican has been caught in a gay sex scandal. I'm starting to think GOP stands for 'Grab Our Penises.' ... It's another anti-gay, anti-gay marriage Republican. Washington state Representative Richard Curtis admitted to police he left his wife at home dressed up in women's clothing, which were red stockings and a black sequin lingerie top. He had sex with a man in an adult boutique, then went to a hotel with the guy and had sex with him again still dressed in the women's clothes. So not only is the guy a hypocrite, he's also a little tramp too. ... After all this, the guy says he is not gay. Even Larry Craig is saying, 'Shut up.'"
Letterman:
"You know, we've made a lot of jokes about Dick Cheney and hunting and shooting his buddies in the face ... but he really is a great sportsman. I mean, before he shoots the pheasant, he makes it dig its own grave"
Production notes...
Al "Not Gore" Rodgers provided the Rudy photos you see above the fold. Thanks Al! (Waves!) Also, he wants everyone to know that New Yorkers were not happy at all with Rudy's rooting-for-the-Red-Sox transgression.
More in the comments...