The Obama-friendly Washington Post touted the last state dinner at the White House with the headline “A glittering fete of Italy’s first couple at the Obamas’ final soiree: VIP list stuffed with Obama insiders at White House for ‘bittersweet’ swan song.” There were a long list of liberal journalists among the “Obama insiders” perhaps getting a thank-you for eight years of service.
Post gossips Helena Andrews-Dyer and Emily Heil gushed this was “like those final weeks of senior year,” and “If there was a collective emotion that defined the night, it would be a mix of joy and pain. Everyone involved in the Obamas’ last black-tie gala felt it.” Oh, the bittersweet feeling that the Obama era is passing away! Among the media names on the long list of Very Important People to the Obamas:
– Richard Bates, top lobbyist, Disney/ABC
– David Bradley, chairman of Atlantic Media (The Atlantic magazine just endorsed Hillary).
– Carrie Budoff Brown, Politico
– PBS star filmmaker Ken Burns
– Ken Ehrlich, executive producer of the Grammy Awards telecasts
– Maria Gavrilovic, CBS producer at 60 Minutes (pictured)
– Savannah Guthrie, NBC
– Tamron Hall, NBC (who brought as her guest...)
– Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post columnist
– Michele Norris, former NPR anchor (who is married to White House aide Broderick Johnson).
– Gayle King, CBS
– Mark Landler, New York Times
– Josh Lederman, Associated Press
– Mara Liasson, NPR
– Colleen McCain Nelson, Wall Street Journal
– Mike Memoli, Los Angeles Times
– Doug Mills, New York Times photographer
– Neil King, Wall Street Journal (who is married to former Washington Post reporter-turned-White House aide Shailagh Murray).
– Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune columnist
– Denielle Pemberton-Heard, attorney at PBS
– Bill Plante, CBS
– Haim Saban, owner of Univision
– Mark Smith, Associated Press
– George Stephanopoulos, ABC
– Margaret Talev, Bloomberg News
– Chuck Todd, NBC
In addition to Shailagh Murray, the guests included other revolving-door Obama aides who used to be journalists, like former TIME editor Richard Stengel and former ABC correspondent Linda Douglass
The Post said “Stephanopoulos was in a hurry to get inside” – no press questions, please – but his wife Ali Wentworth gushed “This is my first state dinner as an adult. This is a big milestone for me.” (She married the ex-Clinton aide in 2001.)
Actor John Turturro told the Post, “I hope Hillary wins...by a large margin.” Let’s bet the major-media attendees were also sharing that opinion.
