Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"If current polls hold, Republicans will make significant gains in the Senate and likely take the House of Representatives, elevating a set of lawmakers to new heights of power and complicating Obama's efforts to execute his foreign-policy agenda. 'You can imagine an opposition controlled Congress raising a lot of hay. There will be a lot of static, a lot of flame throwing,' explained one senior Republican congressional staffer. 'You're not going to see the GOP giving the administration the benefit of the doubt.'  Here's a list of 10 GOP figures in Congress who will be crucial actors on the foreign-policy stage when the dust settles after the Nov. 2 election." (ForeignPolicy)

"Back in the days when the Letterman team were haggling with NBC over their exit—the network had given The Tonight Show to Leno over Letterman following Johnny Carson’s retirement—CBS and Dave’s representatives hammered out a contract stating in explicit detail that Dave would be programmed each night directly following the late local news on CBS’s stations. The time-period stipulation remained in Dave’s deals forever, and Morty knew Jay had the same guarantee. 'You guys got that for Conan, too, I’m sure,' Morty said. He waited while watching Rick and Jeff exchange a little look. 'You didn’t?' Morty asked, holding back his next thought, which was: You’ve got to be kidding me. Both Rosen and Ross indicated that they knew it could be a risky situation, but they didn’t dwell on it. Neither did Morton. But as he left the dinner that night he made a point to remember the conversation: there might be consequences down the road." (Bill Carter/Vanity fair)

"Howard (Stern) asked where they went until David (Arquette) answered. He said they went to a club. Howard asked what club it was. David said he didn't want people putting things together and manufacturing stories. He said they went to a club that some guys take over occasionally. Howard said David must have made love to her that night. David said he just had fun. Howard said he thinks that Courteney (Cox) and David's marriage is over. David said he's not acting in the appropriate way to keep it going so it's kind of his fault. Howard said he understands why he's doing what he's doing. Howard said he went through a tear for a short time after his divorce. He said it was kind of disgusting actually.  David said after the first girl he slept with he was crying. He knows that's not very sexy but he was going through the end of his intimacy he shared with his wife. He said that it was like putting that away and starting something new." (Marksfriggin)

"Election Day is still five days off, but already Republican strategists are whispering that they out-maneuvered their Democratic counterparts. The National Republican Congressional Committee and certain other GOP-allied groups adopted a reasonable but risky strategy, which proved effective. Those strategists decided to spend their limited financial resources early and in some not-so-obvious cheap media markets, hoping to put more seats into play and generate momentum for the cycle. They hoped that buzz about increased GOP opportunities would create more fundraising opportunities, and they bet that increased opportunities would encourage a more aggressive approach by 'outside' Republican-leaning groups, some of which seemed more focused on Senate races. They have won their bet. On Oct. 5, Roll Call published a chart showing that through Oct. 2, the NRCC had spent $11.3 million through its independent expenditure on the general election campaigns, while the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had spent only a little more than $4.1 million through its IE." (CQPolitics)

"Former George W. Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman was met with icy stares at a private soiree attended largely by gay men in the West Village the other night, according to a guest. Some weren't ready to forgive the former Republican National Committee chairman who pushed anti-gay policies before recently announcing he's gay himself. 'Now he wants to mingle with us after he did everything he could to hurt the gays,' one partygoer said to us. But Charles Myers of Evercore Partners, who brought Mehlman as his guest, told us, 'There was no drama or suggestion of anyone being unpleasant.' Mehlman said of the report, 'Not true.'" (PageSix)

(Dominique Richard and her mother, Alice Mason via NYSD)

"Comin’ in outta the rain; the Wednesday Michael’s lunch: The place was packed. I was lunching with Alice Mason, the legendary doyenne of private residential real estate in Manhattan. Alice has retired from the business now but for decades the media and Wall Street tycoons never bought so much as a closet without asking her advice first. And she was famous for telling it like it is whether they wanted to hear it or not. Her objective: finding them the perfect domicile for their needs, their public images, their wives and families, and their egos. And oh the tales she could tell. But won’t ... Around that time Alice met Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, a first cousin of Gloria (and father of, among others, Wendy); and the most famous Vanderbilt scion of his time ... Vanderbilt hired Alice as his agent to find him an apartment in New York. In those days real estate brokers for the blue bloods used the Social Register as their phone book. If your name wasn’t in the Social Register they wouldn’t call you because they didn’t have your number. Alice discovered it wasn’t so easy finding Alfred Vanderbilt an apartment in the better co-ops because, as it was explained to her by those in the know, the Vanderbilts were '1880s' and the better buildings were only interested in people who were the '1620s.' In other words, the Vanderbilt family wasn’t 'old' enough for the 'good' buildings. This came as a surprise to Alice, and it later motivated her to challenge that hard unspoken rule. Over time she was largely responsible for breaking down the barriers not only for the 1880s but also for many other groups who were not '1620s' in New York. Eventually she found Mr. Vanderbilt a penthouse on the top of 31 East 72nd." (NYSocialDiary)

"Rubi came to mind because of this Granatino man who just lost his case on appeal. 'Granatino' sounds Italian, but he’s a wealthy French industralist’s son. The French are rightly proud of their gigolos, Thierry Roussel having held the record for years—$100 million out of Christina Onassis—until eclipsed by Francois-Marie Banier, who got more than a billion Euros from Liliane Bettencourt across the Channel. Poor Rubi, he was the only real man among them, and he got peanuts in return. When Rubi died he was almost dead-broke. His widow sold their beautiful house west of Paris for a large sum to Paul-Louis Weiller and has lived a comfortable life ever since. Rubi was planning a coup just before the accident. He had his eye on JFK’s sister Pat Lawford, but I’m not sure it was a good idea. The Kennedys are notoriously tight-fisted, and Rubi liked to live well, something the Kennedys never managed to understand or do. Roussel sued me about twenty years ago, and a Greek court awarded him one drachma. He was always a lowlife but managed to get out of debt with his marriage to Christina Onassis, whom he ripped off mercilessly and unashamedly. He now lives in Switzerland off his winnings." (Takimag)