Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"As of Wednesday afternoon, Obama held a 51.2% to 48.8% lead over Romney in the national two-party vote. That tracks pretty well with the projection from Crystal Ball Senior Columnist Alan Abramowitz, whose adjusted 'Time for Change' model projected that Obama would get 50.6% of the national two-party popular vote. (Abramowitz wrote about his model here.) While we expect Obama’s national popular vote lead will probably grow as all the votes are counted, we think the Abramowitz model -- which uses factors such as presidential approval and GDP growth to project the popular vote -- gave our readers a strong indication of the direction of this election over four months ago. Earlier this fall, we also featured a range of political science election models assembled by University at Buffalo-SUNY professor and friend of the Crystal Ball James Campbell. We reprint them here, (ABOVE), to see how they performed. As you examine the chart, remember that 51.2% is Obama’s current lead in the national two-party vote. Note that Campbell’s model performed exceptionally well." (Sabato)

"Last Monday night at the Hilton New York's Grand Ballroom, Rolex hosted Career Transition for Dancers' 27th Anniversary Jubilee, Jump for Joy, A Dance Variety Spectacular. Angela Lansbury was its host and they honored Liza Minnelli; with a performance by the incomparable Chita Rivera. The Career Transition For Dancers Outstanding Contributions to the World of Dance Awards went to Joni Berry, Michele Herbert, Gerald M. Appelstein, and Arthur Murray International (celebrating its 100th Anniversary). Career Transition For Dancers, with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago, has helped over 5,400 professional dancers nationwide identify their unique talents in preparation for establishing new careers when dance is no longer an option." (NYSocialDiary)

"Sometimes it pays to be one of Manhattan’s top philanthropists. Leonard Lauder, chairman emeritus of Estée Lauder, was allowed to skip the long voting line at Hunter College. Witnesses said he 'was able to cut in line ahead of Martin Scorsese and the other 1-percenters . . . if you donate you don’t have to stand in line.' The source said Lauder had made a Hunter donation on behalf of his late wife Evelyn, who was a student there when they met. But a source close to the mogul told us Lauder, 79, stood in line three times Tuesday for long waits. On his third try, 'He stood in line for over half an hour,' when a worker who had known Evelyn gave him a break and ushered him in. Also voting on the UES: Téa Leoni, Paula Zahn, Jim Chanos and Anthony Marshall’s wife, Charlene (or as Brooke Astor called her, 'that bitch'). Joan Rivers was spotted, in a huge fur, clutching an American flag at an East 60th Street polling station. 'People were being pushed in wheelchairs, when some guy said, ‘Is this a hospital or a voting station?’' a spy said." (PageSix)

"Howard (Stern) started the show talking about how pleased he was with America last night. He said he thinks they voted the right way. Robin said it was almost 50/50. She said half the country didn't vote for the guy. Howard said he thought Romney was going to win for a while there. Robin said that the exit polling was saying that Obama had the right kind of coalition to gain the electoral vote. Howard said that he knew he lost around 8 something last night. He said Bill O'Reilly was making excuses for him already. Howard said he was done in by Governor Christie. Howard said if that's the reason then we have a dumb country. He said you should be able to make a decision based on your beliefs. Howard said O'Reilly already knew around that time. Howard said maybe they need to get hugged by Chris Christie. Howard said the picture of him being bipartisan is way more powerful than going around the country saying you are. Robin said that they were talking about the Sandy thing and that had a decent impact. Howard said he thinks this proves that women are smarter than men. He said men get all macho. He said women went for Obama overwhelmingly. Howard said he isn't a democrat. He said he's an independent and he would vote for Christie if he was living in New Jersey. Howard said he voted for Pataki for two terms. He said he voted for Cuomo too. Howard said he voted for Senator Al D'Amato too. Howard said he really isn't a democrat. He said that you have to believe that the person can help the people. He said what's going on with the tea party is that the religious kooks go out and vote and they say some really dopey things. He said both of the guys who said that rape is god's will and things like that lost. Howard said that proves that women are smart. He said they won't stand for that." (Marksfriggin)