The Post reports that the Democratic National Committee will return $100,000 donated by Representative Charles Rangel, "saying it goes against a Team Obama ban on PAC money." There's debate about whether DNC chairman Howard Dean accepted the check a few weeks ago, saying it was a sign of party unity (Rangel was/is a big Clinton supporter), or if Dean didn't know the envelope contained a check. But one source told the Post that Rangel's money......

NJ Governor Jon Corzine and Pennsylvania Ed Rendell have offered a plan to re-stage the Florida and Michigan Democratic primaries. The two men, both Clinton supporters, say they will raise half of the $30 million it would take for new primaries. Funny, where's Governor Spitzer, who said he'd support Clinton but has called Obama "spectacular"? Corzine told the Star-Ledger, "We ought to have a revote. I think the money would be available if it brought......

Hillary Clinton may have won more votes in Tuesday’s crucial primaries, but the victories barely made a dent in Barack Obama’s lead, narrowing the gap by only a few delegates. Unless scandal or some other meltdown severely damages Obama, Clinton’s chances of beating him on pledged delegates are extremely difficult. The strategy for Clinton now is, first and foremost, to stop a growing number of superdelegates from committing to Obama at the convention. Clinton's arguing,......

In an echo of its 2006 article about her Senate re-election campaign spending, the NY Times finds Hillary Clinton donors are concerned over her campaign's spending. Some of the line items that emerged after her campaign finance report was published: $100,000 in party platters and shovels for Iowa caucus parties (where Clinton placed third - and where it did not snow), $25,000 in hotel rooms at Las Vegas' Bellagio, $275,000 to a South Carolina firm......

I Dig Doug, a new production in this year’s Fringe Festival, concerns a status-obsessed uptown debutante who decides she should so get involved in presidential politics. When the farcical story begins, the unnamed teen (Karen DiConcetto, called Girl in the program) and her equally self-absorbed friend Nicole (Rochelle Zimmerman) are coasting along on their parents’ money, only mildly concerned about their imminent college application essays – Girl is smart enough to know that if they......

Start sharpening your spurs, gays and gals, because Jake Gyllenhaal is coming to Broadway! If director Mike Nichols has his way, you’ll soon have your chance to stalk the sensitive heartthrob as he flees through the stage door of Farragut North, a new play about presidential campaign hardball penned by a former Howard Dean staffer. According to today’s Post, Gyllenhaal (who made his stage debut in a Maggie Gyllenhaal-directed production of Cats in their parents’......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery at Union Turnpike in Queens, a fatal fall victim on Union St. in Brooklyn, and an infant water rescue at Mallow St. on Staten Island. What loud-mouthed inflammatory interrogator could MSNBC get to stand in for Chris Matthews? Tonight it will be Al Sharpton interviewing former DNC head Terry McAuliffe and one-time Presidential candidate Howard Dean. Set your VCRs, DVRs, Tivos, or whatever. A swimming pool......

A who's who of the Democratic party has been at the Reverend Al Sharpton's National Action Network conference in Midtown this past week. Opening day saw hopeful John Edwards and Democratic party chair Howard Dean, yesterday included former president Bill Clinton, Senator Joe Biden, Senator Christopher Dodd, and Governor Bill Richardson, today has Senator Hillary Clinton and tomorrow Senator Barack Obama and Representative Dennis Kucinich are appearing - which is why it's called the "Sharpton......

After yesterday's "shocking" revelation that his ancestors were slaves owned by ancestors of Senator Strom Thurmond, the Reverend Al Sharpton held a press conference to discuss the news. It turns out that a Daily News reporter asked Sharpton if he'd like research his family history with genealogy website Ancestry.com - the NY Times reports that Ancestry.com "approached the Daily News seeking to publicize its African-American ancestry database" and the ball got rolling from there.......

While former Mayor Rudy Giuliani is interested in running for President, what with visiting NH this past weekend, it's unclear how the GOP feels about him. The Post reports that the NY State GOP has Giuliani's big 2008 rival, Senator John McCain, to appear at a fund-raiser in Manhattan. One Giuliani supporter says, "It's a slight," but the NYS GOP claims that the party just needs a lot of money (it's broke) and all the......

NYC is a two time loser now! After the Republican party decided to have its 2008 convention in the Twin Cities, the city hoped to win the Democratic convention. But now the Democratic National Committee has announced the 2008 convention will be in Denver. Here's DNC Chairman Howard Dean's statement:The recent Democratic gains in the West exemplify the principle that when we show up and ask for people's votes and talk about what we......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a residential high-rise fire on upper Broadway, a "church robbery" (! - those robbers took from the poor box!) in Queens, and a shooting in Bed-Stuy. Have you lost the Christmas spirit? If you have, read "Auggie Wren's Christmas Story", by Paul Auster-- it'll cheer you up. [Via OTBKB] James Forbes, the controversial pastor of Riverside Church, has delivered his last sermon there. He'll be embarking on a farewell......

Now that Democrats have had a victorious 2006 election year, attention is turning to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. New York and Denver are the two remaining cities left in the running, and the Daily News reports Senator Hillary Clinton wants the convention back in NYC. Her advisers say her support has nothing to do with the possibility that she may run, but let's face it, New York is where Bubba was nominated back in......

As fall settles in and another calendar page gets turned, thoughts turn from bbq's and vacations to holidays and the realization that '06 is coming to an end. With all that going on, with change in the air, we wonder what is it that made that makes the -ists ponder? Phillyist is concerned that the war on Trans fats could affect it's beloved cheese steak sandwiches, something for which we should all be concerned.......

Scuttlebutt from Knicks sources is that Knicks owner James Dolan (owner of Cablevision) and MSG president Steve Mills are willing to buy out pricey remaining four years on coach Larry Brown's contract. And not only that, the new coach could be general manager Isaiah Thomas. Management has been upset with Brown's criticism of players to the media, but let's face it - who hasn't been criticizing the most expensive NBA roster with the second worst......

The two mayoral candidates, challenger Fernando Ferrer and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, headed to the polls this morning, hoping to encourage people to go out and vote, even though Mayor Bloomberg is leading by, as some polls say, as much as 38 points. The Ferrer campaign is hoping that their supporters will vote so the defeat won't be so crushing and Bloomberg's is hoping that his supporters will actually vote after being told Bloomberg will......

Mayor Bloomberg is pulling out all the stops to appeal to the minorities, and today's rumor that he's hired Brian Ellner to join his campaign proves that he wants to show he's a Democrat in Republican's clothing. And suddenly, the Mayor's Republican supporters reach for their Zantac. But this could be the start of a brilliant new ad: Mayor Bloomberg stepping out with his girlfriend Diana Taylor and Ellner with his partner Simon. In other......

Fernando Ferrer's overstatement about his NYC public education (a master's at Baruch, after years of Catholic schooling) has lead to Mayor Bloomberg's campaign to issue press releases and certain tabloids, as Gawker points out, to enjoy creating insane covers and some serious questioning about blogging as candidates. It turns out that Mayor Mike doesn't write his own posts either! Shocking! Ferrer was asked about the offending post while with Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean, who......

- Howard Dean and Fernando Ferrer are meeting with subway commuters at 86th Street and Broadway right now - if you have pictures, link us! - John Guica of Brooklyn was found guilty of killing college student Mark Fisher two years ago - The NY Jets resigned former quarterback Vinny Testaverde to replace their injured roster; in reporting the story, the NY Times said the Jets were 2-1 - it took TWO writers to get......

After the last presidential election, in which nearly every candidate seemed to throw one, Political house parties are old news. Except when the candidate in question shakes up the status quo by footing the bill. Which is exactly what Bloomberg's camp has announced he plans to do. On September 20 Bloomberg supporters are invited to attend one of the planned 1,000 house parties across the city in an effort to further solidify support for......

As the Democrats try to regroup and figure out if there is anyone who can beat Mayor Moneybags, it turns out that Howard Dean also considered running for Mayor, because if there's one thing New Yorkers like, it's a Mayor who will yell and get red in the face. The Politicker says Dean had spoken to associates about the possibility and notes Dean's NYC upbringing ("Park Avenue, Browning, off to Andover and Yale, then back......

The State of the Union Address was given by President Bush last night (text here). Gothamist decided to take a pass on watching, because we were worried about hurting the TVs. As far as we know, adjusting the payroll tax is not what the President wants to do with Social Security - he wants to make sure we work longer. Or something. And our country is confident blah blah blah. And forget about the Democratic......

This afternoon the NYU Business and Law Schools are sponsoring a panel about the impact of technology on the current election cycle. The speakers on the panel include Scott Heiferman, representing meetup.com, and bloggers from the Dean and Clark campaigns, including Nicco Mele and Cam Barrett. If you were a Deaniac (was that ever considered an acceptable term?), you might want to come by, because there are rumors that Zephyr Teachout may make an......

– Gothamist reads Everyday Matters – Brooklyn tells Sex and the City writers they're outdated – Last two days of tax free week – Golden Globes coverage, if you want to relive it – City and NYPD are split on dealing with Brooklyn rooftop shooting – The Met's mummy paintings are naked – City freaks out, even closing schools, but most feel ashamed we're so wimpy – Thoughts on the Oscar nominations and why the......

Will Fucked Company list Howard Dean's campaign? With campaign manager/Svenghali Joe Trippi out, plus the request for staffers to defer their paychecks for two weeks, it smells a little too much like some of the start-ups we worked at. Which is all the more surprising since most of his workers are being paid in Vermont maple sugar candy. The Times reports that some workers doubt the campaign has enough money to last beyond next week.......

Apparently, General Wesley Clark did not do enough jumping jacks for votes in New Hampshire. John Kerry's double digit win over Howard Dean in Dean's neck of the woods spells some doom for Dean. John Edwards is excited, but at this point, Gothamist will just wait to see what happens after the convention, weigh our options, and probably vote third party again. Check out Aaron's fantasy of having the Democratic National Convention here in......

Wesley Clark has been blowing off the Iowa caucuses to concentrate on New Hampshire and to visit in New York. Gothamist saw him at Grand Central yesterday, where he spoke to commuters amid the media scrum. As people jockeyed to tell Clark various things ("I was in the service" or "I'm the CEO of a financial services company"), we could hear his staffers telling others who couldn't get to Clark, "His motorcade is out......

As the area's favorite Knick turned Senator, Bill Bradley, endorses Howard Dean, Gothamist decided to read about the Democratic debate in Iowa yesterday. The Times' David Halbfinger noted the absence of Al Sharpton, "For sheer comedic appeal, the Democratic presidential debate on Sunday was short a Sharpton..." Ah, Lorne Michaels was so on the ball in asking the Reverend to host SNL. Unintentional funniness seems to have come from one John Kerry supporter held......

And by "average," Gothamist means the pretty girl chose the pretty boy. Not the sweet, stepping–over–his–words New Yawk–New Joisey boy Adam. When Melana said to pretty boy Jason, "I see a future with you," with a jet ready to whisk them away for a "vacation" to get to know each, it was clear it was more a future in the sack. Which does count for a future. Disappointing for the optimists, no matter how shallow......

Slate has an excellent drinking game to partake in during tonight's Democratic debate. Drink prompts include mentions of Bill Clinton or Enron, looks into the wrong camera during introductions, or speaks Spanish and mentioning campaign website/URL. (Mmm, we'll venture to say a Schwarzenegger-California reference will make its way into the debate as well.) The Kamikaze version is "Take a drink every time a candidate mentions President Bush by name. " Then there are the specific......