Mike Allen's Birthday Cake

Politico Playbook Editor Turns 45

Politico’s Mike Allen celebrated his birthday on Wednesday. The h/t goes to the 150+ people who turned out on a cold and damp evening for a man who is what Harry Truman called a rare Washington commodity: a friend.

The cake (candles lit by Austan Goolsbee) — and lapel pins — carried an image knocked off from another president, fitting for the editor of Politico’s Playbook.

Mike Allen Birthday Speech from whcinsider on Vimeo.

(Surprise) Birthday Invite

Hosts John Harris and Ann O’Hanlon, Jim and Autumn VandeHei, Mike Feldman, Betsy Fischer, Jonathan Karl, Greta Van Susteren and John Coale, Hilary Rosen, Jonathan Martin, and Tammy Haddad kept the birthday boy in the dark about the true reason for the party with an invite highlighting 160 days of media coverage.

Check out all the photos from Mike Allen’s birthday party:

Did too much birthday celebration interfere with Allen’s “Morning Joe” appearance the next day? No one’s telling.

Washington’s media elite were applauding the hardest working man in political news including Obama favs Sarah Feinberg, Steve Rattner, Bill Burton and Laura Capps, Stephanie Cutter, Fred Hochberg, Campbell Spencer and Dr. Jill Biden’s Comm Director Courtney Diesel, as well as Norah O’Donnell and the ever-charming Geoff Morrell.

Mike Allen’s pals, led by media super couple Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn, Politico owner Robert and Barbara Allbritton (who got a round of applause), Bob Barnett and Rita Braver, Debbie Dingell, Todd Purdum and Dee Dee Myers, Margaret Carlson, Savannah Guthrie, Ann Compton, Lois Romano, Maralee Schwartz, Juleanna Glover Weiss and Sam Feist.

Two showstoppers from the Clinton world caused a ripple when they walked in (separately) Jake Siewert, now a top adviser to Tim Geithner, and California import Jay Carson.

Mike always draws a crowd from both parties; GOP pals included Bob Stevenson, John Feehery, Ron Bonjean, Rob Collins, Michael Allen and Taylor Griffin.

Politico’s finest were everywhere with Kim Kingsley, Politico’s first lady leading the charge, along with Washington’s most fun man on campus Marc Adelman and the divine Natalie Ravitz.