White House Correspondents Weekend Insider

Good job, Patrick! Scout is your best work yet – take care of new momma Anne!

To see a picture of the beautiful Scout Margaret Gavin, check out Mediabistro.

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, in conjunction with its debate partners NBC News and POLITICO, are moving the Reagan Centennial GOP Presidential Primary Candidates Debate from May 2 to September 14, 2011.

Why the change? Seems not enough contenders are willing to toss their hat into the ring this early. Moving the debate to the fall will allow “enough time for the full slate of candidates to participate,” said John Heubusch, executive director for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation.

“The Reagan Foundation prides itself on sponsoring world-class debates in which all of the major candidates in contention can make their point of view known to the widest possible audience,’ said Heubusch. ‘Although there will be a long and impressive list of Republican candidates who eventually take the field, too few have made the commitment thus far for a debate to be worthwhile in early May.“

For more about the move check out POLITICO and read the full release here: http://politi.co/i2Y5U4

Dec. 7, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

It may have been Steelers vs. Packers out on the field last night but Bill O’Reilly tried his best to get President Obama to fumble during their pre-Super Bowl interview on Fox News.

As Susan Milligan points out in US News, the President deftly handled O’Reilly’s line of questioning and observes that Obama’s “behavior indicates he is unwilling to engage in petty political food fights.”

O’Reilly: “Does it disturb you that so many people hate you?”

Obama: “You know, the truth is that the people—and I’m sure previous presidents would say the same thing, whether it was Bush or Clinton or Reagan or anybody—the people who dislike you don’t know you.”

The objective of Milligan’s piece was to point out media irresponsibility. But the O’Reilly/Obama interview is also another example of what John Harris and Jim VandeHei explore today in POLITICO: how the President is “playing the press like a fiddle.”

He is doing it by exploiting some of the most long-standing traits among reporters who cover politics and government — their favoritism for politicians perceived as ideologically centrist and willing to profess devotion to Washington’s oft-honored, rarely practiced civic religion of bipartisanship.

Click here to read the entire article on POLITICO.

WHC Insider’s Tammy Haddad sat down with Ron Reagan to discuss his new memoir “MY FATHER AT 100.” The youngest son of President Ronald and Nancy Reagan wrote the book to commemorate what would have been his father’s 100th birthday on February 6, 2011.

Reagan candidly offers new insights on his parents’ relationship and the Reagan family dynamic; he also sets the record straight on what he actually wrote about his father and glimmers that he was not always “completely 100 percent” while in the White House.

Never one to shy away from political opinion, Reagan responds to comparisons between his father andPresident Obama. And as for those rumors about Joe Scarborough, Reagan’s former co-host on an MSNBC after-hours show, making a possible run for president or vice-president in 2012? Reagan says, “He’d be the only Republican candidate not on FOX.”

As for Keith Olbermann’s recent departure from MSNBC, Reagan said “Keith was a remarkable figure there. In many ways I think he made that network what it is today.”

You can read more and watch the two-part interview on POLITICO and for more information on the book go to www.ronreagan100.com.

Google and POLITICO host a 2010 Election Preview today at the Newseum.  Last night there was a lot of prep work done to prepare for a panel, interviews with David Axelrod and Ed Gillespie, and some of DC’s favorite journalists Politico’s Mike Allen and Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart who will host the event.

Check out more from Fishbowl DC’s post.

You can also watch LIVE at www.youtube.com/citizentube starting at 2:30 PM Eastern.