Wonkette

Mean old Congressman Rahm Emanuel, speaking at the elitist New Yorker Conference today, pretty much said that Obama is the nominee. Since Rahm Emanuel is a Democratic Leader, this was big news. But since he is an undecided superdelegate who — like others — could just END THIS RACE RIGHT NOW PLEASE, he refused to do this and retracted his statement through a catty little spokesperson. MORE »

WHAT IS WITH SOME PEOPLE: Another Fat Cat Clinton supporter, Harvey Weinstein, apparently had a heated conversation with Nancy Pelosi late last month where he “threatened to cut off contributions to congressional Democrats unless House Speaker Nancy Pelosi embraced his plan to finance revotes in Florida and Michigan.” It should be noted that Harvey Weinstein makes movies for a living. [CNN]

* Names & Faces: Barbara Bush skipped the WHCA dinner. [WP]
* Page Six: Harvey Weinstein, MTV exec John Sykes, and Madisan Square Garden owner Jim Dolan are collaborating on Clinton’s 60th birthday party. . . Al Gore: “If I had half the communications skills of Karenna, I’d be halfway through my second term right now.” [NYP]
* Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown: Ludacris chilled with Antonin Scalia. [NYDN]
* Fox 411: Jason Binn threw a Capitol File party opposite the Bloomberg bash; Clooney, Rove, Albright made appearances. [Fox News]
* Heard on the Hill: Rep. John Sweeney (R-N.Y.) defends his participation in a frat party. . . Julia Thorne, first wife of John Kerry, dies of cancer. [Roll Call]
* Rush & Molloy: Pataki will launch his presidential campaign this week. [NYDN]
* Inside Politics: Powell asked for more troops to be sent to Iraq. [WT]