Times Bags New Political Writer

John Harwood, the veteran Washington correspondent for The Wall Street Journal and CNBC, has joined The New York Times in a part time role, the paper announced this afternoon. Mr. Harwood "will contribute political stories and analysis to various sections of the newspaper and NYTimes.com," according to a Times press release.

As The Observer has reported, Times editors had hoped that Rupert Murdoch's takeover of The Journal would prompt Journal reporters to flee to the Grey Lady. So far, that hasn't happened. Could Mr. Harwood start a trend?