Tina Brown Misses Hillary Clinton; Calls 2008 Convention a 'Much Bigger Deal' Than Last Time

DENVER--Last night, Denver mayor John Hickenlooper and his wife, New Yorker writer Helen Thorpe, hosted a party in honor of Slate’s just-released ObamaMania book, but there was another more infamous member of the New Yorker family in the room. Tina Brown was wearing an electric blue suit that certainly stood out against the wood molding and green wallpaper of downtown Denver’s Tattered Cover bookstore.

She stayed close to the exit, sipping white wine and chatting with her soon-to-be sister in news aggregation, Arianna Huffington. We asked Ms. Brown about the website she has been building with InterActiveCorp’s Barry Diller, but she was, as usual, reluctant to give details. She was, however, happy to talk about Hillary Clinton.

“I think the campaign got boring as soon as she dropped out,” she said. “I think everybody misses that theater. In the end, I feel more excited about Hillary and Bill and what they’re going to be saying than what’s going on with the Obamas. It’s very ironic.” (Not to mention convenient—Ms. Brown is currently at work on a book on the Clintons.)

As for the convention itself, she said this year’s gathering seems to be “a much bigger deal” than the 2004 convention in Boston, which she also attended. “It feels like there’s more stake. Though, there was a lot of stake last time.”

Finally, what did she think about Michelle Obama’s speech?

“I thought it was a great dress.”