Republican pollster Frank Luntz just finished a closed-door breakfast meeting with the New York and Wisconsin delegations here at the Marriott Hotel.

Representative Peter King of Long Island gave me a brief sketch of what Luntz said, specifically about Sarah Palin.

"Don't get distracted by what the media asks," King said. "Stress that she's a kick-ass reformer." 

DENVER—I was hanging out at Al Sharpton’s reception on Larimer Street, when I heard a familiar voice.

It was Tucker Carlson, the conservative television commentator, and I was surprised to see him. He told me he went to Africa with Sharpton in 2003 and considers him “a friend.”

And Sharpton’s people apparently feel likewise. Democratic Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples of Buffalo said seeing Carlson at the event “makes me think we have a friend in the media."

When I asked Carlson if Barack Obama’s rise in national politics has diminished Sharpton’s role at all, Carlson said, “Not in my heart.”

As noted by The Times' Caucus writer Michael Falcone, Tucker Carlson will be appearing in a 30-second commercial for an anti-Barack Obama documentary called Hype: The Obama Effect, created by Citizens United.

In the clip, Mr. Carlson, MSNBC's Senior Campaign Correspondent, is shown saying, "Well, the press loves Obama. I mean, not just loves—I mean an early teenage crush."

Crushes run both ways, of course. (Strange bedfellows, etc.) In the July issue of Vanity Fair, James Wolcott wrote an essay headlined Mad About the Guy, in which he criticized some right wing pundits' "Man Crush" on John McCain, including The New York Times' David Brooks, who gushed to Chris Matthews, "I love the guy."

Could Tucker Carlson dance his way into politics? Last week, The New York Times' Opinionator blog wondered just that, noting, "the former 'Crossfire' host and former writer for The Weekly Standard, among other magazines, may seek the nomination of the Libertarian Party, according to a rumor making the rounds among delegates to the Libertarian convention, which is being held in Denver this weekend."  read more »

A recent episode of 'Race For the White House.'

“MSNBC and NBC are one,” said Phil Griffin. “We’ve said that for over a decade. It actually is true now.”

Mr. Griffin, the senior vice president of NBC News, was speaking on the phone to NYTV on Monday afternoon. He had brought up the unification of the two news operations as a way of explaining the internal politics underpinning the launch of MSNBC’s new prime-time show, Race for the White House, which premiered on March, 17 at 6 p.m., replacing Tucker.  read more »

Today, NBC News officials announced that as of next Monday, NBC News Chief White House Correspondent David Gregory will be replacing anchor Tucker Carlson at 6 P.M. on MSNBC.

How was Mr. Carlson taking the cancellation of Tucker?

On Monday afternoon, the Media Mob caught up briefly with Mr. Carlson.

"I'm not going to whine about it," said Mr. Carlson. "They've been nice to me."

Mr. Carlson said he was "glad" to stay on with MSNBC as a senior campaign correspondent.  read more »

Tucker Carlson is out. David Gregory is in.

Today, MSNBC officials announced sweeping changes to their primetime lineup.

Most notably: starting Monday, March 17, NBC White House Correspondent (and robo newsman) David Gregory will be anchoring a new show, Race for the White House weekdays at 6 P.M.

The new show, billed as a "a fast-paced daily look at the latest election news" will replace the long struggling Tucker.  read more »

Looks like those rumors you might have heard about Tucker Carlson being on the outs at MSNBC might have been off the mark after all. TV Newser says it's hearing from insiders that the network has no plans to cancel the conservative pundit's show.

Maybe he should thank these guys.

With Tucker Carlson's future at MSNBC apparently in doubt, the bow-tied host's supporters are getting organized.

Rumors have been flying recently that Tucker Carlson could soon be on the way out at MSNBC. In a report that aired this morning on NPR, Phil Griffin, a senior vice president at the cable network, described Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews as part of the MSNBC "brand". Asked whether Mr. Carlson was also part of that brand, Mr. Griffin replied: "He is right now."

Not exactly a vote of confidence.  read more »