Sheraton New York Hotel

The Sheraton New York Hotel has been getting a lot of pre-Presidential action these last few days. First Rudy Giuliani threw a baseball-themed bash there last Wednesday, March 14. And just four days ago, Hillary Clinton hosted a big-ticket mega-fundraiser headlined by her famous husband, Bill. Last night it was Mitt Romney's turn. But while his competitors boasted 1000-person, ballroom-sized events, the former governor's money-raiser was somewhat more modest. Romney's New York Fundraising Kickoff, as the event was billed, took place in a long, rectangular conference room located 100 or so twisty feet from the hotel's second-floor ballroom. There was an open bar for drinks and a single table of cheese, crackers, and crudite for guests to nibble. (Hillary, by contrast, laid on a spead of sirloin and risotto.)  read more »

Today I wrote an article about presidential candidates' pre-pre-primary contest to line up campaign bundlers. Rudy, McCain, Romney; Hillary, Obama, Edwards -- even Biden and Richardson -- have all been making the rounds. And while there is a tendency at times to paint both the Democratic and Republican money-races as two-way battles --WWF-style showdowns between Hillary and Obama, and Rudy and McCain -- the other major candidates have hardly ceded their stake in New York just yet.

Check out, for example, is the roster of donors that have signed on to Mitt Romney's March 21st fundraiser at the Sheraton New York Hotel. A link to the invitation, which was just sent to me by a kindly source, ishere.

-- Lizzy Ratner

Rep. Vito Fossella finally tells us he voted Yes on the DeLay Rule in House Republican Caucus November 17. That's the rule that allows members to remain in leadership after they've been indicted, the one even John Podhoretz and David Brooks flagged as a sign of Republican hubris and a danger to members in swing districts like, say, Staten Island.

"I was in support of the move," Fossella told us this morning at the Sheraton New York Hotel. "The fundamental morality in this country is you're innocent until proven guilty."  read more »

A fine sentiment. But if he was proud of this vote, or didn't think it was a political liability, do you think his press secretary, Craig Donner, would have ignored six phone calls and two emails on this question? Not that I was counting.