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Who is the most powerful man in ‘This Town’: Mike Allen or Matt Drudge?
Daily Caller ^ | 10/20/2013 | Grae

Posted on 10/20/2013 6:59:28 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar

New York Times magazine correspondent and author of the explosive book “This Town” Mark Leibovich detailed intricate internal workings of Washington and compared two of the most powerful men in news and politics, Mike Allen and Matt Drudge, in an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller.

Mike Allen’s morning ‘Playbook’ email has the power to shape the political discussion, he explained, because hundreds of decision makers in the political circuit read it every morning.

“These hundreds of people are TV bookers, and reporters, and hill staffers of both parties, and White House staffers, and lobbyists and a lot of people in some of the state capitals, too,” he said.

The power of Playbook stems from its ability to shape the news cycle.

“Mike basically has this knack for writing this email about things that people have missed over night, things that are central to the political discussion,” Leibovich said. ”What is striking about Mike, in addition to him being a very quirky, kind of eccentric, fascinating guy, is that he has this inordinate amount of power in that people read what he says, and then you can just see ten cable shows in a given day given over to what Mike says is important. You can see the front page of the next days newspapers. So he is what we would call now a ‘conversation driver.’”

Leibovich compares the reach that Allen has with that of Matt Drudge, the owner and operator of the hugely successful news aggregation website site, The Drudge Report.

“They are very distinct.” Leibovich said “I mean, they both have incredible amounts of power, incredible amounts of reach. I think Mike’s reach is more to insiders per say and it flowers out… Conservative media, liberal media will read him. I think Drudge is more of a headline. You literally have millions of people on there a day and it just goes directly to those news consumers and it is much more direct, frankly… Mike is a conversation starter. Drudge has a much more definitive conversation within his website which he is updating constantly. They are both wildly influential and I read both of them.”


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: allen; drudge; markleibovich; mattdrudge; mikeallen; newyorktimes; partisanmediashill; partisanmediashills; politico; thistown
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1 posted on 10/20/2013 6:59:28 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
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To: lainie; SevenofNine

I have never heard of Mike Allen.


2 posted on 10/20/2013 7:00:19 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
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To: Jet Jaguar

This is a competition between an independent news source and a leftist mouthpiece?

Let’s be serious.

Drudge is a creative and an independent journalist.

The leftist mouthpiece is broadcasting the talking points that can be heard on every LSM site in the country. I wonder who pays him to spew elitist leftist tripe?


3 posted on 10/20/2013 7:05:58 PM PDT by Chickensoup (we didn't love freedom enough... Solzhenitsyn.)
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To: Jet Jaguar

Mike Allen informs the elite, Drudge informs the masses.


4 posted on 10/20/2013 7:06:16 PM PDT by cdcdawg (Be seeing you...)
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To: Jet Jaguar

I visit the Drudge site everyday. I have no idea who Mike Allen is.


5 posted on 10/20/2013 7:08:05 PM PDT by RginTN
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To: Jet Jaguar

Me either.....works for Politico.


6 posted on 10/20/2013 7:10:40 PM PDT by Girlene (Hey, NSA!)
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To: Jet Jaguar

Mike Allen??? Pure puff piece for someone nobody knows, like when they tried to push Ed Schultz as “the next Rush Limbaugh.”


7 posted on 10/20/2013 7:12:45 PM PDT by JennysCool (My hypocrisy goes only so far)
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To: Jet Jaguar

Who in hell is “Mike”...??


8 posted on 10/20/2013 7:13:44 PM PDT by gaijin
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To: Jet Jaguar

Oh, so that’s who has been shaping the political discussion in this country. Let’s give him a big round of applause.


9 posted on 10/20/2013 7:13:56 PM PDT by 867V309
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To: Jet Jaguar

Next thing ya know this Mike will be swearing that he, TOO, used to be a gift-shop clerk.

OH SUUUUURE....!

(wink)


10 posted on 10/20/2013 7:16:29 PM PDT by gaijin
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To: RginTN
I visit the Drudge site everyday. I have no idea who Mike Allen is.

Just what I was thinking.

11 posted on 10/20/2013 7:19:53 PM PDT by dr_lew
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To: Jet Jaguar

The politico was started by WaPo presstitutes so when THEY claim, “We’re prolly just as cool as Drudge, ya know...” then that is a HUUUUUGE passing of the barn, right there...

HUGE.


12 posted on 10/20/2013 7:20:16 PM PDT by gaijin
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To: gaijin

BATON not barn.


13 posted on 10/20/2013 7:24:50 PM PDT by gaijin
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To: Jet Jaguar

Mike Allen? Was he a football player?


14 posted on 10/20/2013 7:26:45 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
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To: Jet Jaguar

“I have never heard of Mike Allen.”

And that’s the correct answer.


15 posted on 10/20/2013 7:42:45 PM PDT by Rembrandt (Part of the 51% who pay Federal taxes)
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To: Chickensoup

Oh, come on. We have to be real.

DRUDGE is now top flight for pushing Republican and conservative thinkers and writers, and puts up product that fairly scoffs at the Left.

I would agree that Polico’s Mike Allen is attached more directly to Democrat Party players than Drudge is attached to party, that we know of, that is.

Politico lives on Scarborough’s show. We can’t find Drudge anywhere, in public.


16 posted on 10/20/2013 8:02:20 PM PDT by RitaOK ( VIVA CHRISTO REY / Public education is the farm team for more Marxists coming.)
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To: Jet Jaguar

If Drudge had run the headline:
“No Polls Ask ‘Do you approve of shutting down the government to KEEP Obamacare’!”

Ah well...
Never heard of the Allen fellow. He certainly has nothing to boast of from the author’s description.


17 posted on 10/20/2013 8:16:35 PM PDT by mrsmith (Dumb sluts: Lifeblood of the Media, Backbone of the Democrat Party!)
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To: gaijin

Who the he’ll is “Mike”...?

Just what I thought. Never heard of him till not


18 posted on 10/20/2013 10:33:48 PM PDT by WilliamRobert (Rafael Cruz is an American hero, and he makes me proud to be Texan.)
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To: Chickensoup

“Drudge is a creative and an independent journalist.”

I have yet to read anything Drudge has written other then changed headlines.


19 posted on 10/20/2013 10:38:54 PM PDT by Lurkina.n.Learnin (If global warming exists I hope it is strong enough to reverse the Big Government snowball)
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To: Jet Jaguar

Go, Matt!

Though I’ll bet part of Mike’s appeal and influence is that he comes off as “exclusive.”


20 posted on 10/21/2013 12:09:28 AM PDT by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!c)
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