As Shutdown Ends, A Toast to Chris Matthews’ Account of Political Compromise

By Merrill Knox 

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews was feted last night at the New York book party for his seventh book, “Tip and the Gipper: When Politics Worked.” The book, a historical account of political opponents who managed to work together, coincidentally hit the shelves on the first day of the government shutdown.

Matthews arrived at P.J. Clarke’s in Lincoln Center shortly before the senate vote to end the shutdown Wednesday night. He told TVNewser he combined multiple sources — including news clips, President Reagan’s diaries and his own journal from his time in as O’Neill’s administrative assistant — to create a “hologram” account of the time period. Asked how he juggles it all, he said he wrote at home before and after his “Hardball” work day, joking that his wife began to refer to the chair in his office as “that chair.”

We also chatted with newly-minted MSNBC host Ronan Farrow, who says he’ll spend the next few months developing his vision for his show ahead of an early 2014 launch. (Farrow was coy about the show’s time slot, which MSNBC has so far only said will be a “weekday, one-hour” program.) Also on hand to toast Matthews at P.J. Clarke’s: MSNBC president Phil Griffin, Dan Rather, Mark Halperin, MSNBC analyst Ed Rendelland “CBS This Morning” executive producer Chris Licht.

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