Ideas, Please

Last night, the Peter Beinart's The Good Fight subjected itself to a smashingly well-attended book party at the home of Nancy Jacobson and Mark Penn. (Watch for '08ish Post Style stories about the household; Jacobson is Sen. Evan Bayh's finance architect; Penn is Hillary Clinton's pollster.)

Both Bill and Hillary Clinton showed up (separately), and both heartily endorsed the idea that what the Democratic Party needs is... more ideas.

To that end, both showered affection on Andrei Cherny, the wunkerkind former Gore speechwriter / Kerry adviser whose new journal of ideas, "Democracy: A Journal Of Ideas," launches next week.

Cherny said he hopes the magazine will be a wellsrping for new ways for Democrats and progressives to think about their world and their politics.

Cherny's co-founder is Kenneth Baer , a well-regarded ex-Clintonite who is helping ex-VA Gov. Mark Warner. Mr. Baer was also warmly greeted by the Clintons.

Here's how the new journal describes itself:

Democracy: A Journal of Ideas is a new quarterly journal of serious progressive thought that will serve as a place where ideas can be developed and important debates can be spurred. We are the progressive analogue of conservative journals such as Commentary, the Public Interest, National Interest, and the American Interest, which have been the source of conservatives' biggest breakthrough thinking. Founded by Kenneth Baer and Andrei Cherny, Democracy's Editorial Committee includes Louis Caldera, Christopher Edley, William Galston, Leslie Gelb, Elaine Kamarck, Robert Reich, Susan Rice, Isabel Sawhill, Theda Skocpol, Anne-Marie Slaughter, and Sean Wilentz.

Cherny, incidentally, is much in demand by '08 presidential staff recruiters. But the magazine will allow him to keep his powder dry... at least for the time being.

A footnote: the Wonkette boys, David Lat and Alex Pareene, found their way to the party and managed some quality face time with FPOTUS. (We're not sure if Doug Band, Clinton's erstwhile and harried-looking senior travelling aide, was quite aware of who they were.) [MARC AMBINDER]