Don’t think for a second that smiley Politico editor Jim VandeHei doesn’t have a mile-long enemy list. All of those Washington Post staffers who didn’t show up to his farewell party last December when he decided to jump ship to run the Politico are definitely on it. Which is partially why after the Washington Post ran a piece Monday highlighting Rudy Giuliani’s distaste for the Politico, it’s not that surprising that the Politico has now blatantly attacked the Post for its coverage of Barack Obama.

VandeHei’s feelings, we hear, were “deeply hurt” when the Post ran with a quote by Maria Comella, a Giuliani spokeswoman, who said that a recent Politico story by Ben Smith was “neatly packaged in a very salacious and somewhat misleading way. There are inaccuracies in the piece and a mischaracterization of the situation that lends itself to being described as the mayor described it.”

“Jim was deeply hurt and angry,” a journalist close to the situation tells Big Head DC. “He immediately began looking for ways to find revenge.”

The revenge came in the quick form of a Tuesday Politico hit piece involving a recent WaPo story that spells out clearly that Barack Obama DOES NOT having Muslim ties. However, the Politico piece makes it appear as though the Post somehow reported that Obama DOES have Muslim ties.

The Politico piece by Michael Calderone doesn’t even link to the Post’s original story.

One thing’s for sure: As VandeHei grows increasingly keen on competing with his former employer, watch out for more underhanded and biased journalism coming from his camp.

Earlier: Politico Hammers People of Color — Again

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The multi-million dollar Politico publication, funded by the GOP-leaning Allbritton Communications company, has successfully squashed another competitor via back door bullying. In effect, the publication, well-known for its lack of diversity and conservative leanings, has bullied a small Hispanic upstart publication into changing its name, or to face a mighty lawsuit.

“Not content with taking stories that Hispanic journalists have already published and passing them off as exclusive, and THEN sending e-mails to Hispanic journalists [who had already broken the stories]…it seems that The Politico now also claims they own the Spanish language…,” according to RedBloguera.net.

The blog notes that the “Politico has forced La Política, an online newsletter dedicated to Hispanic political topics, to change its name because with all their millions they apparently can’t handle the existence of an online magazine that covers topics they completely ignore… even if their name is in Spanish…”

Insiders familiar with the situation say that Jim Vandehei, a top editor at the publication, played a large role in bullying La Política into changing its name to Candidito USA — or face a million dollar legal fight. Sources say, too, that Vandehei’s wife, Autumn Hanna Vandehei, a former Tom Delay staffer, likely played a role in the dealings. In Washington circles, Hanna Vandehei is well-known for opposing diversity initiatives.

In 2000, Vandehei was forced by his former employer The Wall Street Journal to stop covering Delay’s office due to complaints that his relationship with Hanna Vandehei was creating conservative bias in his reporting.

Evidence of the new allegations are available in PDF form.

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Markos Moulitsas Zúniga serves up some harsh criticism of the top two Politico editors: “Memo to Jim VandeHei and John Harris: this is 2007, not 1992.” The famous Kos blogger feels that they’re covering social policy issues as they relate to Election 2008 in a tired, non-progressive manner. “I guess we’re stuck with the political press we have, not the one we wish we had,” he laments.

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Boy, can the Politico’s Andy Glass ramble on. If you’ve ever met the 73-year-old journalist in person, he’s apt to tell about how he loves new media technology. How he’s embraced it for years. How he started surfin’ the Net soon after Al Gore invented it. (He’ll laugh at that point, thinking he’s just made a wonderful joke.)

And then, like when grandma starts talking, your eyes will glaze over and your ears will plug up. But later, when you get bored, you might decide to check out whether the old man even has a Web site. And, what do ya know, he does. And it’s called “The Home Page of Andrew J. Glass.” And it looks like it was made in 1996. And his useful links include weather forecasts. And he’s using a Google search logo from when dinosaurs ruled the Earth.

And, for some reason, these things make you feel a warm spot in your heart for ole Andy Glass.

Still, you’re probably not too surprised that the glitzy know-it-all young Politico executive editor Jim VandeHei pretty much never gives ole Andy anything to do. He can’t fire Glass, of course, because a person even more important than VandeHei in the Politico hierarchy, named Marty Tolchin, wouldn’t dare let him. At least not until Tolchin’s ready to retire himself.

But VandeHei can laugh at Andy behind his back, mocking his age, and probably breaking every age discrimination law ever on record. Read more…

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An article on Politico’s possible conservative bias, and no mention of Autumn Hanna?

Jim VandeHei, who is Autumn Hanna?

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In a special letter from the editor John Harris writes today about “how the sausage gets made in a newsroom.” He also admits that Jim VandeHei is always hovering over his shoulders; that the two of them often make mistakes; and that he would personally like to be ”snappier.”

There you have it, folks: the curtains have been pulled back on political journalism. Your life is now transparent. And you can rejoice.

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The Politico’s new promotion of how you can write stories for them is stepping into high gear. They’ve unveiled this fancy graphic:

And these fancy new words: “This is your chance to tell Congress about important political stories in your backyard – and earn $100.”

A whole 100 smackers!!! Wow. I wonder how much Jim VandeHei is getting paid to write his stories? Where the hell are his stories? Oh, who cares, he’s probably just too busy schmoozing.

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According to FishbowlDC, Bruce Drake, the esteemed editor previously from NPR fame (who, incidently, hired me before the Politico turned into what it is now), is leaving his post:

FishbowlDC has learned that the Politico’s Managing Editor, Bruce Drake, is stepping down from that position, but will serve as a consultant for the Politico for at least a few months.

You’ll recall that Drake was hired during the “Capitol Leader” phase of the Politico and we’ve seen several people, including Marty Tolchin, take on revised roles in Politico World. It is likely that Drake’s new position within the organization is a similar revision.

It’s also likely that I resigned from the Politico as a result of the revised direction Jim VandeHei and John Harris have pushed the publication.

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We’d been hearing rumors that Washington Post politics/style writer Michael Powell, who had been shifted from his New York bureau chief position in recent weeks, was being wooed by the New York Times. Tired of behind-the-scenes talk, we asked him directly whether he’s a mover and/or a shaker.

“I move, but I’m in reasonably good shape, so hopefully not too much shaking,” he told BHDC this evening. ”I am going to the Times for purely personal reasons. I’ve been at the Post for ten years, covering the last days of Marion Barry (his decayed, Autumn of the Patriarch phase), and national politics and Neuva York and I’ve loved every minute of it. Great paper, great place to work.”

He added that he’s excited about going to the Times, and that there was no downside in working at the Post. Hmm, we’ve heard that a lot in recent weeks, right Jim VandeHei and John Harris?

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