Isn't There A Party Hillary Won't Attend?

Another reason Mrs. Clinton will not be getting my vote.

There was a buzz when Dick Cheney walked into the "Fox News Sunday" 10th anniversary bash Wednesday night, but it was another guest -- arriving fashionably late -- who really got heads turning. Hillary Clinton ?!!? Here?

"Having the clear frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination show up at a Fox News party created a lot of excitement, and makes a statement about how we're regarded in top Democratic circles," said host Chris Wallace, who invited her to the celebration.

Clinton spent an hour at Cafe Milano schmoozing with News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch (very chummy since last year's truce), Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes , and most of the Bush administration, including Karl Rove, Josh Bolten, Karen Hughes, Dan Bartlett and former Fox host Tony Snow, just hours after he was named the new Bush spokesman. "Ten years ago we could have never gotten the White House press secretary to come to this party," joked Ailes.

More than 300 VIPs crammed into the Georgetown hot spot, passing a gantlet of security to make the cut. Much jockeying for face time with Brit Hume and Bill O'Reilly, and once-and-future power brokers such as House Speaker Dennis Hastert , Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Sens. John McCain and Ben Nelson, Rep. Tom DeLay , Newt Gingrich, Ken Duberstein, Ted Olson, Vernon Jordan and former DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe. Yes, that flashy redhead was Georgette Mosbacher. Mike Wallace, Chris's dad, was on hand for the festivities. "Stop following me, Mike," Ailes told him. "This is it! The kid already got the job!"

The mood was conservatively expansive, with only playful jabs at CNN and MSNBC, and appropriately lush: Open bar, lots of food, cigars aplenty. The veep actually smiled when we interrupted his chat with Murdoch to ask about Snow. ("He'll do a superb job.") The new press sec starts briefings on May 8 and said he was rested and ready: "I was sleepless while I was trying to decide," Snow said. "I slept like a baby last night."