Actress Morgan Fairchild is just one of those people. When she comes near, even on Twitter, Washington “insiders” lose their minds and turn into major starfuckers.
What is it, the crystalline blue eyes or that she dated then-Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in the early 80s and slept with Bobby Ewing (J.R.’s brother) on “Dallas?”
Last night, Fairchild, 63, tweeted at Neera Tanden of the liberal Center for American Progress. Tanden was beside herself. “Coolest thing of the week…getting a tweet from Morgan Fairchild,” she oozed. Fairchild buttered her up. “Ha! I watch you and Joan all the time, so I feel like I know you!” Tanden: “My year is made.” (Fairchild could have only been talking about Salon‘s perpetually angry Joan Walsh.) Fairchild gushed, “Hope we can all have coffee next time in DC. Friends with Ruth Marcus & Kathleen Parker, so ladies lunch?!” (Marcus and Parker are Washington Post columnists.) Tanden replied, “I’m so down with that…always up for fearless ladies lunch! Just let me know when you’re in town!”
But The Atlantic‘s Jeffrey Goldberg was soon green with jealousy. “Wow, you should be a character in This Town, Part II,” he said, taunting Fairchild and cc-ing New York Times‘ Mark Leibovich. And, “I’m not sure I’m liking this exclusionary vibe. All I’m saying is I’m Twitter friends with @morgfair as well, and I’d like to be included, thank you very much.” This got Fairchild’s attention. She wrote, “LOL! Harsly [sic, no doubt she meant hardly] just old friends, not book material.” Later she tried to appease him: “LOL! We can do a guy lunch, too! I usually see Norm Ornstein & Tom Oliphant. We’ll put one together.” (Fairchild was namedropping Ornstein, a political scientist at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute and a columnist and Oliphant, a former Boston Globe columnist).
Goldberg and Tanden are only the latest examples of Washingtonians who go nuts for Fairchild. Most recently, New York Times and CNBC reporter John Harwood was doing some serious This Town namedropping when he humble-bragged about an upcoming interview with President Obama. He announced, “Look forward to interviewing Pres Obama 4 pm tomorrow @CNBC at such a big moment – as Washington grapples w/shutdown/debt economic threats.” Fairchild sent him a note, “Congrats, John! Can’t wait to see your interview.” That was all it took. When a Harwood follower tweaked him, writing, “Dems love you. Wonder why,” he replied, “Admit it dude – you WISH Morgan Fairchild sent you a msg. Ha!” To Morgan, Harwood nauseatingly wrote, “You are nice, Morgan.”