WERE THEY AT THE SAME DINNER? - AT 7:53 A.M. ET:  This is what drives us crazy about journalism.  Yes, reporters will have different takes on events. That's legitimate.  What's not legitimate is when they come in with their own sets of facts:

Story one, from The Politico:

Ending weeks of she-said, they-said drama, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin turned in a cameo appearance at the gala fundraising dinner for her party's House and Senate candidates in Washington Monday night.

But in spite of all the back-and-forth between her camp and dinner

organizers leading up to the event, Palin's presence went little-noticed.

The Alaska Governor sat next to her husband, Todd Palin, at the table of National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn, but she didn’t make any public remarks.

If she hadn't walked quickly across the stage the outset and if her presence hadn’t been mentioned briefly in the remarks of some of the evening's speakers, it would have been hard to know that she had, in fact, shown up.

Story two, from CNN:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Newt Gingrich was the keynote speaker at Monday night's fundraising dinner for the Senate and House Republican campaign committees, but it was Sarah Palin who stole the show.

The Alaska governor's last-minute appearance at the GOP's biggest fundraiser of the year ended 24 hours of speculation that the she might skip the event. A late attempt to have her speak at the dinner fell through when organizers feared she might upstage Gingrich, the onetime House speaker.

Hours before the event was slated to begin, an aide to Palin would not confirm that she would be attending. But when Palin and her husband, Todd, sauntered across the stage with Gingrich and his wife, Callista, shortly before the program commenced, their appearance was met with cheers from the audience of 2,000 party loyalists.

And...

Palin did not speak at the event, but during a break in the program for dinner, Republicans clustered around the former vice presidential nominee's table near the front of the ballroom, eager to meet the governor and pose for pictures.

It was the only table in the vast ballroom that had a crowd gathered around it -- and despite their distance from Palin's table, multiple television cameras kept their lenses trained on the governor for much of the night.

COMMENT:  From everything else I've read, the second story is accurate.  Sarah got a huge ovation, and the main speakers made sure to mention her.  As far as the first story is concerned, editors might have a chat with the reporter.

June 9, 2009