New York Observer: The Perfect Sassy News Source for Liberal Democrats

When thinking about perfect products that you just can't live without, none comes more quickly to mind more for me than the cheeky "New York Observer" newspaper. This paper comes out once a week, but the news it delivers is unlike anything you can find anywhere else in the country. Of course, being based in Manhattan, a lot of the news is centered on local politics and events, with juicy leaks from the world of socialites, big real estate, and entertainment. Yet, for my money, this is the place to get the inside scoop on what's happening with the Democratic Party. Particularly with the 2008 election heating up so quickly, this weekly newspaper has become a must read for a good Liberal Democrat like me.

That's not to say that the "New York Observer" doesn't cover a range of political news. It has produced great stories of late that have tracked the campaign finance adventures of no less than its former mayor, Rudy Guilliani, and Republican front runner John McCain. Yet its sources seem inevitably focused on the slips and spins of the Democrats. After all, it was the "New York Observer" who broke the story on Senator Joe Biden's trash talk about John Edwards and Barak Obama. And with Senator Hillary Clinton in the paper's back yard, her campaign is always front and center.

The pink pages of the "New York Observer" cover a wide range of topics, heavily slanted to the interests of New Yorkers themselves: culture, local events, real estate, charity functions, and publishing, among others. Best of all, its take is clearly tongue-in-cheek, refusing to take itself...or anyone else...seriously. Particularly funny is its weekly calendar called "Eight Days a Week," which captures the leading social events in New York with a jaded eye. The newspaper generally divides its coverage into the following goupings: Media and Society, Politics and News, Op Ed Pages, The Culture, Location, and Miscellany. Certainly there is an emphasis on New York life, but these pages make for great reading no matter where in the country you live. After all, I live in Chicagoland, but I Iove getting this paper in the mail and have passed along many a story to my friends and family for their enjoyment, too.

To say the paper is funny does not mean there isn't serious content here. The "New York Observer" takes its politics seriously even while providing a witty running commentary. It gives you the deep, deep background on political stories you won't see covered by the mainstream media. It wears its sentiments on its sleeve, but that honesty allows it to open up the wiley shenanigans of clever politicians to ruthless cross examination. Want to know how Rudy is courting the Republican Bush Pioneers for campaign funds? It'll be in the "Observer." Want to know what happened at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, and who had a strange comment on Britney Spears's head-shaving incident? As the "New York Observer" reports, none other than Al Gore. Want to know what "Inside Edition" was pestering John Edwards about at his recent press conference? You need only open the pages of this delightful newspaper.

In short, the "New York Observer" does not provide mainstream media coverage, although it does address the most important topics of the day. Rather, its oblique approach to covering the always engaging world of politics and entertainment is not only funny, but insightful. If you really want a behind-the-scenes look at how the worlds of publishing, real estate, entertainment, philanthropy, and politics work, you can't do better than the "New York Observer."