The New York Times on Meet The Press post-election and the influence of Brokaw

"...but it is leaning toward an ensemble of hosts that would be led by Chuck Todd, NBC’s political director, and include David Gregory, a correspondent and MSNBC anchor, according to a person who had been briefed on the proposal but was not authorized to comment, partly because the plans were not set. Like the turnover of anchors at all three network newscasts, the process of choosing a successor for Mr. Russert has been closely watched in media and political circles."

CHUCK POLL RESULTS:who won the debate?

Well, you voted and the results speak volumes. As well as mirror the growing consensus: Obama won - Grumpy ol' man loses.

The Chuck's early take on the Debate

"Still, count me impressed by both candidates. I know it may sound a bit pollyannish, but I thought one would not bring their "A" game or that one would get complacent and that didn't happen. There are some who believe a "draw" is better for the candidate perceived to be ahead. If that's the case, then the polls will continue their Obama drift. But I wouldn't be surprised if the polls don't move much in either direction because neither candidate gave a reason why voters ought to stop listening and make their decision now."

Read The Chuck's full take here

A morning to remember:This morning on Morning Joe something special happened

The crew here at the Viva Chuck Todd editorial offices bring themselves up to speed daily by scanning the latest DVR recording of the day's events that The Chuck might have been a part of. In most cases, the time viewing is spent fast-forwarding through all things not Chuck and stopping occasionally to watch something that looks like it got big laughs.

This morning's Morning Joe was a different show entirely. Just The Chuck and Scarborough alone co-hosting was a site to behold. What made it all so much better was the panoply of guests who added to the examination of the hell we all seem to be going through via the brittle economic situation. Noonan, Snowe, Herbert, Rubin, Murphy, Gibbs, Wallace, Stengel, Burnett, Haines and Zuckerman were all part of a coherent dialog that captivated for three hours. We honest to God wanted to fast-forward through something, yet the content of the show was compelling, topical and downright fascinating (Okay, Tommy Hilfiger was the off-key plunk at the end of the show). Scarborough shined as the passionate counterpoint and The Chuck served as the academic font that all who chatted went to for empirical data. The Chuck displayed a relaxed inquisitive nature not seen prior. He questioned everyone, especially James Rubin, former Clinton Administration Deputy Secretary of State cogently and respectfully. On the inverse, he was also often asked questions of by guests who really wanted to know the score.

From this office's perspective it was compelling TV; for those of you that saw it, what did you think?

NEW VIVA CHUCK TODD e-CARDS:giving comedy props to the Surface

We realized that we haven't posted any new e-cards lately despite the damn things being a unmitigated hit. So, taking into account everyone's fascination with the new Microsoft Surface toy The Chuck gets to play with and the sexual overtones of The Chuck fondling something nightly, we thought these cards were the perfect marriage of the two...enjoy.

Not Cool:Matthews disses The Chuck

One might have noticed The Chuck becoming extra passionate the last few days as a result of the tumultuous polling landscape and the circumstances wreaking havoc on them.

Today's NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll was the last shoe to drop in the pronouncement that the McCain campaign is listing and needs to right itself. The "Hail Mary" of today's campaign cessation announcement and debate reschedule was certainly chum for the news sharks and polling companies.

With that said, this kind of action means only one thing to The Chuck: constant NBC/MSNBC exposure. Every hour, The Chuck was there. He was on Morning Joe. He was on Hardball. He was on The Nightly News with Brian Williams. The man was a machine raising salient points and bringing the "gold standard" of polls (NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll) to the public.

But something happened today that could only be summarized as "not cool". On Hardball with Chris Matthews, The Chuck brought his game and was exceptionally forceful and expressive in his presentation of the facts. Obviously off his game, Matthews not only did his usual verbal toe-stepping on The Chuck, but cut to a phone-in McCain spokesperson without so much as a thank you to The Chuck. It was abrupt, inappropriate and rude. The Chuck is now in a position to bring some serious gravitas to the party and to cast him off without so much as a "thank you" is done at one's peril.

Set design inspired by the 70's

This morning The Chuck suffered the greatest of indignities as he stood in front of the fugliest set known to broadcast news.

It was a slap-dash pile of taffeta and lighting girders that barely covered the back walls of the studio. The stark contrast to the state-of-the-art technology of the Microsoft Surface was not lost on Scarborough and Mike Murphy who ridiculed The Chuck accordingly.

Who could blame them actually? It was hideous and nowhere near the quality of old Laugh-In sets. But despite the huge liability, The Chuck persevered as the picture of professionalism and made it through as if he never looked over his shoulder.

Nice Job on Countdown Shuster

Hats off to you on filling in for Uncle Keith.

There's something about this guy we like (aside from the fact that he's a Chuckolyte button-carrying member).

CHUCK COUTURE: Jonathan Capehart dons the bow tie and the crowd goes Wilde

In a bold and courageous move this morning, Jonathan Capehart of The Washington Post chose to out-George Will George Will by donning a rather, how shall we say, flamboyant polka-dotted bow tie that lacked the necessary rigidity to fend off the comments of those who would never dream of going where Mr. Capehart went in his tie choice.

It was by all accounts a calm morning despite the scurrilous election, still-to-be-determined averted financial collapse and the metaphorical end credits of Pax Americana. So none of us were prepared for what Capehart was wearing. We have all become somewhat innured to the double, triple, quadruple Windsors the young wordsmith has laid on us; but even the most seasoned Capehart fan did not see this coming - a bow tie!

It was a gloriously floppy dark slate blue number that provided a field for white dots to prance upon like jewels on blue velvet. It was tied in a knot that was structured yet fashionably laissez-faire at the ends. Capehart batted away comments with the confidence of someone who revels in being a trendsetter, despite that trend being somewhat obscured by decades. Although the dichotomy of Scarborough letting loose with a snide acknowledgment while wearing a skinny Sears tie that could only be riffed via a "Ryan Seacrest" reference, was rich indeed.

Hats off to you young Capehart. Our senses are now heightened to what comes next. Know this; we look forward to your Ascot next week.

filed by Viva Chuck Todd fashion editor, Devon O'Toole

FREE VIVA CHUCK TODD RINGTONEDecision 08 Theme Music

Okay, we've really outdone ourselves on this one (right click - save link as).

We feel especially proud that we beat MSNBC to the punch, because we know all Chuckolytes and Maddites are going to install this pronto.

Q&A Cafe w/ Carol Joynt: THE CHUCK

All political geeks who do not have the good fortune of living in or near Washington D.C are deprived the phenomenal political/entertainment watering hole known as Nathan's. Every week Nathan's puts on "'The Q&A Cafe with Carol Joynt' - a talk show taped live before an audience at Nathans Restaurant in Georgetown, Washington, DC. It's open to anyone who wants to attend". To see just how much of a Georgetown institution this place is, check this out.

This past week they hosted The Chuck. Emoting his usual affable and casual demeanor, dozens of lucky Chuckolytes got to enjoy The Chuck's nuggets of wisdom up close and personal. The interview in it's entirety is fun, intimate and in-depth. We especially liked the first five or so minutes of the interview where Carol talks about Viva Chuck Todd and Chuckolyte.com and gets The Chuck to comment. It was bittersweet in the fact that we like to get mentioned, but man, do we hate to see The Chuck squirm over us.

So with any further interruption, Q&A Cafe w/ Carol Joynt: Chuck Todd

Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V

And most importantly, A big Viva Chuck Todd gracias to Carol Joynt for the shout out to us Chuckolytes - your membership card is on it's way ;)

Q&A Cafe w/ Carol Joynt: THE CHUCKa Chuckolyte's perspective

In between manning Microsoft Surface, First Read and the slate of appearances on NBC/MSNBC the Chuck found time to head over to Georgetown for a little salmon and grilling by Carol Joynt in her local Q&A. The man hasn’t slept since February but he still found time for this and it is why we adore him!

Chuckolytes will be thrilled to know that The Chuck is beloved and respected here at home as he is out on the Internets.

For the Viva Chuck Todd crew, I believe you have officially outdone the likes of The Drudge Report and Page Six of the NY Post in importance. Carol Joynt kicked off her interview not with the latest Gallup Polls, the Sarah Palin factor or how the Economic crisis was shifting the election – no, no with her priorities straight Ms. Joynt led the afternoon’s Q&A with VCT and the Chuckolytes (I swear we should have tour t-shirts). The Chuck’s response – “I keep my head down – they’ve been very kind…I just don’t want them to go negative”.

The interview covered a multitude of topics in all too brief an hour. Highlights included, The Chuck’s time at Hotline and his 15 years of work to wanting to kill Scarborough over the lame nickname “Chucky T”. Here is a sampling of The Chuck’s brilliance:

On Hotline: “It was way ahead of it’s time… a lighthouse for politics… I figured out how to read it on my Kindle.”

On the gossip about NBC/MSNBC in fighting: “There are a lot more untruths out there then truths."

On Russert: “I lost my father when I was sixteen. I feel the same way about Tim everyday when I have this list of 75,000 conversations I wish I could have with him.”

On Russert’s power at the network: “When someone passes on, there's always a mythology of the power someone had. Maybe what made Tim powerful within the news network is that he had more power than he ever used.”

On becoming the host of Meet the Press: “There’s no right answer to that question… To tell you the truth I don’t know if I want the job. Who wants to be the idiot who follows in Tim's shoes. Not only that, but you have to follow in Tim's shoes and now Tom [Brokaw]'s shoes.”

On the Internet: “The Internet is begging to be organized.”

On Bill Gates: “Steve Jobs is always going to be cooler than you, get over it”

On the rise of Cable News: “And then came the gift to cable news – Monica Lewinsky.” [as what catapulted cable news to prominence].

On those Polls: “Polls are going to be wrong this cycle...[because] it is going to be the percentage of the electorates [that determines the outcome].

By far The Chuck’s take on what makes the 2008 election historic is what sets him apart from the rest of the pack. “This is a marker election, not because of the first black nominee of a major party, or because of the first woman on a Republican national ticket, but because both of them are post baby boomers. 2008 shuts a door on baby boomers. The baby boom generation is going to have to do some soul searching about what happened. It should be Tom Brokaw’s next book. How this whole generation that ran the sports world, ran Wall Street, ran the business world… Baby boomers failed us as leaders.”

With modesty, humility, intellect and a dash of sarcasm The Chuck deftly sustained the sometimes intrusive questioning of the interviewer (who at times I just wanted to smack for interrupting him mid sentence). Although Joynt does deserve some props for coining a new turn of phrase – in referring to a fellow journalist’s changing his facial hair Joynt stated, “When I saw him the other day it was completely redone as a Chuck Todd”. That’s right folks; we have the beard, the goatee and now, The Chuck Todd – tell your neighbors.

The interview came to an end to which Chuck simply said, “This was almost fun.” And with that he paused briefly for photos and quickly dashed off in a cab back to Nebraska Ave.

filed by Viva Chuck Todd Senior Field Corespondent, Dalissa

Kitties, Eunuchs and bromance:Something was in the air this morning onMorning Joe

At a press conference held earlier this morning by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, it was announced that a large-scale gas leak of nitrous oxide (aka "laughing gas") throughout the NBC studios at Rockefeller Plaza was responsible for today's silly and at times ridiculous behavior of the Morning Joe cast.


Minutes after Morning Joe ended it's broadcast, several HAZMAT teams were deployed throughout the building to locate and determine the severity of the leak. It was discovered that not one, but several tanks of nitrous oxide were being discharged throughout the building's ventilation system. Authorities are still trying to determine how such large amounts of the euphoric gas found it's way into 30 Rock, but in a Viva Chuck Todd exclusive, several NBC employees who on the condition of anonymity, claimed that several tanks of the gas were being used by Countdown with Keith Olbermann crew members to help them tolerate and laugh at Olbermann's jokes; providing the familiar off-camera chortles frequently heard on his show. It was also claimed by these sources that the gas was also being used by Rachel Maddow to help her get through the Kent Jones Just Enough segment at the end of her new show. Although the investigation is still in it's infancy, fingers already point to Al Roker as the key suspect for bringing the gas to 30 Rock. It appears that Roker has been using the gas for years on The Today Show cast and crew in getting them to think he was the least bit funny - a technique he adapted from his predecessor, Willard Scott.

The behavior that tipped the scales and led many viewers to flood the New York City 911 system with calls was the moment Harold Ford Jr. began to smile. Concern amongst viewers reached it's zenith when Ford actually tried to crack a joke. The uncharacteristically ebullient mood was not isolated to Ford. Ol' Man Barnacle and Our Man Willie sat uncomfortably close to each other throughout the entire show. The proximity of their chairs and the effect of the noxious gas was apparently too much for the men, culminating in a Bush/Merkel-esque shoulder rub and a celebratory on-air embrace. Earlier, Barnacle had admitted to being a "cat man" and someone who keeps his cat in his car's glove compartment while he shuffles around Home Depot in his off-hours. Another "canary in the coal mine" was Mika Brzezinski, who herself displayed effects of the gas. In her case though, she was serious, introspective and constantly trying to bring order to the group. Brzezinski is currently undergoing tests at New York-Presbyterian Hospital as doctors are tying to determine why laughing gas would have the opposite effect on her. Amazingly, Scarborough himself appeared to be unaffected, displaying the bi-polar tendencies usually seen by viewers.

In a related story, authorities were also dispatched to the CNBC studios at the New York Stock Exchange where International Superstar, Erin Burnett herself appeared to be a tad loopy and uttered the unfortunate term "eunuch" on-air raising suspicions that she too, was affected by the gas.

It is important to note that The Chuck was unharmed and the Washington D.C. bureau was declared safe by local authorities.

Wisconsin, Wisconsin, Wisconsin

I really don't think the average Chuckolyte is ever going to get tired of seeing The Chuck man the Microsoft Surface con for election math.

This morning on Morning Joe he referred to himself as the "electoral waiter"; au contraire Monsieur Todd. You are a nothing less than a sorcerer conjuring up multiple permutations of electoral college outcomes.

Behold.

Viva Mika Brzezinski!

So this morning on Morning Joe, Senator John McCain took a unprofessional shot at Mika for being a Barack Obama supporter.

In a question that was asked of him by Mika concerning the economy, McCain couched his answer with the provocative taunt to communicate to her assumed candidate of choice, Senator Obama, that the town hall offer still stands. Okay, Scarborough does it all the time and it's part of their schtick, but McCain often has trouble with punchlines and comedic timing so he came off as pugnacious or shall we say "pissy".

After that, hackles were raised and the woman scorned shot back unveiling inside familial information (Mika's two brothers work on presidential campaigns - one for Obama and one for McCain) and cut the Senator to the quick - check out the 7:25 mark on the video.

And now a word from our sponsor:New Cerebral Itch e-cards

Here's just a couple of the new political e-cards we've added.

Did you really think we'd sit by and let this whole McCain/Palin thing go by without popping off?

48 or above

To say The Chuck has been coming into his own lately would be an understatement tantamount to we've had a pinch of bad weather in the gulf.

This morning on Meet The Press, The Chuck minced no words as to where Obama's numbers need to be the Sunday before the general election in order to win. Our favorite part of this clip is The Chuck's closing facial expression. It almost says, "You can take that to the bank Suckas, I'll be over here lounging with my mojito while you people wrack your brains for the next 50 days."

George Will: Metaphor Thief

When one Googles "Palin Bubble", The Chuck's article that was posted on Friday floats to the top. So color us cynical when we see conservative stalwart and This Week fixture, George Will make reference this morning to the "Palin Bubble" and carries it off as his own invention. The background chortling by George Stephanopoulos makes it that much more irritating in the fact that The Chuck brought this metaphor home, tied it up in a succinct package and now other people are not only mentioning it but trying to sell it as their own.

Then again, this has got to be in there somewhere with imitation being the sincerest form of flattery.

The Palin BubbleThe Chuck weighs in

The Chuck paints an insightful metaphor explaining the fragile state of affairs surrounding Sarah Palin's popularity. Take our latest Chuck Poll and tell us what you think about the "Palin Bubble"

Finally, a story about you

In the slick new online mag Culture 11, Chuckolytes were exclusively examined. Everyone you read about in the article are card-carrying Chuckolytes and we couldn't be prouder. We know what a cool and passionate lot you all are, now the world can know the same thing.

The Chuck assumes the con of the Starship MSNBC

Check out The Chuck using Microsoft Surface. An absolutely riveting interface technology that's bringing us that much closer to those cool-ass scenes in Minority Report and Iron Man. All we need is for them to integrate the LCARS interface and there will be a geek convergence like the world has never known.

You have no idea what we're taking about, do you Scarborough? Good - pass the Cheetos.

The Man, The Myth, The Chuck

Allow us to dispense with the goofy polls, the drinking games and puckish little asides that populate this site and get back to what brought us here in the first place: A young gentleman who was plucked from obscurity to dazzle us with his gifts at a time when those gifts would be both greatly appreciated and desperately needed.

Today, Chuck had two shining moments that illuminated for so many why he is deserving of our admiration and respect. That is not to say that these two moments were rarities. In fact, each time he's on-air he says something that has most people muttering, "man, that guys knows his stuff." But today, there was no bombast of scheduled events or the noise of scandal or newsflash. There were just numbers.

Another individual who loves and understands these political numbers with the same fervor is Ol' Man Barnacle. Amidst the jovial chaos that is Morning Joe, Barnacle, losing every posture contest in the world, thoughtfully posed a question to Chuck about the stability of the huge 20 point flip in McCain's favor as illustrated by the Washington Post/ABC News Poll. Barnacle confessed that "instinct" was probably the only way Chuck could answer the question. The Chuck not missing a beat, sussed out the fallacy of a 20 point flip. Reminding Barnacle and us that his instinct is pretty damn adequate at times like these.



One train ride up to New York later, placed him on the set of Countdown with Keith Olbermann discussing the new numbers from the NBC/WSJ poll that confirmed the results from the earlier polls. Adding a new dimension to all of this Chuck let loose with another "Holy crap, where does this guy come up with these amazing points." moment concerning early voting ballots, October 15th and Palin as a debate audience member. Watch it and prepared to be slack-jawed. Hell, he made Olbermann take note; no small feat there.

The Chuck finally gets his shots in on Scarborough and chimes in on Palin and Hillary

The Chuck finally goes after Scarborough in busting his hump for not being around 57 days before the election. Albeit in absentia, he still took a swing at his major ball-buster. Mika and Willie tried to defend him, but to no avail. Chuck referred to Scarborough's absence as a "bunch of hooey"; which we felt was a marvelous sound bite and choice nugget for a Viva Chuck Todd ringtone - click here to download.

The Chuck then got down to brass tacks and addressed the Palin issue, The Gallup Daily Tracking Polls and most interestingly, Hillary deflecting Palin for Obama.

Uncles Matthews and Olbermann are out

Over the weekend, MSNBC decided to give it's two biggest personalities some harsh news: Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann are relieved of their duty as election night hosts. From here on in, David Gregory (yeah, we know) will be at the helm and Matthews and Olbermann will be reduced to the role of analysts.

If you feel this was a needed move based on journalistic integrity or, if you're like us and have a brain-spraining time trying to imagine these two chiming in on election night as second fiddles to David Gregory, go ahead and participate in our newest poll:

Viva Rachel Maddow is officially live!

The creators of Viva Chuck Todd are very proud to announce that Viva Rachel Maddow is now hot and ready for prime time, just like it's namesake.

Maddites (that's right, you heard us, "Maddites") now have a place to follow their favorite Doctor of Political Science and clock cleaner of conservative asshats. And just like Viva Chuck Todd, the site will be a stunning success only with the involvement and contributions of it's readers. So, start commenting and sending those emails about what you would like to see on this site alongside the patented "Viva" flavah.

And while you're over at Viva Rachel Maddow, please visit the Viva Rachel Maddow online store. In addition to scoring schwag emblazoned with another great online brand featuring the hottest news personality right up there with The Chuck, all proceeds from the store will be donated to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Listeners of The Rachel Maddow Show on Air America and viewers of Countdown with Keith Olbermann will recognize this organization as well as it's founder, author and Iraq war veteran, Paul Rieckhoff - a frequent guest of both programs.

Now wipe away those tears of joy and get yourself over there. Your fellow Maddites await.

Rachel Maddow stands up against facial hair tyranny and stands up for The Chuck's goatee

You know, there's a rush us Chuckolytes get when Rachel Maddow throws us some crossover love as she works The Chuck's goatee into the opening schtick of Countdown's Oddball segment.

The Chuck weighs in on the McCain convention hangover

News You Can't Use:Andrea "Boom Boom" Mitchell

Looking like a bacteria under attack in someone's bloodstream, Andrea Mitchell persevered beneath a onslaught of balloons on the floor of the Republican Convention post McCain acceptance. Our Man Willie does a great piece on the incident and the man responsible for the balloon deluge. The video is worth watching just for Scarborough's laughter in the background. Love'im or hate'im, Scarborough probably has one of the most infectious laughs second only to this kid.

Uh, is this mic on?

The Chuck held court today for a gorgeous blooper and fed the beast with some innocent post-interview questioning that caused former McCain 2000 campaign manager and Republican strategist, Mike Murphy and Wall Street Journal columnist, Peggy Noonan to voice their genuine opinions about Sarah Palin and the new Republican gameplan while their microphones were mistakenly still hot.

Just the fact that the acclaimed wordsmith and doyenne of diction, Peggy Noonan uses the word "bullshit" makes this a classic and perhaps the greatest soundbite for a dance mashup since the Barbra Streisand classic. The surrounding content of her profanity is in direct contradiction to her column in the Wall Street Journal this morning which heaped praise on the "transformative" figure that is Palin. It brings this to a level of irony that is to be relished by all political junkies and anyone who gives a less than Christian gesture to the screen when Noonan comes on.

UPDATE: Noonan's column is now complete with a mea culpa posited as her "mugging" by the media. She also proclaimed regret for "blurting" a "barnyard epithet". Sorry honey, when you say "excuse me" before you let loose with your potty word, you ain't blurtin' a thing - that's premeditated cussin'.

The Chuck's new MSNBC Politics promo

The Chuck does more to restore our faith in government with this promo than a 12-hour West Wing marathon.

Chuckolytes storm Denver!

One of the main reasons for hauling our cans out to Denver was to meet Chuckolytes from all over the country. To be honest, we truly didn't anticipate the sheer numbers or the enthusiasm of the free-range Chuckolyte as they roamed the Denver streets.



We learned first thing Wednesday morning that the Morning Joe crew is raucous band of hardcore Chuckolytes. But when we got to the MSNBC broadcast cube to hand out Viva Chuck Todd schwag we really saw the revolution. Once our staff and their trusty yellow Viva Chuck Todd messenger bags filled with posters and Chuckolyte pins were spotted by The Chuck's fans we were essentially mauled. During The Chuck's anchoring gigs throughout the week, the crowd proudly held aloft Viva Chuck Todd posters and screamed his name.

One of the true highlights of this crazy scene was on Thursday when Obama Communications Director, Robert Gibbs came by the set to talk with The Chuck. While he was being mic'd he noticed all the Viva Chuck Todd posters. Mr. Gibbs cracked an impressed jovial smile and commented to The Chuck on how great the Chuckolyte presence was. After his appearance, Mr. Gibbs along with his staff made his way to a waiting car. Our editor Paul intercepted him and Mr. Gibbs immediately recognized the trusty yellow Viva Chuck Todd messenger bag and came over. He was genuinely amused by the Viva Chuck Todd schwag and asked if he could have each one of the posters; we gladly gave him several along with a handful of Chuckolyte and Chuck'08 pins. We were truly struck by how down-to-earth and just plain nice this man was. He graciously posed for a picture with us and got on his way not showing any of the stress someone in his position should show considering his candidate was hours from giving the biggest speech of the campaign. As we shook his hand, we wished him the best of luck on the evening's event...like that crew even needed it.

Viva Chuck Todd shout out from Rachel Maddow

So let's just say right now that given the chance we'd drop everything and happily be Rachel Maddow's scantily clad house boy or girl forever. This woman is funny, classy, brilliant and also happened to know who the hell we were when we rushed the stage she was on in The Big Tent.

This is how it went down: She was moderating a discussion with the CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt on the Internet and Politics. It was a packed house but we were ready with our video camera and Viva Chuck Todd schwag. When the discussion ended, desperate techies with their resumes waving rushed Schmidt and those of us with a borderline dysfunctional adoration complex for Rachel shouted for her attention like 11 year-old Jonas Brothers fangirls. Being that Paul, our editor-in-chief is 6'5" and 220lbs the other geeks didn't stand a chance. He reached over the masses, handing Rachel a Chuckolyte pin, to which in all the chaos she said, "what's this?" That's when Paul held up his trusty yellow Viva Chuck Todd messenger bag and Rachel immediately recognized us. Now this is where we get all misty. Rachel squealed with glee and hugged Paul. After we brought Paul back to consciousness, we told her how popular her e-cards had become and she laughed mentioning that she'd received a bunch. We asked her if she'd say hi to all the Viva Chuck Todd fans and of course she obliged. You may be able to make it out in the video, but if not, after she said "hi" to all of you, Paul threw out the question "guess who owns 'Viva Rachel Maddow'?" Rachel looked down at us with a bit of a mischievous smile and a wink saying "I know, I know". Then...she was gone.

And we can't end this post without wishing Rachel with all sincerity, best wishes on the debut of her new MSNBC show, Monday, September 8 at 9pm EST. In celebration of that hallowed event, VivaRachelMaddow.com will officially launch on the same day. It will have all the flava you've come to know and love with Viva Chuck Todd along with some new surprises - bookmark it now.