What Are the Media Celebrating?

"We're all wrestling with this," Press says. "In the '80s, every night I could just slam Reagan. It's tougher when your guy is in the White House, but it doesn't mean you support everything he does. Your role shifts to holding his feet to the fire."

A bit harder to do when you're broadcasting for OBAMA 1260.

"If the expectations are that he's going to be the savior, absolutely, they can never be met," Huffington says. But she believes that "Obama can be the catalyst for fundamental change in how we all act as citizens."

There appear to be more blowout bashes than when Bush or Bill Clinton came to power, perhaps reflecting the allure of Obamamania. But there are also many more media outlets than in the pre-blogging age.

One thing is certain: in the midst of two long wars and an unnerving financial crisis, even some conservatives say that everyone wants a piece of this feel-good story.

"A lot of people feel a lot of happiness, and it's not a bad thing to grab a happy moment and show it and revel in it," says Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan.

And feeling good is the point of the social scene as well, as with the New Republic sponsoring a Yo-Yo Ma concert Saturday, and NBC chief executive Jeff Zucker hosting a brunch for 800 yesterday at the National Museum for Women in the Arts.

Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO of parent company General Electric, addressed the sushi-nibbling crowd from a grand staircase at the museum: "I thought I'd begin by saying, welcome, fellow Democrats." It was, apparently, a joke.

The Washington Post Co. has been a player as well: Slate threw a soiree Saturday at the apartment of Christopher Hitchens, while CEO Donald Graham hosted a Sunday night ball at the National Museum of American History for the company's black-oriented Web site, The Root. Boldfaced names included Spike Lee, Henry Louis Gates, Samuel L. Jackson, Natalie Portman and -- mostly secluded in a VIP lounge -- Oprah Winfrey. David Gregory even boogied, showing off his dance moves.

"There's a slightly manic feel to it all, welcoming in a new era with such hope," says Brown, whose brunch helped promote her new Web site, the Daily Beast. "There's such relief that this eight years is gone and everyone wants to celebrate. There's hope that Obama is going to be the man who leads everyone to the promised land. Everyone kind of wants this young president to succeed."

Some serious business was conducted amid the hors d'oeuvres as incoming White House aides made the rounds. Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski chatted with David Axelrod at the Beast brunch Sunday, while at a CNN luncheon at the Newseum an hour later, Gloria Borger tried to wheedle information out of Rahm Emanuel.

But not all the talk was about politics. At Dowd's party, where guests caught glimpses of David Geffen and Diane Von Furstenberg, Larry David got into a surprisingly passionate debate about the Eagles-Cardinals playoff game with ESPN's Tony Kornheiser. But the utter gridlock proved a deterrent: Ben Affleck, like Hanks before him, took one look at the mob scene and fled.