The third time was the charm for Obama booster Harvey Weinstein, who hosted his third bipartisan Election Night party with G.O.P. diehard Georgette Mosbacher. Tuesday’s event at Public House, in the shadow of Grand Central Terminal, was also co-hosted by Jim Nelson, editor-in-chief of GQ and Cindy Lieve, top editor at Glamour.
Crescendos of applause and cheers were heard when cable news nets on the bigscreen TVs started calling more and more states for Obama. On the whole, though, the party had a more New York society vibe that kept it from turning into an all-out rally. The guest list included Salman Rushdie, former Wall Street Journal editor Paul Steiger, New York attorney general Robert Morgenthau, Showtime topper Matt Blanc, Jessica Alba and cast members from the Broadway revival of “The Seagull.”
“This is a great night for the country,” Harvey Weinstein said. “Obama is going to have a positive effect on the economy. The stock market averages will go up around the world.”
The mix of people and perspectives at the party “is what New York and this country is all about. Obama will walk across the aisle and get it done.”
Mossbacher, a longtime Republican who is chief exec of cosmetics company Borghese, “was complaining to me because she said Obama’s tax plan was going to hurt her business. This is a company with $100 million in revenue. She’s not Jane the Plumber. She owns all the plumbing.”
