File this under Dog Bites Man. Via Atrios, NYTimes reports that Citizen Stengel has hired a Wannabee Hugh Hewitt's BFF:

Mark Halperin, who stepped down last month as the political director of ABC News, is moving to Time magazine. Mr. Halperin, a pioneer of online reporting who founded ABCnews.com’s political memo, The Note, will join Time as an editor-at-large and senior political analyst effective next Monday, the magazine said.

At Time, Mr. Halperin will report to Richard Stengel and Josh Tyrangiel, the managing editors, respectively, of Time magazine and the Time.com Web site. Mr. Stengel said that he started talking to Mr. Halperin, a longtime acquaintance, after the ABC announcement last month, with an eye to preparing for Time’s coverage of the 2008 elections.

. . . “Everybody wants to be ahead of the curve in this area, and Mark is the curve,” he said.

He is the Concern Troll Curve. You think Time will call Halperin's blog, "Why Karl Rove Is The Greatest" or "Matt Drudge Sez?" O'Reilly will no doubt be a fan.