The Week’s Opinion Awards Go To… Peggy Noonan, Tom Toles & John Sides. Oh, And A Monkey Cage Too…

NORTHWEST -- For all of Washington’s fun new restaurant launches and fashionable store openings, the city remains first and foremost about politics, public policy, and the pundits reporting on and editorializing such issues.

Sir Harold Evans and Tammy Haddad.
And last night, a handful of these oftentimes under-the-radar purveyors of “passionate perspective” were honored by their peers at the 2011 Opinion Awards, hosted by The Week Magazine on the rooftop of the W, Washington, D.C. hotel.

Indeed, where better to present a series of awards rooted in the global conversation (e.g., opinion writing) surrounding the political science emerging from the District, than at a building that boasts sweeping views of both the White House and the Washington Monument?

With Meet the Press moderator David Gregory serving as the evening’s master of ceremonies, guests enjoyed a three-course gourmet dinner as The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan, John Sides and The Monkey Cage, and The Washington Post’s Tom Toles were presented with awards for the year’s best columnist, blogger, and editorial cartoonist, respectively.

VIPs spotted among the crowd included, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN), White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Austan Goolsbee and his wife Robin Goolsbee, veteran network TV producer Tammy Haddad, CNN senior White House correspondent Ed Henry, Debbie Dingell (wife of Congressman John Dingell (D-MI)), MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski, CNN Senior Producer Shirley Hung, Washington Post Vice President Ben Bradlee, Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist, Venga President Winston Lord, former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, and The Week’s own Editor-at-Large Sir Harold Evans.

Forget about a night… Passionate perspective has its WEEK!