I only met her in person once, at the 2008 DNC convention in Denver, when she and Salon hosted an evening party for bloggers and the MSM reporters. She was very gracious and it really was fun for the two groups, who regularly read each other, to meet in person.

Why was Joan's contract not renewed? MSNBC gave no reason. I don't think MSNBC is particularly politically oriented when it comes to paid contributors. They want a debate to make the segments lively and engaging, so they always hire people from both sides of the aisle. But they are ratings oriented. They just won the coveted 25 to 54 ratings bracket from CNN and want to stay there. I hope it isn't an age/gender issue.

[Disclosure: I was a paid MSNBC analyst when the network was brand new, from 1996 - 1998. It was Phil Griffen who made the decision to hire me, and I found him to be incredibly talented at his job (he wasn't yet President of MSNBC). The man had to make hundreds of quick call decisions every day, had a hand in every show -- down to being in the control room speaking in your ear while the show was live. He was the most well-liked person in management (at least among the legal analysts at the time, and the segment producers I worked with). So I'm going to assume not renewing Joan's contract was a business decision for MSNBC and not throw stones at them. But I will be interested to see who they hire as a replacement.)

In any event, congrats to Joan Walsh for landing at CNN so quickly. Her voice is definitely one I will not mute when I listen to CNN.