President-elect Barack Obama's visit to the White House led all three network newscasts last night, and is being featured on the front pages of today's major newspapers. Most stories continue to reflect positively on the Obama transition effort, with President Bush also getting high marks for his "gracious" treatment of the Obamas. The CBS Evening News, for example, reported in its lead story that "when...Obama is sworn in on January 20, he'll inherit a world of trouble, but today it was one gracious couple welcoming another to their new home and new life." AFP notes reports Obama's spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama had found "nothing but cooperation and graciousness on the part of the administration." The AP describes both couples as "all smiles and compliments," and adds that "if first impressions matter, Obama and his wife displayed one similarity to the super-punctual Bushes." USA Today notes the President-elect "arrived with his wife 11 minutes early, but the always-punctual Bushes were ready to greet them." NBC Nightly News said Bush "appears determined to give the new president a smooth transition despite a long campaign where at times he seemed as much Obama's opponent as Senator McCain." The Washington Times, Washington Post, New York Times, McClatchy, Financial Times, Roll Call and The Hill run similar accounts.
But while most media reports focus on what the White House called the "constructive, relaxed, and friendly" nature of the meeting, stories in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and MSNBC paint a different picture of the encounter, emphasizing Obama's push for immediate aid to US automakers. The Wall Street Journal, under the headline "Obama Prods Bush to Aid Detroit," says the President-elect "pressed...Bush to take immediate action to help stave off the collapse of the US auto industry and to aid the economy more broadly." Yet "the Bush administration continues to be reluctant to intervene. While the president-elect has called for immediate action, transition aides say he is hesitant to assert himself too boldly in the process before being sworn in as president. What Mr. Obama does not want, they say, is to be saddled with responsibility for the crisis in Detroit before he has the authority to do anything about it."
On its front page, the New York Times reports "Bush indicated at the meeting that he might support some aid and a broader economic stimulus package if Mr. Obama and Congressional Democrats dropped their opposition to a free-trade agreement with Colombia, a measure for which Mr. Bush has long fought, people familiar with the discussion said." While "Obama went into his post-election meeting with Mr. Bush on Monday primed to urge him to support emergency aid to the auto industry, advisers to Mr. Obama said," Democrats also "indicate that neither Mr. Obama nor Congressional leaders are inclined to concede the Colombia pact to Mr. Bush, and may decide to wait until Mr. Obama assumes power on Jan. 20." The Times goes on to report, "For Mr. Bush, however, the hard-line approach is his only leverage to make the trade agreements part of his legacy. The Colombia deal, especially, is strongly opposed by organized labor groups, which are a major force in the Democratic Party, and by human-rights activists."
The Washington Post reports that "faced with an apparent stalemate, Congressional Democrats began drafting legislation to give the Detroit automakers quick access to $25 billion by adding them to the Treasury Department's $700 billion economic rescue program. ... Yesterday, in an urgent bipartisan appeal, all 15 House members and both senators from Michigan sent a letter asking the Bush administration to include the auto industry in the Treasury program on its own initiative or to work with Congress to modify the program." However, "so far, administration officials have resisted calls to include the Detroit automakers in the Treasury's bailout program."
Andrea Mitchell, on the MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, said Obama "came with an agenda. This was not just small talk. ... This was serious business. He talked about the economy and he talked about the auto industry needs more money -- the $25 billion set aside needs to be disbursed more quickly. There needs to be a stimulus package now during the lame duck session and this means tax cuts for the middle class...before he takes office. He also talked foreclosures; for people with adjustable rate mortgages," they "now face more foreclosures, with more defaults the economy will continue to slide downward so that there should be some kind of housing program. All this before he even takes office. So basically he's coming into the living room and the office of the current lame duck President and saying this is what I want before January 20 a pretty aggressive move."
Poll Finds High Approval, Lofty Expectations About Obama. USA Today reports, "Americans have soaring hopes for the incoming Obama administration and an even higher opinion of the Democrat they just elected president, a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows. Nearly seven in 10 adults, or 68%, said they have a favorable opinion of...Obama. Almost that many -- 65% -- said they think the country will be better off four years from now. ... Expectations for Obama are high across the board. Eight in 10 said he will improve conditions for minorities and the poor, and 76% said he'll increase respect for the United States abroad." Even Sen. John McCain "has rebounded since delivering a widely praised speech conceding Obama's win. A few days before the election, 50% viewed him favorably. In the new poll, taken Friday through Sunday, McCain's favorable rating was 64% -- his highest since early 2000 during his first White House bid."
Before President-elect Obama headed to the White House to meet with its president occupant, his transition team told reporters that it is weighing plans to close down the Guantanamo prison. Rachel Maddow, on MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, said, "I...recognize political power when I see it wielded. And wielded it was today by Sen. Obama. Underneath all the pretty pictures and warm smiles today, what can only be described as a bold, political power play by Obama in advance of today's meeting. Before this afternoon's meetings, it was leaked to the Associated Press that Obama's transition team is considering plans to close down Guantanamo plans, in other words, to undo one of the worst legacies of Bush's presidency, plans to get done what even Bush himself says he would like to do but he just can't figure out a way to do it."
The AP that "under the plan being crafted inside Obama's camp, some detainees would be released and others would be charged in US courts, where they would receive constitutional rights and open trials." The plan "being developed by Obama's team has been championed by legal scholars from both political parties. But as details surfaced Monday, it drew criticism from Democrats who oppose creating a new legal system and from Republicans who oppose bringing terrorism suspects to the US mainland." Obama foreign "policy adviser Denis McDonough said the president-elect wants Guantanamo closed, but no decision has been made 'about how and where to try the detainees, and there is no process in place to make that decision until his national security and legal teams are assembled.'"
Meanwhile,McClatchy reports, "civil liberties lawyers launched a feet-to-the-fire campaign in Monday's editions of The New York Times, taking out a powerful ad urging President-elect Barack Obama to order the closure of the Guantanamo prison camps and war court on inauguration day." ACLU Executive Anthony Romero "called it 'a shot across the bow,' and said Sunday that his organization would invest up to $500,000 in the campaign that seeks to avert any appeasement to centrists."
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The Wall Street Journal reports this morning President-elect Barack Obama "is leaning toward asking Defense Secretary Robert Gates to remain in his position for at least a year, according to two Obama advisers." And "a senior Pentagon official said Mr. Gates would likely accept the offer if it is made." While "like the president-elect, Mr. Gates supports deploying more troops to Afghanistan," the current defense secretary "strongly opposes a firm timetable for withdrawing American forces from Iraq, and his appointment could mean that Mr. Obama was effectively shelving his campaign promise to remove most troops from Iraq by mid-2010."
In a story about Obama's policies in Afghanistan, the Washington Post describes Gates as "frustrated by the performance of NATO allies whose troops make up more than half the total foreign force in Afghanistan," and says he and Adm. Michael Mullen "have already planned for a more overt and forceful US leadership role in the war, as well as more direct involvement by U.S. forces in fighting the Taliban in southern and western Afghanistan."
The New York Times, meanwhile, reports Richard J. Danzig "could be asked to serve as deputy secretary, ready to move up when Mr. Gates moves on."
NBC Nightly News reported last night, "It's that time, with the new first family coming to Washington, their new Secret Service but not so secret code names have become known. The Obama family code names all begin with the letter R, the President-elect is Renegade. Michelle Obama is Renaissance, 10-year-old Malia is Radiance, and 7-year-old Sasha is Rosebud."
Media reports this morning once again mention possible candidates for top positions in the Obama Administration.
DOD. Defense Secretary Robert Gates ( AP,Wall Street Journal ), Former Navy Secretary Richard Danzig ( AP, Wall Street Journal,New York Times ), former Clinton Deputy Secretary of Defense John Hamre, (Wall Street Journal ), retiring GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel (AP ), Sen. Jack Reed (AP ) and Gen. James L. Jones (New York Times ).
Treasury. The AP mentions Timothy Geithner, president of Federal Reserve Bank of New York), former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker and former Clinton Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers as the most likelt candidates.
State. The AP lists Gov. Bill Richardson, Sen. John Kerry, GOP Sen. Richard Lugar, Sen. Chuck Hagel and Richard Holbrooke, former US ambassador to the United Nations, as possibilities. Also mentioned as a possible candidate this morning is Gen. James L. Jones (New York Times ). Meanwhile, in a column for the Washington Post, Roger Cohen urged Obama to appoint Al Gore to the position.
DOJ. The AP mentions Eric Holder, former deputy attorney general, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, Rep. Artur Davis and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.
Energy. The AP lists former Rep. Philip Sharp and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
EPA. The AP sees Lisa P. Jackson, commissioner of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Mary Nichols, head of California Air Resources Board, and Kathleen McGinty, former secretary of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, as possible candidates.
HHS. The AP mentions former Sen. Tom Daschle, outgoing DNC chairman Howard Dean and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
Transportation. The AP lists four possible candidates: Jane Garvey, former head of Federal Aviation Administration, Rep. James Oberstar, Rep. Earl Blumenauer and Mortimer Downey, former deputy transportation secretary.
Interior. The AP mentions Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, former Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles and Sen. Ken Salazar.
DHS. The AP mentions James Lee Witt, former FEMA director, Los Angeles Police Chief Bill Bratton, former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean, who chaired the 9/11 commission, and Rep. Jane Harman.
National Security Adviser. The AP mentions two possible candidates: James B. Steinberg, former deputy national security adviser, and Susan Rice, former assistant secretary of state for African affairs. The New York Times sees Richard Danzig as a possible candidate. Another New York Times piece mentions Gen. James L. Jones as another possibility.
Education. The AP notes Colin Powell has been mentioned as a possibility, as have former North Carolina Gov. Jim Hunt, Arne Duncan, chief executive officer of Chicago public schools, and Inez Tenenbaum, former South Carolina schools superintendent. This morning's New York Times reports Joel I. Klein, chancellor of the New York City public school system, could also be under consideration.
USDA. The AP notes speculation that Obama is considering former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, Tom Buis, president of National Farmers Union and former Rep. Charles Stenholm.
OMB. According to the AP, those under consideration are Jason Furman, Obama's campaign economic policy director, Peter Orszag, director of Congressional Budget Office and Rep. Jim Cooper.
HUD. The AP mentions Valerie Jarrett, "Obama friend," and Rep. James Clyburn.
Labor. The AP notes that the list of possible candidates includes Rep. George Miller, former Rep. David Bonior, Andy Stern, "president of Service Employees International Union," and Maria Echaveste, "former Clinton White House adviser."
Commerce. The AP lists only one candidate, "Penny Pritzker, business executive" and "Obama fundraiser."
White House Cabinet Secretary. The AP reports the position has been offered to former Hillary Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle.
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McClatchy reports that in an interview with the Anchorage Daily News, Gov. Sarah Palin "blames the Bush administration for the failure of the McCain-Palin ticket." McClatchy quotes Palin as saying, "I think the Republican ticket represented too much of the status quo, too much of what had gone on in these last eight years, that Americans were kind of shaking their heads like going, 'wait a minute, how did we run up a 10 trillion dollar debt in a Republican administration? How have there been blunders with war strategy under a Republican administration?' If we're talking change, we want to get far away from what it was that the present administration represented and that is to a great degree what the Republican Party at the time had been representing. So people desiring change I think went as far from the administration that is presently seated as they could. It's amazing that we did as well as we did."
The Politico notes that when "asked about running for the Republican nomination in 2012," Palin "seemed cool to the prospect." However, the AP quotes Palin as saying that she "prayed she wouldn't miss 'an open door' for her next political opportunity. 'I'm like, OK, God, if there is an open door for me somewhere, this is what I always pray, I'm like, don't let me miss the open door,' Palin said in an interview with Fox News on Monday. 'And if there is an open door in '12 or four years later, and if it is something that is going to be good for my family, for my state, for my nation, an opportunity for me, then I'll plow through that door.'"
The Wall Street Journal's William McGurn writes, "Where's John McCain's honor when we need it? We'll find out tonight, when the Arizona Republican appears on 'The Tonight Show' with Jay Leno. In the week since the election, Mr. McCain's campaign team has leaked some nasty stuff about Sarah Palin. ... It will be telling if Mr. McCain stands up for his partner."
The New York Times, in a front-page article titled, "For South, A Waning Hold On National Politics," reports, "By voting so emphatically for Senator John McCain over Mr. Obama -- supporting him in some areas in even greater numbers than they did President Bush -- voters from Texas to South Carolina and Kentucky may have marginalized their region for some time to come, political experts say."
Republicans Near Extinction In Northeast The Washington Post reports, "Among the biggest casualties from last week's election here in the Northeast may be the Republican Party itself. ... With the defeat here in Connecticut of 11-term Rep. Christopher Shays, Republicans lost their lone House member from New England. ... The number of New York Republicans in the U.S. Congress shrank to three out of 29."
Danny Vargas, chairman of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal notes President Bush "won 44% of the Hispanic vote in 2004, but 67% voted for Sen. Obama in 2008. Unfortunately, John McCain, popular among Hispanics, was hurt by the tone of the immigration debate over the last three years, which caused many to mistakenly view the GOP as anti-Hispanic." Similarly, the Hoover Institution's Peter Robinson claims Republicans can become competitive in California by "appealing to the Golden State's fastest-growing demographic group, Hispanics."
Among other op-eds in today's Journal: Richard Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, argues that "to regain a majority, Republicans must embrace core values. ... The first core value must be a pro-life agenda." Henry Olsen, president of the American Enterprise Institute, writes, "We must avoid two temptations. The first is to reject the core principle of American conservatism on the assumption that the forgotten American no longer believes in the idea that freedom and free markets improve our lives. ... The second temptation focuses on the many deviations from modern conservative dogma over the past decade, then argues that if only our political leaders had remained true to our platform all would have been well."
In another op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Rep. Paul Ryan writes, "We need to be honest about the root causes of our current financial crisis: loose money, crony capitalism and a lack of market transparency and information. We need to adopt a policy of sound money by requiring the Federal Reserve to focus exclusively on keeping inflation in check, as I've proposed with my Price Stability Act. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose excesses helped lead to the current mess, must be taken off the backs of taxpayers. We need a complete overhaul of our outdated financial regulatory system to emphasize market transparency and accountability."
"Traditionalists" Vs. "Reformers"? The New York Times' David Brooks writes, "In one camp, there are the Traditionalists, the people who believe that conservatives have lost elections because they have strayed from the true creed. ... To regain power, the Traditionalists argue, the G.O.P. should return to its core ideas: Cut government, cut taxes, restrict immigration. Rally behind Sarah Palin. ... The other camp, the Reformers...tend to believe that American voters will not support a party whose main idea is slashing government." The Washington Post's Eugene Robinson asserts, "The truth is that the Grand Old Party is on a Bridge to Nowhere and may have great difficulty changing course."
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Jay Leno: "President Bush took President-elect Barack Obama on a tour of the White House. At one point, Barack opened a closet. Bush said, 'Oh, don't open that!' And a huge stack of unread intelligence memos fell out."
Jay Leno: "According to a new post-election survey, people want Sarah Palin to run for president in 2012. That's what it says. It says she's been getting thousands of calls from people pleading with her to run, all Democrats."
David Letterman: "The big transition process begins because earlier today Barack Obama met with President Bush at the White House. So you had the President-elect and the President inept."
David Letterman: "I don't know anything about politics, but as soon as Barack Obama shook hands with President Bush, Obama's ratings went down 10 points."
David Letterman: "There was a little confusion at the meeting there at the White House when...President Bush was told that Obama was coming. He said 'Oh, you mean we caught him?'"
Conan O'Brien: "President Bush had a private meeting, in the Oval Office, with President-elect Barack Obama. Yeah. Yeah, then afterwards Obama met with Dick Cheney to see how things really work."
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