by Jim Tankersley

The Senate quickly confirmed seven of President Obama's cabinet nominees this afternoon, mere hours after the Inauguration - but it left many more, including Hillary Clinton, to wait at least another day.

Among those winning approval by unanimous consent: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar; Energy Secretary Steven Chu; Education Secretary Arne Duncan; Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano; Peter Orszag, director of the Office of Management and Budget; Eric Shinseki, the secretary of Veterans' Affairs; and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Secretary-of-State-nominee Clinton was originally expected to make that list, but Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) held her up by a day over conflict-of-interest objections to her husband, former Bill Clinton, and his charitable foundation's foreign donors.

Others who face a more protracted process include Labor nominee Hilda Solis, Treasury nominee Timothy Geithner, Attorney General nominee Eric Holder and Transportation nominee Ray LaHood. Obama also still needs tp nominate a commerce secretary pick to replace Bill Richardson, who withdrew from consideration amidst a scandal in his home state New Mexico.

Most observers expect all of Obama's nominees to eventually win confirmation. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) urged as much in a statement this afternoon.

"President Obama has nominated a cabinet of exceptionally bright and capable people," Reid said. "They represent a cross-section of our country, geographically and politically. It is up to us, Democrats and Republicans in the Senate, to confirm these worthy nominees quickly so that they, along with our new President, can hit the ground running."

by Mark Silva

It rained on the Rose Garden picture that President Bush hoped to take with his predecessors, including his father, and his successor, President-elect Barack Obama, at the White House today.

So the nation's living and future presidents assembled in the Oval Office for a family photo before lunch in the private dining room of the White House. The five men stood side-by-side and close together in front of Bush's desk. President Bush looked at Obama several times as he spoke and Obama nodded his head. They shook hands.

"How are you guys? Good to see you,'' Obama told the group.

"I want to thank the president-elect for joining the ex-presidents for lunch,'' Bush said. "And one message that I have and I think we all share is that we want you to succeed.

"Whether we're Democrat or Republican, we care deeply about this country,'' Bush said: "And to the extent we can we look forward to sharing our experiences with you. All of us who have served in this office understand that the office itself transcends the individual and we wish you all the very best and so does the country."

"I just want to thank the president for hosting us,'' Obama said. "This is an extraordinary gathering. All the gentlemen here understand both the pressures and possibilities of this office, and for me to have the opportunity to get advice, good counsel and fellowship with these individuals is extraordinary and I'm very grateful to all of them. But again thank you, Mr. President, for hosting.''

by Frank James

Mark Brown, the Chicago Sun-Times columnist, argues President-elect Barack Obama should either tell Roland Burris directly, or have some tough-talking emissary (Rahm Emanuel perhaps), tell the senator-in-limbo to end his bid to be seated in the Senate.

Obama doesn't want to do that. He's got bigger fish to fry and would prefer to stand pat with what he's already done, which was to issue a statement from a safe distance saying Burris is a great guy but agreeing the Senate shouldn't accept an appointment made by a governor accused by federal prosecutors of selling the very same seat. While that was helpful, it's not enough. We need Obama's direct intervention.

But we're in a bind here, one created in part by Obama's run for president. He bears some responsibility.

(Photo provided by the Obama Transition Office shows President-elect Barack Obama and wife Michelle Obama getting their daughters Sasha, 7, and Malia, 10, ready for their first day of school in Washington, Monday, Jan. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Obama Transition Office, Callie Shell)

by Frank James

If ever there were two little girls who seem perfect for their role as First Kids, it's got to be Malia and Shasha Obama. We're talking central casting. We're talking child stars.

They seem completely at ease with the concept that on their first day at a new school in a new city, there should be a photographer on hand to capture the send-off they received from their father, the president-elect of the United States.

It was off to Sidwell Friends today for them where they will immediately be at the top of the kiddie pecking order owing to how their father will be the only parent with control of the nation's nuclear arsenal and their residence in the most famous home in the U.S. Even a senator's kid can't measure up to that kind of status in a status-conscious town.

Politico.com has a story that examines what it's been like for past presidential scions who have gone to local schools. Sidwell Friends features prominently in the piece since it is a school accustomed to educating presidential progeny, having schooled Chelsea Clinton and the Nixon girls, among others.

by Frank James

The Bush Administration once again comes off looking poorly in the latest installment of the New York Times series called "The Reckoning" for pouring fuel on the raging fire that was the housing bubble, then waiting to long to mount a serious and effective effort to put the fire out.

In a lengthy report, the NYT recounts how home ownership was an important piece of President Bush's "ownership society" agenda which, when mixed with his anti-regulatory ideology, created a witches' brew of too few regulators and regulations watching over too much credit sloshing through superheated financial markets.

An excerpt:

There are plenty of culprits, like lenders who peddled easy credit, consumers who took on mortgages they could not afford and Wall Street chieftains who loaded up on mortgage-backed securities without regard to the risk.

But the story of how we got here is partly one of Mr. Bush's own making, according to a review of his tenure that included interviews with dozens of current and former administration officials.

Mark Felt appears on CBS' "Face the Nation" in Washington on Aug. 30, 1976. Felt was the source identified for years only as "Deep Throat" in the Washington Post's reporting on the Watergate scandal. (AP / August 30, 1976)

by Frank James

We're all learning this morning of the death, at age 95, of W. Mark Felt, who as a senior Federal Bureau of Investigation official, served as the shadowy source known as "Deep Throat" to reporter Bob Woodward in his investigation of the Watergate scandal that led to President Nixon's resignation.

As Johanna Neuman writes in a Los Angeles Times piece:

A controversial figure who was later convicted of authorizing illegal activities in pursuit of members of the radical Weather Underground, Felt died of heart failure Thursday at his home in Santa Rosa, Calif., his grandson Rob Jones said.

The reporters continued to keep Felt's name a secret, but in 2005, at the age of 91, Felt told Vanity Fair magazine, "I'm the guy they used to call Deep Throat."

by Frank James

The White House has delivered its last Barneycam Christmas video and, needless to say, the incoming Obama pooch will has a tough act to follow. Scottish terriers look like they've got it all figured out, don't they?

Weirdly, one of the strongest reactions I had after watching it was, do the Bushes really let the dogs sit on White House antiques? Maybe it's not really an antique couch that President and First Lady Laura Bush are sitting on with the dogs, after all. My mother, who kept her living-room sofa sheathed in plastic till her dying day, would have been horrified, either way.

Also, ever since Barney bit that reporter, I can't look at him the same way. Cute he may be but we know he's capable of dark deeds. Word is, he's never been the same since the president dropped him.

by Frank James

Bowling's popularity has been falling for years which means the bowling industry is constantly on the hunt for opportunities to promote itself to a public which is increasingly moving on to other recreational pursuits.

So after President-elect Barack Obama won the White House, bowling-industry officials clearly had an epiphany. Combine Obama's famously bad bowling (gutter balls) during a presidential campaign stop and the outdated White House bowling alley and maybe there's a public-relations opportunity.

Barack Obama bowling at the Pleasant Valley Bowling Center in Altoona, PA in March 2008. (Chicago Tribune photo by Zbigniew Bzdak)

Thus, bowling-industry types have a modest proposal for Obama. As a gift to the American people, they will completely renovate the current White House bowling alley which dates back to the Nixon era and looks like it, transforming it into a high-tech video-game era family entertainment center where he can practice his bowling technique.

(Aging White House bowling alley.)

by Frank James

President-elect Barack Obama has frequently reminded the nation that there's only one president at a time. And he and future first lady Michelle Obama just received some proof of that.

The Bushes declined their request to move into Blair House, the official White House guest house, on Jan. 5 so that the Obama daughters can start school at Sidwell Friends at the start of the year. The Obamas don't get to move into the White House until Jan. 20.

As the Associated Press reports:

CHICAGO (AP) -- President-elect Barack Obama asked the White House if his family could move to Washington earlier than normal, but aides say the White House couldn't give them the official guest house as early as his family wanted.

The Obamas had asked White House officials to move into Blair House about two weeks before the traditional date so their two daughters could start their new school when classes resume Jan. 5. Obama aides say the White House told them that the request cannot be met because the current administration still has plans for the historic government home across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House.

by Frank James updated

The White House just announced it's considering using the Treasury Department's TARP program, the $700 billion rescue fund heretofore used to inject money into the financial industry, to bailout the Detroit 3 in the wake of the Senate's failure to pass legislation.

For Immediate Release

Under normal economic conditions we would prefer that markets determine the ultimate fate of private firms. However, given the current weakened state of the U.S. economy, we will consider other options if necessary - including use of the TARP program -- to prevent a collapse of troubled automakers. A precipitous collapse of this industry would have a severe impact on our economy, and it would be irresponsible to further weaken and destabilize our economy at this time.

by Frank James

If and when the federal government gives the Detroit Three billions of dollars in an effort keep them from collapsing, it only makes sense that federal policymakers would want to have oversight to prevent taxpayer money from being wasted.

That's particularly true after the widespread dissatisfaction with how the financial industry rescue has gone, with banks largely sitting on the $350 billion they're received to date instead of making new loans.

But here's the rub. Oversight means the federal government has to get involved in the manufacturing of cars to a degree that some are calling it nationalization since it will be the government, not the market that will be driving, so to speak, a lot of the decisions.

This remarkable situation is examined by David Sanger in the New York Times today as he lays out the potential pitfalls inherent in an auto bailout that places federal policymakers in what would normally be the role a corporate board.

The first, of course, is the one the president-elect himself highlighted. Government's record as a corporate manager is miserable, which is why the world has been on a three-decade-long privatization kick, turning national railroads, national airlines and national defense industries into private companies.

by Frank James

Looks like we could have an auto bailout deal between the White House and Congress by the end of the day.

As Jim Puzzanghera of the Tribune Washington bureau reports:

WASHINGTON - The White House said Monday morning it's "very likely" a deal will be reached today with Congress on a short-term bailout package for U.S. automakers.

Negotiations between the Bush administration and House and Senate Democratic leaders resumed Monday after a breakthrough Friday night on the source of the funding, said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino. The broad plan calls for about $15 billion to keep General Motors and Chrysler afloat until March 31. GM has told lawmakers it needs $10 billion and Chrysler has said it needed $4 billion for the period. Ford, the other of Detroit's Big Three, said it does not need any funding immediately, but said a failure by GM or Chrysler could cause it to fail as well because of numerous shared suppliers and dealers.

by Mark Silva

So the big news this weekend is President-elect Barack Obama's intentions of spending hundreds of billions of dollars to put more Americans to work, in the biggest public-works undertaking, perhaps, since the construction of the Interstate Highways.

The other news, as NBC News is happy to trumpet this evening from the interview that it conducted with Obama today and will air on Meet the Press Sunday morning, is that Obama intends to nominate Gen. Erick Shinseki for the post of Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The MTP interview, of course, plays on a special date in history, the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii -- birthplace of the 44th president.

"Tomorrow, you had mentioned earlier, is when we commemorate Pearl Harbor,'' Obama told NBC's Tom Brokaw, in the interview that will air tomorrow, "and so I'm going to be making (an) announcement tomorrow about the head of our Veterans Administration, General Eric Shinseki, who was a commander and has fought in Vietnam, Bosnia, is somebody who has achieved the highest level of military service.

"He has agreed that he is willing to be part of this administration because both he and I share a reverence for those who serve. I grew up in Hawaii, as he did,'' Obama said. "My grandfather is in the Punch Bowl National Cemetery. When I reflect on the sacrifices that have been made by our veterans and, I think about how so many veterans around the country are struggling even more than those who have not served -- higher unemployment rates, higher homeless rates, higher substance abuse rates, medical care that is inadequate -- it breaks my heart, and I think that Gen. Shinseki is exactly the right person who is going to be able to make sure that we honor our troops when they come home.''

Tom Brokaw, interim host of MTP, noted that the good general "lost his job in the Bush Administration because he said we will need more troops in Iraq than Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld thought we would need at that time.''

"He was right,'' said Obama, who campaigned with a promise of withdrawing combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of his swearing-in as president.

(Above photo of Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, then Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, at Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in 2004 by Charles Dharapak, AP)

by Mark Silva

In the presidential transition, a certain Chicago family is moving into the White House, and a certain Texas family is moving out.

Laura Bush, the erstwhile school librarian from Texas and soon-to-be former First Lady, is talking about making the move to Dallas.

It's the home of her alma mater, the leafy and stately Southern Methodist University, home of her home Highland Park United Methodist Church and home to the retiring President Bush's presidential library and "Freedom Institute,'' a think tank dedicated to the policies of the Bush administration that will be erected, with considerable controversy, along with the new library at the edge of the SMU campus.

The eyes of Texas may be upon the returning Bush family, but Laura Bush has her eyes on a new house.

by Mark Silva

Patrick McDonnell, author of the comic strip MUTTS, will be weighing in on the great debate over the hypoallergenic search for the perfect First Pooch - pound puppy or pedigree, or perhaps one and the same -- that the Obama family is waging.

Predictably, MUTTS sides with the mutts.

Starting Monday, McDonnell will devote a weeklong story-line to the question of what kind of dog President-elect Barack Obama should adopt in the delivery of a long-held promise for his young daughters as the family takes up occupancy at the White House.

The strip's readers will find the lead characters -- Mooch the cat and Earl the dog -- discussing the Obama family's desire to adopt a dog from an animal shelter.

McDonnell is no newcomer to the question.

He is the recipient of three Genesis Awards from The Humane Society of the United States. Twice a year,, he has penned a special MUTTS "Shelter Series" story-line lauding the efforts of staff and volunteers who rescue and care for more than six million abused, neglected and abandoned animals in shelters across the United States.

by Frank James

First Lady Laura Bush had the media in the residence part of the White House today to show off the holiday decorations, discuss her and President Bush's plans for the holidays, their impending return to Washington and the tour they gave the White House's next occupants, the Obamas.

Among the nuggets she divulged.

-- The presidential family intends to be "careful" in its gift-giving this year (Sorry Jenna and Barbara) to reflect the mood in the country. it will be more a time for family members to enjoy each other's company that to give gifts.

-- The money saved instead will go towards the family's likely post-White House house purchase in Dallas.

-- When Mrs. Bush showed Michelle Obama the family quarters, she pointed out a window in the First Lady's dressing room that allows the first lady to spy, I mean, look down on the Rose Garden and the Oval Office to see what the president is doing.

-- They actually make brie cheese in Texas, some of which will be on the menu at the White House holiday receptions this year. (Is there a good Texas Chardonnay as well?)

by Peter Nicholas

After weeks of speculation, President-elect Barack Obama formally will introduce Sen. Hillary Clinton as his nominee for Secretary of State at a news conference Monday morning in Chicago, according to a Democrat close to the New York senator. Clinton plans to attend the event.

According to a Democrat familiar with the transition team's work, the former First Lady is part of a national security team that also includes: Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, nominee for Secretary of Homeland Security; Eric Holder, for Attorney General; Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who will remain in his current position for at least one year; retired Marine Gen. Jim Jones, for National Security Adviser; retired Adm. Dennis Blair, for Director of National Intelligence; and Susan Rice, for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Some of these officials also are expected to appear at the news conference Monday.

To assuage concerns about Clinton's appointment, her husband, former President Bill Clinton, has agreed to a series of steps aimed at avoiding the appearance of a conflict of interest. Before the end of the year, he will make public the names of 208,000 donors to his library and charitable foundation - contributions that began in 1997.

Bill Clinton, who has made millions of dollars giving speeches since leaving the White House, also has agreed to tell State Department ethics officials about any speeches he gives in the future, and to alert the White House counsel's office "as appropriate.''

by Mark Silva

Amid word that President-elect Barack Obama is ready to nominate his erstwhile political rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, for Secretary of State - on Monday in Chicago, the AP signals today - there appears to be some new interest in an age-old constitutional question: How can he?

It's not a question of the senator's husband, former President Bill Clinton, and all his foreign dealings since leaving office. He has agreed to divulge the identities of the contributors to his Clinton Foundation, bar foreign donations to his Clinton Global Initiative and submit his own global itinerary to State and the White House Counsel for vetting.

Rather, no shortage of law school students and bloggers, often one and the same, has been exploring that clause of the Constitution (Article One, Section Six) that reads:

""No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office."

While this would appear to be a fairly straightforward stricture, our colleague, Andrew Malcolm, notes at the Ticket this morning that Obama will not be the first president to find an end run around the "emoluments'' question.

by Mark Silva

Free-Range Roast Turkey.

Cornbread Dressing.

Cranberry Sauce.

Sautéed Green Beans

Morelia Style Gazpacho with Spinach Salad.

It's the Gazpacho that gives it away: These are the fixin's for the Thanksgiving table today at Camp David, where President Bush has retreated with his family for the holiday. An overcast, wintry pall had settled over the capital, and then the sky broke, with Thanksgiving dawning cold and clear. Up in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland, where the presidential retreat once known as Shangri-La sits, the dinner table will be brimming with more than one dish of mashed potatoes today.....

by Frank James

Here's President-elect Barack Obama's opening statement from today's press conference at which he announced his nomination of Peter Orszag as director of his Office of Management and Budget and Rob Nabors as the deputy director.

Obama also sent the message that he planned to search the federal budget for spending cuts to off set the additional spending needed to prop up the economy.

PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA: Good morning.

Before I explain why I selected these outstanding public servants, let me just say a word about the work I am asking them to undertake. As I said yesterday, the economic crisis we face demands that we invest immediately in a series of measures that will help save or create two and a half million jobs and put tax cuts in the pockets of the hard-pressed middle class. Many of those new jobs will come in areas such as energy independence, technology, and health care modernization that will strengthen our economy for the future.

by Mark Silva

It was a little-known fact about the White House that the place has great closet space.

Until departing First Lady Laura Bush let the secret out of the closet in a meeting with incoming First Lady-to-be Michelle Obama.

According to Bush, whose taped interview with Cynthia McFadden appeared on ABC News' Nightline, there were no personal problems and no weighty issues of state discussed when Obama visited the White House recently with daughters, Malia and Sasha, as friend Andrew Malcolm, keeper of all-things Good Housekeeping at the Ticket, notes.

The two mothers -- Bush has twin daughters, one married now -- talked about "what any women would talk about as one is moving out of a home and one is moving in."

Bush told Obama the White House has great closets.

The windows aren't bad either. And somebody else does them.

(White House photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)

by Frank James

Here's one way for a president-elect to get around some of the limits placed on him by the Constitution which makes a president-in-waiting wait until late January to officially take office: choose as your Treasury secretary a guy already elbow-deep in the financial rescues that have become a frequent part of the global economic crisis.

By choosing Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal reserve Bank, to be his Treasury Secretary, Obama has someone who's been at the table for the Bear Stearns, Lehman, AIG and now Citigroup emergencies. According to the Associated Press:

The Citigroup rescue came after a weekend of marathon discussions led by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. Timothy Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, who is being tapped by President-elect Barack Obama as his Treasury chief also participated.

by Christi Parsons and Peter Nicholas

The roster shaping up for the Barack Obama administration is starting to look a little familiar, with an ironic pattern emerging as one name after another is added to it.

A striking number of new and potential team members so far can trace their professional history to the same political birthplace -- the administration of one President Bill Clinton.

There's Sen. Hillary Clinton, of course, the former First Lady now under consideration for Secretary of State. And Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the former Bill Clinton aide who will be Obama's chief of staff. And Eric Holder, once deputy to former Att'y. Gen. Janet Reno and now Obama's likely pick for attorney general. There's the new White House lawyer, the budget director, and so on.

For all his talk of transformation, Obama's earliest decisions suggest something odd: the more things change, the more they look like the 1990s. Some predict a Clinton Restoration in the making.

"Voters hoping to see Obama bring a lot of fresh faces to D.C. must be disappointed," said Alex Conant, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee. "So far, it's been more like Clinton.gov than Change.gov."

It makes sense that the incoming Democratic president might fish for talent in the same pond as the last Democratic president. If Obama is looking for depth of expertise, there's a good chance that many job prospects were in or around the White House a decade ago.

But there's a certain irony to the developing pattern, given Obama's campaign pledge not to spend the next four years "refighting the same fights that we had in the 1990s."

"There's no question about the talent level," said Doug Holtz-Eakin, a former Congressional Budget Office director and senior policy advisor to Republican Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign. "They have a public relations problem in the appearance of not really fulfilling the, quote, change mandate.''

See the rest of the story on Obama's Clinton-heavy lineup in the Tribune newspapers and here in the Swamp:

by William Neikirk

The time has come to take another look at the 20th amendment to the U.S. constitution that established Jan. 20 as the date for newly elected presidents to take office.

President-elect Barack Obama is having to wait more than two months before taking charge as the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression rages. He has said little while a lame-duck president and divided Congress try to cope.

With businesses failing and jobs declining while economic gloom spreads, the country feels absolutely leaderless. Divisions are deep over helping the auto industry and preventing foreclosures. Each piece of bad news builds on another and leads to fears of a devastating deflation.

With deep stock market plunges, a sense of urgency exists. Yet there can be no new president for another two months, a man by the way who won the election because of his stands on the economic issue.

by Jill Zuckman

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano is "a leading contender'' for the job of Homeland Security secretary in the administration of President-elect Barack Obama, National Public Radio reports.

And Penny Pritzker, the Chicago real estate executive who steered Obama's phenomenal campaign fundraising, could be in line for appointment as Secretary of Commerce, NPR says this morning.

Napolitano was an early supporter of Obama's presidential campaign and serves on his transition team.

While she has no national security experience, she does have extensive knowledge of border security as the governor of a border state constantly crossed by illegal immigrants.

Pritzker, CEO of Pritzker Realty Group, manages the family's non-hotel real estate investments.and served as chair of the Obama campaign's fundraising.

by Jason George

The Illinois ball for president-elect Barack Obama's inauguration might be Washington D.C.'s hottest ticket, but the event's headliners aren't exactly Kanye, The Boss or any of those A-list entertainers who've endorsed Obama.

In fact, wedding singers, corporate-events crooners and bar mitzvah bands make up the list of the musicians scheduled to perform at the Illinois State Society's Jan. 19 Inaugural Gala, according to a partial list obtained by the Tribune.

Planners say they are still hoping to hire a handful more professional acts, who will also be joined by two high school choirs.

Of course, it's not the musical entertainment that's making the D.C. event so popular but the assumption that Obama will keep with inaugural tradition and hit his home state's party. In 2001 and 2005, Texas' "Black Tie and Boots Inaugural Ball" reigned as the not-miss affair because of Pres. George W. Bush's Lone Star connections. In 2005, headliners at that ball included Asleep at the Wheel, Lyle Lovett and Clay Walker.

by Frank James

The White House is trying to shift blame to congressional Democrats if the auto industry doesn't get the financial bailout it's seeking, saying Democrats appear unwilling to loosen restrictions on $25 billion that's already been approved to help the industry retool to make their vehicles more fuel efficient.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, reflected that view in an exchange with a reporter today:

PERINO: Well, Senator Reid (the Senate majority leader) appeared to foreshadow this morning that the Congress will fail to address this issue before they leave. And I'd like to just make a few points clear on that. One, there is legislation that's being introduced by Senators Bond and Voinovich that the administration supports. That proposal would redirect existing funds already appropriated for the auto industry, rather than spending an additional $25 billion on top of the $25 billion we already support using, as we've said over the last few days.

That proposal of theirs would not rob the Treasury program of much needed funds to help save and strengthen the financial system. The purpose of the $700 billion was clearly intended for financial institutions, and we wanted to keep that whole.

by Frank James

Former President Bill Clinton is reportedly willing to accept limits on his charitable and money-making activities if that will clear the way for President-elect Sen. Barack Obama to nominate Hillary Clinton as secretary of state.

As the Associated Press reports:

CHICAGO (AP) Former President Bill Clinton has offered several concessions to help Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, his wife, become secretary of state, people familiar with President-elect Barack Obama's transition vetting process said Wednesday.

Clinton has agreed to release the names of several major donors to his charitable foundation and will submit future foundation activities and paid speeches to a strict ethics review, said Democrats knowledgeable about the discussions.

by Mark Silva

Barack Obama has gotten a good quick start at rebuilding Bill Clinton's White House. Now, if he can only rebuild Clinton's economy.

With pick after pick, the president-elect appears to be turning toward talent that the 42nd president had identified for the establishment of the 44th administration.

Starting with Rep. Rahm Emanuel, an Illinois congressman who served on Clinton's White House staff, Obama has picked a hard-charging chief of staff to run his White House staff.

Obama also has let the story line of Hillary Clinton's potential nomination as secretary of state run long enough that he must be serious about the consideration - unless one of Bill Clinton's many questionable post-presidential business associations prove to be an insurmountable conflict of interest for the senator of New York moving to State. (Say he passes on Clinton, and settles on New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, whose own views about conciliatory diplomacy are far more in line with those of the president-elect, that's still a player from the old Clinton repertory.)

And now Obama is turning to Eric Holder, a former deputy attorney general for Janet Reno, a former federal judge and a member of a powerful Washington law firm, for his own attorney general. The only visible rap on Holder is the support he lent for Clinton's final-day pardon of Marc Rich, the fugitive financier. But that's something for critics to chew on pretty hard.

by Frank James

If you're President-elect Barack Obama and you're looking for a good excuse not to appoint Sen. Hillary Clinton to your cabinet, former President Bill Clinton is a godsend.

The Obama campaign has reportedly been spending time vetting the New York senator before any offer of a cabinet post, presumably Secretary of State, is made.

As part of the vet, Obama's transition team is attempting a full scrub of the former president's business dealings. But evidently, it's rough going.

As the Politico reports:

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) is President-elect Obama's first choice for secretary of State but his aides are becoming exasperated by the Clinton camp's pokey response to demands for extensive information about former President Bill Clinton's finances, according to numerous Democrats involved in the process.

"The sense among the no-drama Obama world is: This is well on its way to winning best Oscar for drama," said one well-connected Democratic official.

by Frank James

While it's unclear what the rest of the world will get out of the financial summit taking place in Washington this weekend (a large global stimulus we hope) at least the national leaders participating in the summit will get some very good meals to fuel their discussions.

Here's the menu for tonight's White House dinner:

------------------------------
THE WHITE HOUSE

Chandon Étoile Rosé

by Mark Silva and updated

If the perimeter is a little tight around the White House tonight, for the pre-summit dinner of world leaders on the eve of an international economic summit in Washington, this list of attendees for the summit might explain why.

It also helps explain the menu: Fruitwood-smoked Quail with Quince Gastrique, Quinoa Risotto, Landmark Chardonnay "Damaris Reserve" 2006, Thyme-roasted Rack of Lamb, Tomato, Fennel and Eggplant Fondue, Chanterelle Jus, Shafer Cabernet "Hillside Select" 2003,Lolla Rosa, Red Oak and Endive, cider Vinaigrette,
Baked Vermont Brie with Walnut Crostini, Pear Torte, huckleberry Sauce, Chandon Étoile Rosé.... and does anyone care for coffee?

Argentina:
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner -- President
Carlos Fernandez - Minister of Finance
Hector Timerman - Sherpa
Jorge Taiana - Deputy Minister of Finance

Australia:
Kevin Rudd - Prime Minister
Wayne Swan - Treasurer
David Tune - Associate Secretary (Sherpa)
Michael Callaghan - Special Envoy to the International Economy

Brazil:
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva - President
Guido Mantega - Minister of Finance
Marcos Galvao - Deputy Minister of Finance
Antonio Aguiar Patriota - Sherpa

Canada:
Stephen Joseph Harper - Prime Minister
James Flaherty - Minister of Finance
Leonard John Edwards - Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (Sherpa)
Tiff Macklem - Deputy Minister of Finance

China:
Hu Jintao - President
Wang Qishan - Vice Premier
Xie Xuren - Finance Minister
He Yafei - Sherpa

by John McCormick and Rick Pearson

Senior officials with President-elect Barack Obama's transition team said late Thursday that Sen. Hillary Clinton would be an asset to the new administration, but declined to confirm reports she was under consideration for secretary of state.

Aides to Clinton had little to say about the news reports, including including one that said she was in Chicago where Obama is holding daily transition planning meetings. Clinton's office would only say that the New York Democrat and former first lady had no public schedule on Thursday. Her office said any speculation about Cabinet or other administration appointments is for Obama's transition team to address.

"We're not going to discuss any meeting he has about appointments," said Robert Gibbs, a senior Obama aide who is expected to soon be named White House press secretary.

Several other names have been mentioned for the post, including Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.

.The Associated Press and NBC both reported Clinton was under consideration for secretary of state; NBC also reported Clinton was in Chicago on Thursday.

Bill Daley, brother of Mayor Richard Daley and a member of Obama's transition team, would not speculate on the reports but noted Obama has great respect for Clinton.

"She's been a great senator, she's obviously a great candidate and she'd be good at anything," Daley told WGN-TV. "I think she's known worldwide, but that's really a decision the president-elect will make.''

by Frank James

When the economy is unsteady and there's a surplus of job applicants, employers can be more exacting in their requirements. The incoming Obama Administration is no different, and maybe even more demanding than many an employer since it is one of the most sought-after potential employers because of its historic nature.

As the New York Times reports, the Obama employment application gets pretty granular in terms of the details of applicants and their spouses. It's meant to avoid scandals and embarrassments. If the future Obama Administration can do that, it would be the first in history. But you can't blame them for trying.

Here's an excerpt:

Only the smallest details are excluded; traffic tickets carrying fines of less than $50 need not be reported, the application says. Applicants are asked whether they or anyone in their family owns a gun. They must include any e-mail that might embarrass the president-elect, along with any blog posts and links to their Facebook pages.

The vetting process for executive branch jobs has been onerous for decades, with each incoming administration erecting new barriers in an effort to avoid the mistakes of the past, or the controversies of the present. It is typically updated to reflect technological change (there was no Facebook the last time a new president came to town).

by Mark Silva

The Peruvians have a puppy for the Obamas.

The national dog fits the hypoallergenic job description that the Obamas have written for the first puppy. It may not fit the mind-picture that young Malia and Sasha, the first daughters-to-be, have of their first pup, however. It's -- well -- hairless.

The Peruvian Hairless Dog -- a bald and often toothless breed that has won the hearts of Incan kings -- is Peru's offering for President-elect Barack Obama's worldwide search for the perfect dog. Owners say the breed, which traces its origins to 3,000 years ago (a piker, perhaps, by Greyhound standards), is perfect for kids who are sensitive to dogs.

"They do not cause any type of allergy and are very friendly and sweet," according to Claudia Galvez, director of the Friends of the Peruvian Hairless Dog Association. That's the FPHDA, for the uninitiated. Galvez delivered a letter spelling out her offer to the U.S. embassy in Lima this week.

"We want to give a male puppy to Obama's daughters,'' she says, "so they get to experience all the joys of having a dog but without any allergies."

Apparently, the above-average body temperature of these pets compensates for their lack of a coat, which also spares owners from any smptoms of asthma. Galvez has a 4-month-old pedigree puppy ready for delivery. Its name is Ears, which apparently is one of the few features the breed does have. But if the Obamas accept it, they are suggesting a new name: Machu Picchu.

"Here, Machu Picchu, here Machu Picchu.''

by Frank James

We actually may have more than one president at a time, despite what President-elect Obama and his aides have persistently said since Election Day.

That's the only way to interpret some reporting that indicates Obama's transition is fully engaged in drafting a rescue plan for the Big Three automakers.

As The Wall Street Journal reports, Obama and his aides, like congressional Democrats, are working on ways to use taxpayer money to prop up U.S. auto manufacturers.

Mr. Obama, after some initial hesitation to become publicly involved, is pressing the Bush administration to immediately free up funding through the Treasury, the Energy Department and the Federal Reserve. It is also studying other options, including installing new board members at car companies that receive assistance to ensure compliance with the strings attached to a bailout, including the adoption of a more advanced, fuel-efficient product line.

by Mark Silva

When President George W. Bush convenes a two-day summit of world leaders in Washington on Friday to confront the global economic crisis, President-elect Barack Obama will not be present.

When Congress convenes for a lame-duck session next week to confront an economic crisis and potentially provide new help for the ailing auto industry, Sen. Obama of Illinois will be noticeably absent.

"I am not going to be spending too much time in Washington over the next several weeks," Obama said as he boarded a chartered jet home to Chicago following a private meeting with Bush in the Oval Office this week.

There is, as Obama and aides have repeated, only "one president at a time"--and Obama will not be that president until he is sworn in on Jan. 20.

In the meantime, while Obama concentrates on building a Cabinet and assembling a vast array of advisers on everything from the economy to the future of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, he is largely leaving Washington to Bush. That will leave the initial responsibility for enacting a new economic stimulus with a lame-duck president and Congress--and if they cannot craft it, that will become Job One for Obama.

While Obama is pressing for quick action from Congress on an economic stimulus plan, he may not necessarily want to be identified with any package that Bush supports. For all the urgency of action on the economy, or on the problems of the auto industry, severing ties with the Senate in the transition period could pave the way for the president-elect to chart a new course on economy recovery.

With headquarters in Chicago and offices in Washington, the transition team employs 450 people at a cost of $12 million -- $5.2 million from the government, the rest coming from money that the Obama team is raising privately and disclosing the donations.

"We recognize that we have only one president at a time," John Podesta, co-chairman of Obama's transition team, said Tuesday at a media briefing in Washington, "but President-elect Obama wants to ensure that we hit the ground running."

See the rest of the report on Obama's transition in today's Tribune and here:

by Mark Silva

President-elect Barack Obama's transition planning will run about $12 million and employ 450 people.

"We recognize that we have only one president at a time,'' said John Podesta, Obama's co-chairman for transition planning, in a press briefing taking place now in Washington. "But President-elect Obama wants to ensure that we hit the ground running.''

Obama also will set new ethics standards, demanding that no one who enters his administration had worked as lobbyists for at least two years prior: "He wants to have the toughest rules that are going to stop the revolving door in Washington.''

With a transition budget of about $12 million, about $5.2 million has been appropriated by Congress -- which also has set aside a similar amount for the outgoing President Bush's planning -- and Obama will raise money privately to supplement his.

"We will take no money from federal lobbyists, PACs or corporations,'' said Podesta, noting that only individuals will be able to contribute, with a limit of $5,000 per person, and all will be publicly disclosed.

by Mark Silva and updated

The White House today denied that President Bush was suggesting any trade-off when he discussed with President-elect Barack Obama his interest in winning a Colombia Free Trade agreement in the context of getting some emergency aid to the ailing American auto industry.

"We just want to make sure that we let everybody know that the president did not suggest a quid pro quo,'' Dana Perino, the White House press secretary, said today, "but he did talk about the merits of free trade in hopes that the next administration will recognize that not only is that good for our businesses -- especially if you want to create jobs, one of the best ways to do that is to open up new markets for our businesses and our entrepreneurs...''

John Podesta, co-chairman of Obama's transition team, concurred today: "While the topic of Colombia came up, there was no quid pro quo... The president didn't try to link Colombia to the question of an economic package going forward.''

"The president supports the free trade agreements on their merits,'' Perino said. "hen it comes to a second stimulus package, what I have told you for a week or so is that so far we have not seen something that would stimulate the economy right away. We want to promptly help the economy, and the best way for us to do that is to implement the rescue package that we are currently doing to help improve the credit markets. That's at the root -- that's the root cause of our problems.

"Some of the other suggestions that have been floated by Democrats wouldn't put a lot of money into the economy right away. If you want to stimulate the economy, that would be the test that we think that you would have to pass. We're willing to listen to their ideas of how they would like to move forward; open to suggestions as to what they think needs to be done.

"But what we really also need to see them do is to talk with their Republican counterparts, because it does take three to tango in this town, and there's a House and a Senate. There are a lot of Republicans who need to be heard on this because they can help push something forward, or not -- they could also prevent something from going forward. So we'd like to see them actually exercise some of this bipartisanship that they're talking about.''

(Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

by Frank James

President Bush landed on another aircraft carrier today, the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum which is permanently moored at a pier on the West Side of Manhattan.

Today's carrier landing by Marine One helicopter made a lot more sense than his last one by combat jet on the USS Abraham Lincoln where the president infamously appeared before the big "Mission Accomplished" banner in a premature victory lap for the Iraq War.

It allowed the president to appear on Veterans Day at the re-dedication of the World War II vintage carrier-museum which was recently overhauled without having his motorcade tie up New York City traffic. An unpopular lame-duck administration has to accomplish its missions where it can.

President Bush meets with USS Abraham Lincoln crew members. May 1, 2003. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque.

by Frank James

Sen. Joe Lieberman's efforts to hold onto his Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs chairmanship may be gaining Joementum.

TPM Election Central is reporting that Stepanie Cutter, an Obama transition spokeswoman, is sending public signals suggesting that President-elect Obama would just as well let bygone be bygones with the independent senator from Connecticut who was a vocal Sen. John McCain supporter.

Here's an excerpt from a posting from Greg Sargent of TPM:

"We aren't going to referee decisions about who should or should not be a committee chair," Obama transition spokesperson Stephanie Cutter emailed me, in response to questions about Obama's stance on Lieberman's future.

"President-elect Obama looks forward to working with anyone to move the country forward," Cutter continued. "We'd be happy to have Sen. Lieberman caucus with the Democrats. We don't hold any grudges."

by Frank James

Good luck getting a ticket to President-elect Obama's inaugural. The demand for them is extraordinary, with some would-be profiteers asking as much as $40,000 for tickets that won't be available until January.

Reports that some people are trying to gain a big payday by selling tickets congressional offices will be giving away, has drawn the attention of Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The California Democrat plans to submit legislation that would make such opportunism illegal.

An excerot from The Hill newspaper:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is drafting legislation that would make it illegal to sell tickets to President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony.

by Mark Silva and updated after departure

In a show of stately cooperation following one of the longest and roughest presidential campaigns of all time, the Democratic president-elect came to the White House of a retiring Republican president for a one-hour private talk.

President-elect Barack Obama got his first, formal introduction to the Oval Office today, meeting his predecessor, the soon-retiring President George W. Bush, in the most famous office of the West Wing, the one with a view of the Rose Garden.

Obama and wife Michelle Obama arrived by motorcade on the semicircular south drive of the White House grounds, where Bush and First Lady Laura Bush awaited them at the South Portico - the diplomatic entrance to the official residence that normally serves as a stage for greetings of visiting heads of state.

The couples parted: Laura Bush and Michelle Obama bound for a tour of the presidential residence, and President Bush and President-elect Obama walking along the shaded colonnade that connects the White House with the West Wing.

The two men walked side-by-side, chatting, to the French doors leading into the Oval Office and entered for a private meeting at 1:52 pm EST. They would meet for about an hour and ten minutues and then linger,with the Obamas spending another 45 minutes on the White House grounds before departing on a spectacularly sunny and cold fall day.

The ceremony surrounding this meeting was part of a broader picture that these two leaders hope to present: Of the most orderly presidential transition in modern-times.

by Frank James

Bill Kristol, the conservative pundit, may have gotten Iraq wrong. But he understands the power of the Obamas' future canine.

When now President-elect Obama said during the presidential campaign that he and wife Michelle promised their two girls a dog if Obama won the presidency, he took part of the American psyche hostage. Voters were going to be responsible for two little girls not getting a dog if they didn't elect Obama.

There had to be a few people out there for whom this was enough, if only subconsciously, to vote for the Democratic ticket. Resistance was futile. How could they deny the girls a dog? It was Machiavellian on Obama's part. Or Barkiavellian.

Anyway, in his column today, Kristol says that though he wasn't feeling great on Election Night he was still all right as he consoled himself with what he saw as a few ground truths:

In other words, this was a good Democratic year, but it is still a center-right country. Conservatives and the Republican Party will have a real chance for a comeback -- unless the skills of the new president turn what was primarily an anti-Bush vote into the basis for a new liberal governing era.

Those were my thoughts when, a few minutes into his victory speech, just after midnight, Obama told his daughters, "And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the new White House."

President-elect Obama lifts daughter Sasha, out of his vehicle as daughter Malia, looks on, as he dropped them off at school in Chicago, Monday, Nov. 10, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

by Frank James

In his fun little paperback book, "What Do We Do Now?" written as a workbook for presidential transitions, Stephen Hess, one of Washington's top experts on the presidency, has some advice for a president-elect like Barack Obama since these get-togethers tend to take a certain shape.

Obama, known for his smarts and deliberateness, probably has already worked through in his mind what he wants to ask Bush and how he plans to ask it. But Hess's advice is really meant to give the rest of us a better sense for how these meetings work.

-- Have your staff "game-play" what the president will want from you and possible responses.

-- The White House press corps will expect a statement of how useful the meeting has been.

It's a safe guess that the economy and national security will take up a lot of today's session and that there may even be a meeting of the two economic and national security teams after Bush and Obama meet privately.

by Mark Silva

It's almost certain that the handoff of the White House from President George W. Bush to President-elect Barack Obama will pass more smoothly than the greeting that Bush's new crew faced in 2001.

The Ws were removed from the keyboards in the executive office building of President Bill Clinton's departing administration.

And it's unquestionable that the transition from a Bush White House to an Obama White House will pass more quickly than the misstep-plagued passing of the baton from Herbert Hoover to Franklin D. Roosevelt. There were four months then of publicly divisive disputes in the midst of the Great Depression.

When Bush and Obama and the outgoing and incoming First Ladies Laura Bush and Michelle Obama meet Monday afternoon at the White House, the outgoing president will already have set in motion a transition that Bush hopes to make part of his legacy for its orderliness. And the incoming leader will already have publicly declared that the 43rd president will serve out his term without interference from the 44th president who will be sworn into office on Jan. 20, 2009.

"The president himself has made it clear that he's going to be president, and now the president-elect has said, "Yeah, he's going to be the president,' " said Stephen Hess, a Brookings Institution scholar and expert on transitions. "Is this going to be a replay of Hoover and Roosevelt?... The answer is no."

See the rest of the report on the Bush-Obama handoff in today's Tribune and here in the Swamp:

by Mark Silva and updated

Rep. Rahm Emanuel, President-elect Barack Obama's designated chief of staff, asked how his reputation for rough, partisan political warfare will square with his role in the new president's White House, promised that Obama will set a bipartisan "tone.''

Obama also is intent on delivering tax relief for the middle-class, Emanuel said today, while refusing to be pinned down on a question about delaying any tax increase for the wealthiest Americans in the midst of an economic crisis.

"President-elect Obama is very clear... that we have to govern in a bipartisan fashion,'' Emanuel (D-Ill.) said on ABC News' This Week With George Stephanopoulos "Ge has always said that we have to be bipartisan. The challenges are big enough that we have to go to members of both parties as well as independents... That is the tone. He has set it for us.''

"The challenges... whether on the national security front, or the economic, are looming large, and they are going to require leaders of both parties as well as independents,'' Emanuel said. "When the campaign is over, the work of solving the problems of the country begins.''

"President-elect Obama's economic plan was developed on the premise that the middle class is working harder, earning less and paying more,'' Emanuel said in another interview on CBS News' Face the Nation this morning. "The basic strategy was, we need to focus on the economic stresses on the middle class.''

Obama will push for a $1,000 tax cut, Emanuel said .

"President-elect Obama's economic plan was developed on the premise that the middle class is working harder, earning less and paying more,'' Emanuel said. "The basic strategy was, we need to focus on the economic stresses on the middle class.''

Asked about congressional Democratic leaders pushing for a new federal bailout for the auto industry, the new chief remained noncommittal on both shows. He also refused to commit to a delay in tax increases for the wealthy on both shows.:

President-elect Barack Obama holds a press conference after meeting with the Transition Economic Advisory Board at the Hilton Hotel in Chicago on Friday, November 7, 2008. (Chicago Tribune photo by Zbigniew Bzdak )

by Frank James

Blame Franklin Delano Roosevelt, for it was FDR who set the 100-day standard all presidents have been measured against since.

Fair or not, presidents get a grade for how much they've accomplished after a ridiculously short several months in the Oval Office and President-elect Obama will be no exception, even though his transition aides are already, pre-emptively, trying to lower the bar.

According to the New York Times:

... His team is tamping down expectations of instant action by discouraging talk of a 100-day program.

Good luck with that. As Stephen Hess, the Brookings Institution expert on the presidency says in his new book on presidential transitions "What Do We Do Now?" that's been tried by other presidents, like Richard Nixon.

"But on every Day One Hundred of every new presidency, every presidential scholar in the country will be called by a reporter for his or her assessment of the president's failures."

So new presidents are expected to hit the ground running and that's even more true for Obama since he's dealing with not just the economic and financial crisis but all the promises he made during his campaign, from rapidly unwinding the U.S. position in Iraq to expanding health-care to cutting taxes for those making less than $250,000.

by Mark Silva

"The good news is, it's going to be a short speech,'' Vice President Dick Cheney, suffering from laryngitis, told cadets of the Virginia Military Institute today.

Perhaps a record-setting short speech: Five minutes.

Cheney, who led the nationwide search for Dick Cheney when President Bush was looking for a running mate during his first campaign for the White House, promised today that the Bush-Cheney White House will hand off the place with a smooth transition: "As President Bush and I finish our terms of office, we will ensure smooth and graceful transition of power to President-Elect Obama and Vice President-Elect Biden, as they take up the duty of protecting America.''

That job of protecting America came home in the most stunning way possible for the Bush administration, less than eight months in office.

"Seven years ago a war began with a heartless attack on innocent Americans, perpetrated by men who reject and despise every principle on which civilized life depends,'' Cheney told the cadets. "They reject every standard of moral conduct. They live not by a code, but by a cult of murder, suicide and death. They compose not a den of criminals, but a movement with global ambitions and a yearning to seize and use the deadliest technologies against us. They are a strategic threat to the United States. They continue to test us on many fronts, yet this nation remains resolute.

"In the struggle at hand, the stakes remain high, but I am confident of the outcome,'' Cheney said. "Those who hate America are no match for those who love America.''

The vice president, his spokeswoman said en route to the ceremony, was "battling laryngitis.'' Cheney flew to Roanoke and then traveled by motorcade to Lexington, Va., where a woman stood by her van clapping and waving an American flag. At the campus entrance, a man held up a white sign saying "Cheney and USA deserve a fair trial."

In this "MIlitary Appreciaton Day" appearance, the 1,350-member cadet corps marched onto the field as the VMI regimental band and a bagpipe unit played. The cadets wore grey coats, white pants, and black hats with tall black tassels. The bagpipe players wore red tartan kilts. At 10:48 am, the vice president walked to the podium as the VMI regimental band played ruffles and flourishes and a 19 gun salute boomed from 105 millimeter howitzers. The cadet corps was arrayed in five companies in front of the vice president.

Cheney apologized for his laryngitis at the start of the speech. As short as it was, a cadet fainted and was helped from the field by several other cadets. VMI officials say the cadet is recovering and did not require hospitalization.

After today's ceremony, Cheney was attending to another medical issue of his own - upon return to Andrews Air Force Base, he was stopping in at the Malcolm Grove Medical Center for X-rays of his knees for evaluation of what his office called "long standing knee arthritis.''

With thanks to Dave Cook of the Christian Science Monitor for meticulous pool reporting of the vice president's trip to VMI.

by Mark Silva

Rahm Emanuel, a congressman from Chicago and high-ranking House Democratic leader, has agreed to serve as chief of staff in the White House of President-elect Barack Obama of Illinois

The Emanuel family has longstanding and passionate ties to Israel.

Emanuel's father, Chicago-area physician Dr. Benjamin Emanuel, suggested in an interview with the Tel Aviv newspaper, Ma'ariv, that his son's appointment to the White House will be good for Israel.

The Jerusalem Post, a respected English-language newspaper, this week reported an account of the senior Emanuel's remarks in the Hebrew-language Ma'ariv:

"Obviously he will influence the president to be pro-Israel," Dr. Emanuel was quoted as saying. "Why wouldn't he be? What is he, an Arab? He's not going to clean the floors of the White House."

Rahm Emanuel, asked about his father's reported remark, had this to say, in a reply to a question from the Tribune about it:

"When it comes to Israel's security and America's partnership with Israel, President-elect Obama doesn't need Rahm Emanuel. President-elect Obama's commitment to Israel is steadfast and unwavering."

by Mark Silva

The meaning of Rahm Emanuel's first name, as he explained to a white-tie crowd of Washingtonians with tongue planted firmly in cheek not long ago: "Go Screw Yourself.''

This, of course, was Emanuel's way of acknowledging in good humor his own reputation for a salty tongue and fiery demeanor in the heat of political battle. And now that the congressman from Chicago is headed from the heat to the kitchen -- reportedly accepting the pivotal job of chief of staff for President-elect Barack Obama -- he inevitably will be courting a new reputation.

Emanuel also will be forfeiting his dream of becoming speaker of the House as he shifts from Capitol Hill to the West Wing in January. When Emanuel addressed a dinner of the Gridiron Club early last year, speaking alongside Vice President Dick Cheney, he jokingly suggested that his own leadership role in the House of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, chairman of the Democratic caucus, isn't all that exalted. He called himself her "valet.''

"Actually, Nancy gave me two very important tasks as soon as she became speaker,'' Emanuel told the Gridiron on March 31, 2007. "Sit down and shut up.''

"I got pretty mad,'' he said, working his script with the timing of a seasoned comedian. "I said there is only one woman in my life who can order me around like that...

"Hillary Clinton.''

They say Emanuel is profane, nasty and always throwing his weight around, Cheney noted at that dinner - "My opinion of the man? He's vice presidential material.''

"Senator (Barack) Obama and I don't just share a home state,'' Emanuel said of his fellow Illinoisan back then, early in the campaign that has resulted in Obama's election as president. "We also share exotic names that were given to us by our fathers -- Barack, which in Swahili means 'blessed,' and Rahm, which, roughly translated from Hebrew, means 'go screw yourself.'''

See the full account of Emanuel at the Gridiron with Cheney and others, which the Swamp first ran on April Fool's Day of 2007, no kidding:

by John McCormick

Robert Gibbs, a top Barack Obama aide since 2004, is in discussions to be White House press secretary.

A top transition source says there has not yet been a formal offer or acceptance.

The position is considered one of the highest profile of any administration, routinely putting the person behind the podium on television screens worldwide.

John Podesta, a former White House chief of staff who was tapped by President-elect Barack Obama fall to head his transition planning. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

by John McCormick, updated

President-elect Barack Obama made his first announcements for a transition team this afternoon, saying it will be overseen by John Podesta, Valerie Jarrett, and Pete Rouse.

Podesta is a Chicago native and former chief of staff for President Bill Clinton. Podesta also once served as a staff counsel in the Senate, where one of his bosses was then-Sen. Tom Daschle, a possible White House chief of staff and an Obama confidant.

Jarrett is a close Obama family friend from Chicago who has served as a top adviser to Obama throughout the campaign. Rouse has served as the chief of staff for Obama's senate office and is widely viewed as a likely deputy chief of staff in the White House.

Additional co-chairs were named to an advisory board. That list includes: Carol Browner, William Daley, Christopher Edley, Michael Froman, Julius Genachowski, Donald Gips, Governor Janet Napolitano, Federico Peña, Susan Rice, Sonal Shah, Mark Gitenstein, and Ted Kaufman.

Gitenstein and Kaufman will serve as co-chairs of Vice President-elect Biden's transition team, the transition staff said in a news release.

Supervising the day-to-day activities of the transition will be:

by Frank James

The Associated Press has a little news segment on the difficult state of affairs President Bush leaves his successor to deal with.

We all know the litany by now: the ailing economy and financial markets, Iraq, Afghanistan, global warming and so on.

The video includes a snippet of what looks to be a Bush press conference in the White House East Room in which he says his view of his job was "to confront problems, to not pass them on to future Congresses. Or a future president."

Obviously the president missed the mark on that goal.

The video led me to think. did Bush accomplish anything that could be viewed as helpful to his successor?

by Mark Silva

Barack Obama may not be "measuring the drapes'' for the White House, as Republican rival John McCain has suggested he is in recent days on the campaign trail.

But workers are measuring the footprint for the inaugural reviewing stands that will be erected in front of the White House for the inaugural parade on Jan. 20.

Chain-link fences have gone up on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the place that President Bush, playing host to the president of Paraguay, today called the "Casa Blanca.''

And fences have gone up outside the Capitol, at the front facing the National Mall, where the next president will be sworn into office in a little less than three months.

Not that anybody's in a rush around here, mind you.

by Mark Silva

1928.

The last time the Republicans won an election for the White House without a George Bush or Richard Nixon on the party's ticket.

Credit Chris Matthews and the Hardball crew at MSNBC for this statement of the obvious, which draws an 80-year span of elections dominated by just a couple of names in GOP politics.

(OK, Nixon had a little help from Dwight D. Eishenhower in the 50s. And yes, the former President Bush's vice presidency had an awful lot to do with that top of the ticket fellow, Ronald Reagan. But facts are facts.)

by Mark Silva

President Bush today invited leaders of the world's industrial powers to an economic summit in Washington starting on Nov. 15.

The president will officially be a lame duck at that point, yet the economic crisis underway will be foremost on the mind of his successor and the world's other leaders.

The invitations for a summit on the global economic crisis have gone out to members of the other G-8 nations and 12 more players: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union.

Among the early RSVP's: Russia -- a nation which Republican presidential nominee John McCain has spoken of booting from the Group of Eight major industrial nations.

"Russia welcomes the U.S. decision to host the summit," Natalya Timakova, a spokeswoman for President Dmitry Medvedev, said today.

"We can't yet say who will be the leader of the Russian delegation," the official said. "We are considering options."

Medvedev is scheduled to attend a European Union-Russia summit in France on Nov. 14.

Wire services contributed to this report.

by Mark Silva

"It is time for a change.''

Barack Obama? John McCain?

No, Dwight Eisenhower, in one of his black-and-white TV reelection ads in 1956 - "My Mamie gets after me about the high cost of living. It's another reason why I say it's time for a change, time to get back to an honest dollar.''

Or from 1952: "You like Ike... I like Ike... Everbody likes Ike.''

Or that infamous Lyndon Johnson ad from 1964 picturing the little girl picking petals from a daisy followed by a nuclear countdown: "Vote for Lyndon Johnson... The stakes are too high for you to stay home.'' Or the "Willie Horton ad,'' aired on behalf of former President George H.W. Bush in 1988.

Here's one from '92, from a recession past, that seems somewhat apropos today: "Clinton and Gore, Let's get our economy moving again."

The ads went to full color during the 1960s, but by the way, when did they give up on the idea of campaign songs, like this one: "Do you want a man for president whose seasoned through and through... but not so doggoned season that he won't try something new?... It's simply up to you.'' (John Kennedy, 1960)

Take a tour through the collection of classic campaign ads assembled here at Tribune and decide whether you long for the old days or just might settle for the fare that Obama and McCain are playing lately.

by Frank James

A new recording of John Kennedy in 1960 engaged in candid conversation just days after he announced for the presidency fell into NBC's hands and was broadcast last night and also placed on MSNBC's website.

In the recording which took place at Kennedy's Georgetown townhouse, the future president talks with Ben Bradlee who was then Newsweek's Washington bureau chief; Bradlee's then-wife Toni; Jim Cannon, also of Newsweek, and Jackie Kennedy. The recording was made by Bradlee and Cannon evidently for a book they were considering writing about American politics.

It's fascinating to listen to Kennedy talk about why he wanted to be president (it was the pinnacle of power from which he could really accomplish things unlike in the Senate) and his concerns that he might lose. He talks about how ambition like that impelling him to the White House was what made the world go around, that without it the world would fall apart.

He also discusses his Addison's Disease rather off-handedly, even jokingly. And he shares his view of himself as an introvert who'd just as soon read a book than talk to the person sitting next to him on an airplane, not the kind of extroverted politician like his grandfather who had been Boston's mayor or fellow senator Hubert Humphrey.

The recording is remarkable. It makes you wonder however why it appeared now, less than a month before a presidential election featuring another youthful senator who many have compared to JFK, including members of the Kennedy family themselves.

It's certainly a different kind of October surprise.

by Mark Silva

We may want to tuck this one away in the archives for that day, about two years from now, when people start thinking about the 2012 presidential election.

Women favor Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton over Republican Gov. Sarah Palin by a margin of about two-to-one, a new poll shows.

Asked about a theoretical match-up between the Democratic senator from New York and the Republican governor from Alaska - though, as long as we're talking about the theoretical here, she could be the Republican vice president in this scenario - 600 women surveyed by an independent pollsgter for SheZoom.com picked Clinton.

The national survey carries a potential margin of error of 4 percentage points, and raises a lot more questions as well, such as, why are they even asking this? The pollsters think it says something about the 2008 campaign underway:

"Hillary wins on all counts'' in the various questions posed by the survey, says pollster Mickey Blum, of Blum & Weprin, in a release from SheZoom.com. "When analyzing the data, we looked to see if there were areas in which Palin came out on top. But, on virtually every level, Hillary takes it. I think this primary season, this entire campaign, humanized her. In a lot of ways, she took a beating and kept her grace. And Americans, especially American women, like fighters.

"This poll shows just how much women identify with Hillary,'' Blum says. "Obviously, that's what the McCain campaign was looking to tap into with Sarah Palin. This polls shows that it hasn't worked, at least not yet."

Stacey Artandi, founder and CEO of SheZoom.com, says: "This election season has put two unique women in the spotlight in Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton. On many measures, they couldn't be more different -- in their ideologies, their styles, and their experiences. Regardless of what happens in the November election, Senator Clinton and Governor Palin have changed the face of the political landscape for women.

"They will remain forces in the future,'' she says. "American women's answers to our questions give a sense of how we perceive Palin and Clinton, how well we relate to them, and perhaps a hint of what's to come."

Blum & Weprin Associates, Inc. is a non-partisan polling firm based in New York and specializing in public opinion polls for the media. Media clients include NY1 News, The Daily News, The New York Times, Newsday, NBC News, and The Dallas Morning News.

SheZoom.com bills itself as "a video website that targets women with a diverse range of programming, seamlessly combining originally produced content with partner and user generated content... Founded by Stacey Artandi, SheZoom provides a forum for women everywhere to share common ground and to showcase their talents.''

by Mark Silva

Talk about bailouts.

John McCain had just made one of the riskiest, and perhaps costliest, moves of his presidential campaign, in attempting to bail out of the first televised debate of the candidates so that he could return to Washington, rise "above politics'' and concentrate on the federal bailout of the nation's bad mortgage debt underway.

Barack Obama, for his part, had no intention of forgoing the first debate, and voiced some dismay in allowing that, yes, McCain had talked to him about skipping the debate when the two spoke by telephone yesterday but then the next thing Obama heard, McCain was announcing that he had decided to skip Friday night's debate and he was calling on the president to summon a meeting of congressional leaders and both of the presidential candidates, senators, of course..

But the debate was on, Obama maintained later, ultimately accepting the president's invitation to that meeting today but leaving McCain looking like something less than the statesman which he was attempting to play with this call for putting "country first.''

McCain, in turn, was looking somewhat desperate in the odd, campaign-suspending transaction. For many long months now, McCain and Obama have waged a close contest for the White House, if the polls are any judge - and they are.

They went into their summer nominating conventions in a dead heat nationally, and they came out of their conventions - after the "bounces'' of their own unique events, Obama's appearance before 80,000 people filling a football stadium in Denver, and McCain's selection of a suddenly popular Sarah Palin for a running mate - in another virtual tie.

And then something happened: An economic crisis of proportions unseen since the Great Depression started unfolding. And Obama's numbers started climbing, with voters telling the pollsters - by double-digit margins - that they view Obama as better-suited than McCain to handle the economic crisis.

After months of staring one another down, and with Obama's political fortunes suddenly ramping up with a crisis that even President Bush was now willing to characterize as the start of a "long and painful recession'' if the government does not act, the senior senator from Arizona blinked. He pulled what Democrat Barney Frank called a "Hail Mary pass,'' with MSNBC commentator Chris Matthews dismissing it as more McCain "razzle dazzle.''

"We're 'suspending' the campaign,'' late night comedy host David Letterman said last night, stood up by slated-guest McCain -- with Letterman derisively suggesting that this is not the "hero'' McCain whom he knows. "Are we suspending the campiagn because there's an economic crisis, or because the poll numbers are sliding?''

"What John McCain was thinking was, this was a close race,'' said Doug Schoen, a pollster who served President Clinton - someone who knows about running on the economy, and perhaps running one as well. "He was slightly ahead and then the economy became the issue and all of a sudden he is nine points behind.''

by Mark Silva

President Bush doesn't make national television addresses that often, but he will tonight: Addressing the financial crisis that has prompted his administration to propose the greatest government intervention in the economy since the Great Depression.

The timing of the president's 12-14 minute televised address at 9 pm EDT is simple, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino says: Congress is closing in on a solution to the crisis before adjourning for the fall election campaigns.

The White House expects a pretty good audience for the president's address on the crisis, in which he has warned that the nation's financial system could "grind to a halt'' if it doesn't get the "grease" it needs -- a $700-billion bailout of the bad mortgage debt that is freezing credit on Wall Street, and soon Main Street, the Treasury imaintains.

"Everyone will tune in tonight because we are facing a once in a century crisis in our financial markets,'' Perino told reporters today.

by Mark Silva

"The whole word is watching,'' President Bush said this week of the economic intervention that his administration is urging Congress to take.

And today, at the United Nations General Assembly, the president told the whole world that the U.S. will act in an "urgent'' time frame.

"Our economies are more closely connected than ever before, and I know that many of you here are watching,'' the president said toward the end of an address heavy on the president's call for fighting terrorism and combatting disease worldwide.

"In recent weeks, we have taken bold steps,'' Bush said, citing his government's intervention in failing enterprises. "We have promoted stability in the market.''

The Federal Rserve has inserted needed liquidity into the system, the president said, and now the governor is "purchasing illiquid assets'' that are "weighing down'' the system. Those illiquid assets are an estimated $700 billion in bad mortgage-related debts which the Treasury Department is asking Congress for authority to purchase and take off the books of a financial system facing a credit freeze if it is not rescued.

"I am confident that we will act in the urgent time-frame required,'' said Bush, pressing Congress to act this week before adjourning for election campaigns.

by Mark Silva

President Bush and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, a couple of leaders with Harvard credentials on their resumes, met for dinner at the White House last night, a multi-course affair featuring rib-eye and punctuated with vintage wines.

Uribe, in an exchange of toasts before dinner, praised Bush as 'this warrior for the well-being of the democratic values'' and "one great leader in the fight for the well-being of democracies.''

It's telling, however, that one of the best allies whom Bush has courted in South America represents a nation with which the U.S. Congress will not ratify a free-trade agreement.

Now, at a time when Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has expelled American diplomats, Bush counts on the alliance of a friend whose government, Colombia's, has been threatened by narco-terrorists supported by the Venezuelan government.

In Colombia, the FARC terrorists refer to Chavez as the "Angel.'' In Venezuela, the megalomaniac of a president refers to Bush as the "Devil.''

The Colombian president, who pursued post-graduate studies at the same university that gave the president of the United States his master's degree in business administration, comes from the city, Medellin, which once protected one of the most powerful drug syndicates in Colombia, the Medellin Cartel, which wreaked havoc on the streets of Miami and elsewhere.

Mr. Bush has traveled to Cartagena -- a fellow dressed as Juan Valdez came around the press filing center with bags of coffee beans for the visiting reporters --- and now Mr. Uribe has come again to Washington. Uribe has managed to survive many years in the leadership of a nation allied with the U.S. in an attempt to root out the drug trafficking that once threatened to bring down his government.

Yet Bush cannot deliver the free-trade agreement that Colombia is seeking, with Democratic congressional leaders and U.S. labor union leaders unalterably opposed to the tariff-abolishing deal.

"With patience, with constancy, we will get approval of this free trade agreement. This is not the end of our relationships,'' Uribe said in toasts last night. "This is one step forward to move closer and closer in the democratic brotherhood of these two nations.''

Bush has chided the Congress for blocking the trade agreement: "Today's unprecedented and unfortunate action by the House of Representatives ... is damaging to our economy, our national security and our relations with an important ally," Bush said in April, when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi effectively signaled that the treaty was dead.

The controversy also plays out in the presidential election campaign, with Democrats opposing the agreement and Republican presidential nominee John McCain supporting it. Colombia ships coffee, fruit, oil and clothing, its biggest exports, to the U.S. free of duty. The agreement would require Colombia to eliminate tariffs on U.S. goods, with trade between the two totalling some $18 billion in 2007 last year.

But the Bush administration, in pursuit of its "freedom agenda'' and promotion of democracy, cannot deliver a trade deal to the one nation that probably has done more to cooperate with U.S. interests, in the assault on the international drug trade, than any other in South America, and has lost its diplomatic ties with the one nation, Venezuela, which represents the longest-running democracy in the region. .

By Mark Silva

Capping a week of extraordinary government intervention in an economy in crisis, President Bush is at once supporting unparalleled federal action with hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars at stake and attempting to offer Americans a sense of confidence that the economy can "weather'' this storm.

If the breadth and reach of emergency measures taken by the Bush administration and the Federal Reserve this week is unprecedented, the president insists that the economic challenges facing the nation are equally unrivaled.

For a president who watched months of job losses this year lead to a recent high in the unemployment rate, while maintaining that "our economy has got the fundamentals in place'' for robust growth, Bush has taken a sudden turn in allowing that, without dramatic action, the nation's financial system could "grind to a halt.''

"This is a pivotal moment for America's economy,'' President Bush said Friday, presenting a striking tableau on the steps of the Rose Garden, the president flanked by the chairman of the Federal Reserve, secretary of the Treasury and chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. "America's economy is facing unprecedented challenges, and we are responding with unprecedented action.''

While the White House acts to shore up shaken financial markets, the president is attempting to reassure Americans that their own bank savings are not at risk. Citing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. created after the Great Depression, Bush noted that in its 75 years of existence "no one has ever lost a penny on an insured deposit -- and this will not change.''

There appears to be recognition on Capitol Hill, too, that the government must take immediate and dramatic action within the next week and save the debate for who and what is to blame for the crisis for later - with the turmoil on Wall Street this week adding new urgency to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's long-standing call for an overhaul and streamlining of the federal regulatory structure for banking, insurance and the stock markets alike.

Yet Democrats and Republicans alike are voicing a certain reluctance about bailing out wayward Wall Street financiers at unlimited cost to taxpayers. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) says they must "not only address the broader, underlying structural issues in the financial markets, but also protect taxpayers and strengthen the middle class.''

by Mark Silva

President Bush, cancelling a planned day trip to Florida and Alabama today to monitor developments in the nation's financial markets from the White House, pledged that "the American people can be sure that we will continue to act to strengthen the financial markets and improve investor confidence.''

In a week of turmoil on Wall Street - with the stock market losing some $700 billion in paper value in two days of precipitous plunges of stock values, amidst the government's bailout of the insurance giant AIG and the collapse of Lehman Brothers - the president delivered a statement, but stopped for no questions, on a sunny, autumnal morning outside the Oval Office of the White House.

"The American poeople are concerned about the situation in our financial markets and our economy, and I share their concerns,'' said Bush, who had spoken this morning with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and plans to meet with him today. "I have canceled my travel today to stay in Washington.''

The stock market had not suffered such a fall since the days followng the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. And, indeed, in the several years since then., while the economy had at first rebounded with years of job growth, the nation at the same time has accumulated a federal debt nearly twice the size of the one that Bush found when he entered office. And so far this year, the economy has lost hundreds of thousands of jobs, with the unemployment rate reaching a new high of 6.1 percent this summer.

And Bush, who has steered clear of talk of any recesssion, also refrained today from voicing those confident words which he had used in recent months about the "fundamental'' strength of the American economy -- a term that the Republican nominee who hopes to succeed Bush, Sen. John McCain, was still using, drawing criticism from his Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama.

"In recent weeks, the federal government has taken extraordinary steps to address the challenges in our financial markets,'' siad Bush, noting the federal takeover of the mortgage consortiums, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The AIG move also was necessary to avert disruption in the market, he said.

"Last night, the Federal Reserve in coordination with central banks around the world took a substantial step,'' said the president, noting an infusion of hundreds of billions of dollars of capital into the world markets. "The markets are adjusting to them...

"My administration is focused on meeting these challenges,'' the president said, offering a terse and pointed comment aimed at bolstering confidence in the early hours of another day on Wall Street. "The American people can be sure that we will continue to act to strengthen the financial markets and improve investor confidence.''

by Mark Silva

The White House apparently had no interest in any market-moving today.

An afternoon meeting of the president's Working Group on Financial Markets was supposed to offer some coverage by pool reporters.

But, as President Bush, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and others assembled in the Roosevelt Room (it's named for the rough-riding Roosevelt, not the Depression-inheriting New Dealer) of the West Wing today, the pool suddenly was uninvited.

"We decided it would be best to limit public comment about markets today, and so there will not be press coverage of the President's Working Group meeting this afternoon,'' White House spokesman Tony Fratto said before the session. "The president looks forward to the briefing by the Working Group."

Then, after the closed session, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino had this to say: "The president was briefed this afternoon by his Working Group on Financial Markets. He appreciates their work to strengthen and stabilize the markets."

Must have been a lot of good news in there.

by William Neikirk

President Bush has been roundly criticized by Democrats for conducting a conservative economic policy. That was true for a while, but no longer.

With bailouts of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the investment banking firm of Bear Stearns (and possibly Lehman Brothers), Bush has turned to activist government practices to prevent a financial market meltdown.

It's an odd mixture of policies--socialism for Wall Street and capitalism for Main Street. Many investors who made bad choices by trying to make money off a housing bubble are being bailed out while ordinary Americans struggle with higher prices and fewer jobs.

This is a remarkable transformation for a president who considers himself a conservative on economic policy. He's an avid free trader, generally likes tax and spending cuts, and believes, as Ronald Reagan did, in the "magic of the market."

by Mark Silva

President Bush, who campaigned with promises to "rally the armies of compassion,'' has pointed with pride to his ability to steer federal funding to "faith-based'' organizations with a mission of social service - more than $2 billion a year in federal funding has gone to their efforts.

A series of directors also have passed through the president's Office of Faith-Based and Community initiatives, with the newest and fourth leader of the president's cause arriving with only months left in the term: He is Jedd Medefind. And, as our colleague at Countdown to Crawford reports, he has had some pointed things to say about the political oppostion:

Before arriving in Washington, the former aide to a California assemblyman wrote a series of essays accusing liberals of "moral blindness" and equating protection of California's Headwaters Forest with "public ownership of assets in the former Soviet Union."

He penned numerous speeches and op-ed contributions, Countdown's Jim Gerstenzang notes, which outlined "a particularly conservative bent. He accused liberals of operating with "a profound moral blindness that somehow morphs and distorts all lines between good and evil, ultimately embracing a radical relativism incapable of distinguishing between lawmen and criminals, heroes and villains."

In another, Medefind attacked cities "that promote one sort of morality by closing public roads for transvestite marches, hanging gay pride flags, and funding homosexual art displays" but "deny funds for Boy Scout public service campaigns."

Now, much of his writing has been pulled from a Web-site which once featured it - the source of the Jungle-Jim photograph of the new faith-based director featured here.

The political orientation of the new director marks a distinct turn from the views of the man who served as director longer than any, the second to run the office, serving about four years and overlapping the first and second terms of the presidnet - Jim Towey, a devout Catholic who served under the tutelage of Mother Teresa and left to become president of the Beneditine monk-run St. Vincent College in Pennsylvania. He's a Democrat.

Medefind came to Washington about two years ago and worked at the Department of Labor's faith-based office. Before that, he was chief of staff to Tim Leslie, a Republican member of the California Assembly.

At one point, his essays were available at the "Four Souls'' Website.

The L.A. Times' Gerstenzang tells us that Americans United for Separation of Church and State, skeptical about the faith-based office at the White House since its creation in 2001, managed to retrieve some of Medefind's postings through an archival search.

A White House spokeswoman, Emily Lawrimore, said: "Earlier in his career, this Web-site was used to promote some of Jedd's work. It's my understanding that most of his work was taken off this website over two years ago.'' That would have been about the time he came to work for the Bush administration, Countdown notes.

by Mark Silva

"You can put all the lipstick you want on a pig, but in the end of the day, it's still a pig.''

Barack Obama?

No, his distant cousin.

Dick Cheney.

He was talking about President Bush's Democratic rival, John Kerry. In 2004.

When Obama uttered the words about the McCain-Palin campaign and its claim to the mantra of change this week, our colleage at Countdown to Crawford, Jim Gerstenzang, recalled that someone else had uttered the familiar colloquialism in another campaign a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Cheney accused Kerry of wearing some lipstick on the wavering faces of his stance on Iraq war funding.

Cheney played the expression during his final 2004 campaign rally, with his wife, Lynne, providing warm-up, in Jackson, Wyo:

"John Kerry has a completely and totally weak record on national security issues, that he's had a record for 30 years of weakness on national security issues,'' Lynne Cheney said.

"He's working very hard to cover it up,'' the vice president said. "Now, we got into the campaign, of course, and he's trying hard to cover up the fact that he voted against the first Gulf War; against Operation Desert Storm; voted against most of the weapons systems that President Reagan used to keep the peace and win the Cold War.

"But the point is that no matter how hard he tries, no matter how much spin he tries to put on it, that you can't cover that record up with a little tough talk during the course of the campaign, that as we say in Wyoming, you can put all the lipstick you want on a pig, but in the end of the day, it's still a pig.''

The clip above pictures a similar remark made by the VP, with whom Obama has claimed a distant geneaological connection, uttered in Hawaii of all places.