First thoughts: Obama's busy weekend
Posted: Monday, December 08, 2008 9:33 AM by Domenico Montanaro
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First Thoughts
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Carrie Dann
*** Obama’s busy weekend: President-elect Obama was pretty busy this past weekend. On Saturday, he taped an interview on Meet the Press (which aired on Sunday) where he tried to reset economic expectations (”things are going to get worse before they get better”), talked about his public infrastructure plan (“What we need to do is examine what are the projects where we're going to get the most bang for the buck”), discussed his conditions for the auto bailout (“They're going to have to restructure, and all their stakeholders are going to have to restructure”), and even criticized the Bush Administration for not doing more on mortgages and foreclosures (“I think we also should be working to figure out how we can get banks and homeowners to renegotiate the terms of their mortgages so that they are sustainable“). And then on Sunday, at the same time as his Chicago Bears were playing, Obama held a press conference to unveil retired Gen. Eric Shinseki as his choice for secretary of veterans’ affairs. We have 12 days until Obama begins his Christmas vacation in Hawaii. He's got seven official cabinet vacancies -- Agriculture, Education, Energy, HHS, HUD, Labor, Transportation -- plus the intel posts. Who will be the next appointment?
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Video: In his first Sunday morning television interview since winning the election, President-elect Barack Obama joins Tom Brokaw to discuss the economy, foreign policy and the upcoming transition of power.
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When liberals attack -- their own: The Shinseki appointment -- due to the general’s ouster by Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz because he said in 2003 that more troops were needed in Iraq -- is no doubt popular with the Left. But that hasn’t stopped it from criticizing the incoming Obama Administration. “He has confirmed what our suspicions were by surrounding himself with a centrist to right cabinet,” Tim Carpenter, national director of the Progressive Democrats of America, told the
Politico. Left-wing blogger Chris Bowers added in the piece, “Isn't there ever a point when we can get an actual Democratic administration?” That kind of criticism sparked Obama deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand to write a piece in
Huffington Post telling progressives to take a chill pill. “Some believe the appointments generally aren't progressive enough. Having worked with former Senator Obama for the last two years, I can tell you, that isn't the way he thinks and it's not likely the way he will lead. The problems I mentioned above and the many I didn't, suggest that our president surround himself with the most qualified people to address these challenges. After all, he was elected to be the president of all the people - not just those on the left." Obama may placate the left with his picks for Energy, Interior, and EPA. But if they aren't placated with these picks, then maybe the chorus will get louder.
*** Republicans are 3-0 -- but in the South: Democrats have now lost three races since Obama was elected a month ago. Last Tuesday, Saxby Chambliss (R) won the Senate run-off in Georgia. And on Saturday in Louisiana, Democratic Rep. William Jefferson surprisingly lost re-election (despite his indictment for having that $90,000 in his freezer), and Democrats lost the competitive face-off for GOP Rep. Jim McCrery's seat (although the Democratic candidate, Paul Carmouche hasn't yet conceded). These races have at least two things in common: 1) It appears that African Americans didn't turn out in the numbers they did in November, and 2) they took place in the South. Indeed, perhaps the only place where the Republican Party doesn’t need help right now is the South, and Politico notes that particular fact has raised concerns about the current RNC chair race, in which a slew of southerners (except for Michigan’s Saul Anuzis and Ohio’s Ken Blackwell) are running. What’s more, the two incoming chairmen of GOP House and Senate campaign committees (Pete Sessions and John Cornyn) are Texans. However, is the lack of black turnout in last week’s Georgia and Louisiana races a warning sign for southern Dems in 2010? Without Obama's name at the top of the ticket, will Southern Dems be preparing for a tough ride? Meanwhile, on the bright side for the Democrats this past weekend, Mary Jo Kilroy (D) was declared the winner in the undecided congressional race in Ohio.
*** Defying political expectations: Sticking with Jefferson's loss, Louisiana continues to defy everyone's political expectations. In 2006, after Hurricane Katrina, we were all sure that Mitch Landrieu was going to beat incumbent New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, but Nagin shocked us all and went on to win re-election. Then in the midterms, we were pretty sure that Rep. Jefferson was going to lose his seat after the revelation of that $90,000 in his freezer. But guess what? He won. And heading into Saturday, we were almost certain that Jefferson was going to win re-election again in his heavily Democratic and African-American district. But Jefferson lost. His defeat on Saturday suggests that if you’re in legal hot water, chances are that the voters in your district are going to vote for someone else. Then again, if that’s the case, why did he win in 2006 but not this year? Our guess: turnout. If the election had been held on November 4 -- when black turnout was up -- then Jefferson (and maybe Carmouche, too) would have won. Our conclusion considering all of this: You just can’t predict what’s going to happen in Louisiana.
*** Just askin’: But if Caroline Kennedy wants Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat, can New York Gov. David Paterson deny her? Remember, we may be treated to another six weeks of this speculation since Hillary isn't resigning her seat anytime soon.
Countdown to Electoral Vote Count: 31 days
Countdown to Inauguration Day 2009: 43 days
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