I just received some surprising news — like, really surprising. The deal is not done — but at the moment — Hillary Rodham Clinton is in the lead to be Secretary of State. I thought she wouldn’t take it if offered.
Joe Lieberman wants to keep his status and committees and caucus with the Democrats. He has been a fear-monger and someone who has promoted a dangerous, reckless false choice between American relations with Israel and other parts of the Middle East.
I’ve been saying for some time that the day after Obama’s election, all sorts of policy and personality battles would unfold around him.
There is a strong chance that Lawrence Summers is going to be returned to the post of Secretary of the Treasury. If so, he’s pulling a “Donald Rumsfeld” who served as Secretary of Defense twice — the first stint under Gerald Ford and then of course under George W. Bush.
An Unhappy Squeaker: Democrat Al Franken trails incumbent Senator Norm Coleman in the Minnesota Senate race by 477 votes. A Happy Squeaker: Democrat Jeff Merkley now seems to be the winner in Oregon’s Senate race that was not called until last night.
WNYC’s Brian Lehrer and I are about to do a cool live show — video and audio — through Skype. Check it out.
Right now, I’m going to be chatting, as I do every week, with Sydney’s ABC 702 morning show anchor Deborah Cameron. At 6 pm EST or thereabouts, I’ll be in an in-studio chat with the so very excellent Rachel Maddow on Air America Radio.
Bill Kristol says that he was off on a conservatives-only cruise to Alaska to see glaciers and icebergs when he discovered the high sizzle Murkowski-slayer Sarah Palin.
Many in the movement left are having a heart attack that the first major move of President-elect Barack Obama is the appointment of Congressman Rahm Emanuel as White House Chief of Staff. Emanuel has accepted. I preferred Senator Tom Daschle for the job.
According to the latest vote results from CNN, Norm Coleman’s lead over Al Franken in the initial vote tally has now shrunk to 314 votes. Under state law, there will be an automatic recount.