Political Radar: Biden, Joe

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The Note: Obama Waits on Change for January

November 21, 2008 8:21 AM

ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Friday's Note:

Change doesn’t have to wait until January.

Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, is gone. (A sign of a new day.)

Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., is gone, partly, too. (A sign of a new order.)

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., isn’t going anywhere. (But she’s gone quite a distance to get there.)

Penny Pritzker leaves before she ever even arrives.

And the auto bailout came back to life after it was declared dead, only to die again. (It may yet rise again -- though not until next month.)

As for President-elect Barack Obama -- he is, for the most part, waiting for January.

Read the rest of The Note -- and get all the latest on the 2008 election, Congress, the White House and the wide world of politics every day -- from Rick Klein by bookmarking this link.

Thus far through the transition, we’re learning that Obama remains, at his core, a cautious and patient politician -- one who can be quite stingy with his political capital.

Meanwhile, the stock market is in freefall, Detroit is near collapse, and Congress is in a stalemate. Obama has had nearly half of his Cabinet filled for him, without a single formal announcement.

(If you’re scoring at home, he’s now had more haircuts than press conferences as president-elect.)

Other than a few comments, Obama has chosen not to play in the current crisis: “With the stock market plunging and the credit market entering a new freeze, cries are being heard for a new government intervention to prop up major financial institutions before President-elect Barack Obama takes office,” Floyd Norris writes in The New York Times. “By resigning from the Senate before the current session began and allowing it to appear that a sense of drift could prevail until he is inaugurated, Mr. Obama may have missed an opportunity to exert leadership.”

“How much can go wrong in the two months before Mr. Obama takes the oath of office? The answer, unfortunately, is: a lot,” Paul Krugman writes in his column. “At minimum, the next two months will inflict serious pain on hundreds of thousands of Americans, who will lose their jobs, their homes, or both. What’s really troubling, however, is the possibility that some of the damage being done right now will be irreversible.”

“The problem is that nothing of significance can or will happen until the new President takes office in January, even though there is -- finally -- a great appetite for action in Washington. This is going to be a very frustrating few months,” Time’s Joe Klein writes.

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

November 21, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Bush, George W., Clinton, Bill, Clinton, Hillary, Inauguration, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (43)

The Note: Obama Leans on Insiders in Choosing Team

November 20, 2008 8:30 AM

ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Thursday's Note:

Call it change Washington can believe in.

The Cabinet that is emerging (still unofficially -- President-elect Barack Obama has yet to make a single formal announcement) looks so very . . . practical, maybe typical.

The faces are like the folks at a college reunion -- you knew these people once before, when there were a little younger, and sort of always had the feeling you’d see them again.

And -- surprise -- Obama picks top aides the same way previous presidents have: From the ranks of elected officials, old friends and allies, and people who have done it before -- yes, in Washington.

Your latest entries for the ledger of the likely: Tom Daschle, the former Senate Democratic leader, at Health and Human Services; Gov. Janet Napolitano, D-Ariz., at Homeland Security; and Penny Pritzker, an early campaign supporter and a big Obama fundraiser, at Commerce.

Made formal Wednesday: David Axelrod, to become senior advisor to the president; Greg Craig as White House counsel; Lisa Brown as White House staff secretary; and Chris Lu (not Patti Solis Doyle) as Cabinet secretary.

“President-elect Barack Obama promised the voters change but has started his Cabinet selection process by naming several Washington insiders to top posts,” Kevin Freking writes for the AP.

“President-elect Barack Obama campaigned on the slogan of ‘change.’ But his early appointees, including two top choices that emerged Wednesday, show that experience is one of his main criteria,” Laura Meckler and Jonathan Weisman write in The Wall Street Journal.

“The latest transition news highlighted the three personnel pools supplying Mr. Obama with his picks,” they write. “Most prominent are Clinton administration veterans -- including, possibly, former first lady Hillary Clinton for secretary of state. Some high-profile appointments are also long-serving members and staff from Capitol Hill. Then there are the influential Chicagoans -- a group that seems smaller than the hometown crowd that usually accompanies a new president to Washington.”

And why is it that all the Cabinet picks come with what Al Kamen is calling a “Best Buy” contingency -- a 30-day return policy?

“Reminds us of the Hamlet-like performance of former New York governor Mario Cuomo when Bill Clinton offered him a seat on the Supreme Court and he accepted, then he didn't, and back and forth,” Kamen writes in his Washington Post column. “In the end, if it doesn't work out, there was no Obama announcement, no photo op. There are no pictures of him walking out with Clinton, smiling. He's reached out to his former foe, he's been magnanimous. And of course he will be saddened that it didn't work out.”

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

November 20, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Clinton, Bill, Clinton, Hillary, Huckabee, Mike, McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (78)

Beau Biden Heads to Iraq

November 19, 2008 9:54 PM

ABC News' Matthew Jaffe reports: Beau Biden, son of Vice President-elect Joe Biden, departed the United States Wednesday morning en route to Iraq, Delaware National Guard spokesman Nathan Bright told ABC News.

This photo was provided by the Delaware National Guard.

Biden and his unit -- the 261st Signal Brigade -- left Ft. Bliss, Texas, at 11 a.m. local time, Bright said, stopping first in New England and then Europe before moving on to a staging area outside of Iraq for a "few weeks of training and environmental acclimation."

Units usually stop in Kuwait before continuing on to Iraq.

Once in Iraq, Capt. Biden will serve as trial counsel for the 261st and its subordinate units, totaling about 1,200 soldiers. His chief responsibility is helping commanders as a prosecutor, enforcing the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Capt. Biden and the rest of the unit is expected to come back to Delaware in September 2009.

Just last Saturday, Beau Biden, Delaware's attorney general, visited with his family, including his father, on a weekend off in Nevada.

When Beau's unit left for training in Texas in early October, the vice president-elect spoke at his son's deployment ceremony in Dover, Del.

"I have come here many times before as a Delawarean, as a United States senator," Biden said Oct. 3 on the mall in front of the state capital. "But today I come as you prepare to deploy as a father, a father who got some sage advice from his son this morning: 'Dad, keep it short, we're in formation.' I always listen to my general.

"You are the best demonstration of both our nation's greatness and, equally as importantly, our people's goodness," the senator later told the 115 troops. "As you serve, and look out for your brothers and sisters in arms, your families here at home, I promise you, we'll look out for one another.

"So let me simply say thank you," Biden concluded. "Thank you for answering the call of your country. Thank you for doing what brave women and men have always done in uniform and always do. So stand strong, stand together, serve honorably. Come home to your families that love you. May God bless you and may He protect you."

Months earlier, Beau Biden had introduced his father at the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 27 in Denver.

In recent weeks, as he prepared to depart for Iraq, speculation ran rampant that Beau Biden might take over the Senate seat that his father will vacate when he takes office as vice president.

But on Tuesday, Beau Biden sent an email to his hometown newspaper, the News Journal, in which he said he has not sought nor would he accept an appointment to Capitol Hill.

Although President-elect Barack Obama resigned his Senate seat last Sunday, Biden has yet to do so.

"Vice President-elect Biden is consulting with leaders in Delaware and will make an announcement on his plans soon," Biden spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander said in a statement.

ABC News' Teddy Davis and Tahman Bradley reported Tuesday that Delaware's newly elected Gov. Jack Markell will be sworn in at midnight on Jan. 20, making it possible for him to name a replacement for the long-term Blue Hen lawmaker, assuming Biden fulfills his stated intention to wait until Inauguration Day to resign.

November 19, 2008 in Biden, Joe | Permalink | User Comments (25)

The Note: Clinton Drama Haunts Obama Transition

November 19, 2008 8:35 AM

ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Wednesday's Note:

Which of these items should surprise us:

- The fact that Vice-president-elect Joe Biden is still a member of the United States Senate? (Albeit one with no intentions of actually casting another vote.)

- The fact that Sen. Ted Stevens is still a member of the Republican caucus? (Albeit one with very few votes left to cast.)

- The fact that Sen. Joe Lieberman is still a member of the Democratic caucus? (Just with one fewer subcommittee chairmanship that no one knew he had.)

- The fact that it there might be more old Clinton hands in the incoming Obama administration that there would have been if Hillary Clinton had won?

- The fact that conventional wisdom on Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton at State has shifted from why-would-he-want-her to why-would-she-want-it? (Is this all part of a power-play dance?)

- The fact that President-elect Barack Obama hasn’t had complete, leak-proof control of any of his major appointments so far in the transition process? (All this before he names a single member of his Cabinet . . . )

Forgiveness is in the air on the Hill, and maybe in Chicago, too.

Add Eric Holder, Obama’s choice for attorney general, to two running lists: worst-kept appointment secrets, and former top Clinton administration officials filling out the Obama team.

If Holder gets the nod, this means we know there will be at least one (if not a dozen) confirmation fights that reopen the old battles of the Clinton years.

This while Sen. Clinton plays out her internal fight over whether she wants to be Secretary of State. (Sorry, did someone mention drama?)

“While Mr. Obama has yet to name any of his cabinet secretaries, his early choices for White House staff positions and the names currently at the top of the list for staff and cabinet jobs suggest that his administration could be heavily stocked with Democrats who served under Mr. Clinton,” The New York Times' Eric Lichtblau and John M. Broder report.

This storyline, again: “President-elect Barack Obama repeatedly is turning to the Clinton administration for his Cabinet and staff, the latest example coming yesterday when Eric Holder emerged as the leading candidate for attorney general,” Bloomberg’s James Rowley and Julianna Goldman write. “To be sure, some of the problems that beset the Clinton administration could follow as well.”

Obama “wants the best people for the job, and he’s willing to overcome that chatter if he determines that anyone he appoints is the best person for the job, even if they did serve in the Clinton administration,” ABC’s George Stephanopoulos said on “Good Morning America” Wednesday.

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

November 19, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Bush, George W., Clinton, Bill, Clinton, Hillary, McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (38)

Biden's Guv Plans Midnight Swearing-in

November 18, 2008 6:49 PM

ABC News' Teddy Davis and Arnab Datta Report: ABC News has learned that Delaware's newly elected Democratic governor is planning to take the oath of office at 12:01 a.m. ET on Jan. 20, 2009, making it possible for him to name Vice President-elect Joe Biden's replacement to the United States Senate.

Whether Governor-elect Jack Markell (D) gets to name Biden's Senate replacement will ultimately turn on whether the Vice President-elect makes good on his stated intention to wait until the moment he becomes Vice President to resign from the U.S. Senate.

Delaware law provides that when a U.S. senator resigns before the end of his term, the state's governor appoints a replacement who remains in office until the next election which, in this case, is 2010.

The midnight swearing-in will take place in Newark, Del., on the campus of the University of Delaware. Markell will be sworn into office by one of the state's Supreme Court justices. While Markell will take the oath of office and officially become governor on January 20, he will re-enact the swearing-in and deliver his inaugural address on January 21, at the state capitol in Dover, Del. Markell opted for a midnight swearing-in to accommodate Delawareans who wanted to attend the Obama-Biden inauguration in Washington, D.C., as well as the inauguration of the new governor, while simultaneously complying with the state constitution's requirement that the new governor be sworn in on January 20.

Markell thought it would be more feasible to hold a re-enactment on January 21 than it would be to hold a daytime swearing-in on January 20.

A number of Delaware state officials have been mentioned as possibile Biden replacements including Lt. Gov. Jack Carney, Supreme Court Chief Justice Myron Steele, and Secretary of State Harriet Smith Windsor.

Attorney General Beau Biden, the vice president-elect's son, sent an email to reporters on Tuesday saying that he does not want to be considered as a possible replacement for his father in the Senate. The younger Biden is a member of the state's National Guard and has been training in Texas for a year-long deployment to Iraq.

Markell is planning formally to announce his plans on Wednesday.

November 18, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Vote 2008: Democrats, Vote 2008: Republicans, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (8)

The Note: Reality Check for Obama Agenda

November 18, 2008 8:21 AM

ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Tuesday's Note:

About that hope thing -- can it wait ’til January?

For all the excitement and expectations surrounding the elevation of President-elect Barack Obama, it’s a particularly grim week in Washington.

Lawmakers are reassembling for the lamest of lame-duck sessions, doubtful that they’ll get anything done. Automakers and top administration officials trudge up to Capitol Hill Tuesday for their ritualized grillings -- but no one is quite sure what to do next.

Republicans are looking for a new direction -- if not an entirely new reason to exist. It’s revenge time Tuesday, too, with Sen. Joe Lieberman’s chairmanships and Sen. Ted Stevens’ whole job potentially on the line. On the House side, an upstart of a 69-year-old is trying to oust the longest-serving member of the House from his chairmanship.

The politicking and stalled policy amounts to a big reality check for a nation that voted for change two weeks ago. Yes, we can talk about working together (and if Obama and Sen. John McCain can sit together and smile for the cameras, what can’t happen?), but when it comes to governance, the same stubborn splits persist -- between the parties, inside the parties, and everywhere in between.

(If you need a smile, yourself, Sen. Ted Kennedy is back.)

Obama’s transition, meanwhile, is snagged on a very big question involving -- who else? -- the Big Dog himself.

“Mr. Clinton’s postpresidential life as a globe-trotting philanthropist, business consultant and speech-giver poses the highest hurdle for Mrs. Clinton to overcome if President-elect Barack Obama chooses to nominate her as secretary of state, according to aides of the Clintons and Mr. Obama,” The New York Times’ Don Van Natta Jr. and Jo Becker report.

“While aides to the president-elect declined Monday to discuss what sort of requirements would make it possible for Mrs. Clinton to serve as secretary of state, they said Mr. Obama would not formally offer her the job unless he was satisfied that there would be no conflicts posed by Mr. Clinton’s activities abroad.”

Said Abner J. Mikva, an Obama supporter and a White House counsel during the Clinton administration: “There would have to be full disclosure as to who all were contributors to his library and foundation. I think they’d have to be made public.”

(Maybe not everything, Obama aides advise -- but it’s all under review.)

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

November 18, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Clinton, Bill, Clinton, Hillary, McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (32)

The Note: Obama, McCain Could be Valuable Allies

November 17, 2008 8:24 AM

ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Monday's Note:

Questions worth pondering while you’re thinking about the prospect of a Palin-free week:

1. Who will play a bigger role in filling out President-elect Barack Obama’s Cabinet -- Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, or Doris Kearns Goodwin?

2. Will the Republican Party have to blow itself up to put itself back together? (Which of those directions does Mike Huckabee’s new book take the party?)

3. Will the president-elect spend more political capital getting a playoff system for college football than he will pushing a bailout package to help save Detroit? (And will he spend this much time in the gym when he’s in the White House?)

4. What does it say about the most open and transparent transition in history that Obama meets in super-secrecy with Democrats, while press releases are sent out for meetings with Republicans?

5. Who’s the more powerful Republican this week -- John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, or John McCain?

The rival reclamation tour continues Monday in Chicago, with Obama set to meet at noon ET with that other individual who almost stopped him from becoming president: McCain.

McCain is at heart a dealmaker, and his return to the Senate as part of a diminished GOP caucus enhances his opportunities to cut them. Just like he’d have to if he’d won, McCain will be forced to work with Democrats -- and, of course, there’s one Democrat in particular whose cooperation is vital if McCain wants to remain a potent force.

McCain, R-Ariz., has no more friends in the Senate (in either party) than he did before he ran. And the Senate remains the place where some of the bolder Obama ideas may go to die.

But McCain won’t be speaking for leadership in the new Congress. Even more than after his 2000 run, he is one of a handful of senators whose celebrity brings power that can’t be measured by chairmanships or seniority (Hillary Clinton is another). When an Obama measure -- any measure -- is sent to Congress, who do you think will be the first lawmaker reporters seek out for reaction?

“Both have much to gain from swift reconciliation after a bitter contest,” The Wall Street Journal’s Jonathan Weisman and Laura Meckler write. “Mr. Obama's pledge to move beyond the partisan bickering requires Republican partners. Sen. McCain would be a potent symbol -- and one with a long history of working with Democrats on key issues on the president-elect's agenda: climate change, energy efficiency and national service. . . . Obama aides stress the opportunity the president-elect is offering Sen. McCain.”

The Palin mania that’s enveloped the past week has mostly enhanced McCain by not focusing on his missteps (other than, possibly, his selection of Sarah Palin).

So the Arizona senator returns to the Hill with the potential to be more of a power source than ever -- the one man whose reaction to an Obama proposal could immediately set the tone for debate.

“Sources close to McCain say their man wants to leave the campaign behind and return to the role he forged for himself on Capitol Hill as the leading reformer and bi-partisan legislator in the Senate,” Time’s James Carney writes. “By meeting with McCain so shortly after the election, Obama is demonstrating both magnanimity and self-confidence. But his move is also based on self-interest. Obama is keenly aware of the fact that, despite increased Democratic majorities in both the Senate and the House, he cannot enact the kind of sweeping legislative overhaul he envisions without the help of Republicans.”

With two years left on his term -- why wouldn’t he want to be a player? And the choice of wingmen for Monday’s meeting -- new White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel for Obama, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. -- for McCain -- says that both men are serious about a potential partnership.

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

November 17, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Bush, George W., Clinton, Bill, Clinton, Hillary, Huckabee, Mike, McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (114)

The Note: Clinton Makes it 3 am for Obama Transition

November 14, 2008 8:35 AM

ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Friday's Note:

So much for no drama.

Surely a certain soon-to-be-ex-senator knows this by now, but here’s the thing about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton: She tends to steal the scenes she’s playing in.

Until the subject of her “private business” Thursday in Chicago is resolved -- and maybe until and even beyond the press conference announcing the new secretary who’s headed to Foggy Bottom -- it will be 3 am in the transition process.

The Hillary rumors are the first potential stumbling block for the smooth machine that is President-elect Barack Obama’s transition efforts -- and it revolves around a storyline that seems never to get old.

There’s a decent chance this is just flattery, and an almost-equal chance that Clinton doesn’t even want the job. But what does it say that no one is seriously waving off the possibility that Obama actually does want Hillary Clinton answering that ringing phone?

“Discussions about Clinton, D-N.Y., being asked to accept the post are ‘very serious,’ an Obama source says,” per ABC’s Martha Raddatz, Jake Tapper, and Z. Byron Wolf. “Asked if Hillary Clinton would consider the secretary of state job, a former official in President Clinton’s administration said, ‘I think so. What would you rather do -- be senator or secretary of state?’ ”

“She's smart, she's strong, she's experienced, she's a team player, she is usually pretty diplomatic, and she also brings some gender diversity to an Obama Team concerned about such matters,” ABC’s Tapper and Sunlen Miller report. “She brings instant stature to the job, one Democrat told me. Many world leaders have known her for almost two decades.”

“But Obama and Clinton clashed frequently on international issues during their contentious primary battle,” Tapper reported on “Good Morning America” Friday. “Clinton suggested Obama was naive on wanting to talk to Iran and reckless in discussing a willingness to strike terrorists in Pakistan without government permission.”

“There's increasing chatter in political circles that the Obama camp is not overly happy with the usual suspects for secretary of state these days,” Al Kamen writes in his Washington Post column. “And Obama could put her in his speed-dial for a 3 a.m. phone call each morning.”

(Easiest joke in town: Would Bill Clinton want to fill out those Obama job application forms? Does Hillary Clinton want to go into detail about revelations that could potentially embarrass her would-be boss?)

Obama, of course, has plenty of experience with the Clintons. But in this delicate period where he remains around the presidency but not quite of it, this is one piece of the process where a little less transparency and openness could go a long way.

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

November 14, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Clinton, Bill, Clinton, Hillary, Edwards, John, McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (38)

Biden Meets Cheney After Countless Jabs on the Campaign Trail

November 13, 2008 9:53 AM

ABC News' Matthew Jaffe reports: Days after President George W. Bush welcomed President-elect Barack Obama to the White House, the nation's top surrogate, Dick Cheney, tonight greeted his successor, Joe Biden, in a private meeting at the vice president's residence, Washington's Naval Observatory.

The present and future second-in-commands, accompanied by their wives Lynne and Jill, respectively, met behind closed doors for just over 50 minutes after the Bidens, as the senator has done for 36 years, took the Amtrak train down to D.C., arriving on the Acela at Union Station just before 5 pm.

"It was a good visit," read a statement released by Cheney's office. "The Cheneys enjoyed giving the Bidens a tour of the residence and wished them well as they make it their home in January."

"The Bidens thank the Cheneys for welcoming them into their home and for their gracious hospitality," said Biden spokesperson Elizabeth Alexander.

While the statements on the private meeting were cordial, Biden has already thrown many a public jab at the man he will replace.

"The most dangerous vice president we've had" was how Biden described Cheney at the vice presidential debate Oct. 2 in St. Louis.

And again in Bowling Green, Ohio on November 1, the day Cheney endorsed Republican nominee Sen. John McCain. "Dick Cheney has been wrong on everything else the last eight years," Biden said.

In his two and a half months on the campaign trial, the Delaware lawmaker never hesitated in blasting Cheney on the stump. In fact, no sooner had Biden accepted the role of Obama’s running mate then he immediately ripped Cheney in his address to fellow Democrats at the party’s convention Aug. 27 in Denver.

"For every American who is trying to do the right thing, for all those people in government who are honoring their pledge to uphold the law and respect our Constitution, no longer will the eight most dreaded words in the English language be: 'The vice president's office is on the phone'."

Especially inflammatory to Biden was Cheney's claim that the vice presidency does not fall under any executive branch.

"At least I know what the vice president does," quipped Biden in Raleigh, NC, October 23. "Not with Dick Cheney. Not with vice president Cheney, who said he's not a part of either branch!"

In his Washington University debate with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Biden ripped Cheney's time in office, denouncing him as the most dangerous man ever to serve as the nation's second-in-command.

"Vice President Cheney has been the most dangerous vice president we've had probably in American history,” Biden said. “The idea he doesn't realize that Article I of the Constitution defines the role of the vice president of the United States - that's the Executive Branch. He works in the Executive Branch. He should understand that. Everyone should understand that.”

“And the primary role of the vice president of the United States of America is to support the president of the United States of America, give that president his or her best judgment when sought, and as vice president, to preside over the Senate, only in a time when in fact there's a tie vote. The Constitution is explicit."

From the serious to the silly, Biden took countless shots at Cheney, at one rally even taking over Cheney Stadium, a minor-league ballpark just outside Seattle.

“I want to thank you for…temporarily changing the name from Cheney Stadium to Obama-Biden Stadium for the day,” he said October 19th. “Besides, if it was Cheney Stadium, we’d be at an undisclosed location. You’d never have been able to find us!”

“Who the hell wants to be vice president?” Biden had asked at a San Francisco fundraiser just the day earlier. "We don't pay attention to vice presidents much. Especially Cheney. So you know, I've got a lot to overcome.”

If nothing else, Biden’s meeting gave him a chance to check out his future home, the Naval Observatory in the northwest corner of the Capital City.

On Election Day, Biden said he looked forward to moving there due to its proximity to his son Hunter’s house, which gave Hunter’s daughter Finnegan all the reasons she needed to want her grandfather to take over the Naval Observatory.

"She said it's a mile and five-tenths, so that was the reason to run for vice president,” Biden joked in an impromptu plane press conference with Finnegan en route to Chicago. “The vice president's house is a mile and I think it was five-tenths, you said from the house. And her little sister Maisy’s up there. She said, ‘Yeah Pop, it's got a swimming pool.’ You know, they're all the reasons, all the good reasons."

ABC News' Martha Raddatz, Jon Garcia, Vija Udenans, and Sunlen Miller contributed to this report.

November 13, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (108)

The Note: Obama’s ‘Change’ Meets Reality

November 13, 2008 8:51 AM

ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Thursday's Note:

Since the most transparent presidential transition in history is translucent at the moment, while the most open process ever is continuing behind doors marked “private,” here’s some of what the president-elect is learning:

1. Being more organized than Bill Clinton and less formal than George W. Bush doesn’t make a successful White House by itself -- but may be a good start.

2. A new politics requires old faces -- and those Clinton folks really don’t look so bad when it’s time to fill out a Democratic administration. (Even Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton herself may not be so bad to have around . . . )

3. That online army he brings with him doesn’t take orders from the top.

4. Being president-elect can mean acting like a president only when you want -- but there are some crises too big to avoid.

5. There are a few campaign promises that may not be so bad to ignore for a very long while.

As the Bidens meet the Cheneys, Hank Paulson meets reality, the GOP meets to ponder a new path, Sarah Palin meets a few more cameras, John McCain meets politics again, and Alaska’s Uncle Ted meets the real fallout of his actions . . .

The various political scenes playing out all over Washington and beyond lack a major player: President-elect Barack Obama.

The no-drama edict/reality of the Obama campaign has morphed seamlessly into the transition, no leaks, no errors.

But can it last? With each new issue, and with each new name, the realities of governing threaten to clash with the rhetoric of campaigning.

Change is so hard to track -- with new faces like Rahm Emanuel, John Podesta, Larry Summers, Madeleine Albright, Ron Klain, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, James Steinberg . . . (Think the Netroots are happy about this?)

Your new players (hope you kept your old program): “The Obama transition team yesterday rolled out a new list of officials who will help guide the process, singling out the Treasury, Defense and State departments as its first three areas of focus,” Anne E. Kornblut and Michael Abramowitz write in The Washington Post. “Three policy-oriented Democrats -- Melody Barnes, Lisa Brown and Don Gips -- will serve as co-chairs of the agency review process, the office of President-elect Barack Obama said.”

The list “sheds light on the types of people his administration will lean on and what institutions may claim clout in the new Washington,” The Wall Street Journal’s Laura Meckler and Jonathan Weisman report. “The group is filled with second-tier veterans of the Clinton administration and workers in the technology and financial sectors. It includes four former lobbyists, three top campaign fund-raisers and two former employees of troubled mortgage giant Fannie Mae, with some overlap among them. Four people in the group have ties to the consultant McKinsey & Co. and two have experience leading high-tech start-ups.”

“16 out of 19 of these folks worked in some capacity for the administration of President Clinton, which will no doubt cause some to question just how much ‘change’ can really come of these appointments,” ABC’s Jake Tapper reports. “But on the other hand, one can't expect Democrats who can be relied upon to help run a government to just pop out fresh from thin air.”

Get used to it, says ABC’s Sam Donaldson: “Successful presidents surround themselves with experienced people. That doesn't always work out – consider the outgoing Bush administration -- but when they don't do that, it almost never works out -- consider the Carter administration.”

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

November 13, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Bush, George W., Clinton, Bill, Clinton, Hillary, Edwards, John, McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah, Romney, Mitt, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (28)