Political Radar: Biden, Joe

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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.

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.

“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 (22)

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 (34)

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 (6)

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, Richardson, Bill, 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 (107)

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)

The Note: Obama Gambles on Bailout Bill

November 12, 2008 8:29 AM

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

Whatever the outcome of the clash between the Bush administration and the Democratic Congress over a bailout package for Detroit, know that President-elect Barack Obama placed himself at this table -- and promptly tossed some valuable chips into the pot.

He had an easy way out: the one-president-at-a-time line. He’s just a senator until Jan. 20. He didn’t have to turn his Oval Office session with President Bush into a lobbying powwow. And with just the two of them in the room, he certainly (as the Bush team reminded him with a high hard one tossed via Drudge) didn’t have to turn private talks into a public spat.

With House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Harry Reid pushing a measure to help automakers during the lame-duck session, they have a partner in ownership: Obama.

It’s a quiet kind of power play by a president-elect who’s seeking a delicate balance: Obama, insisting that the economy needs more help now, is showing action, not just talking about it.

If it works, Obama would notch a legislative victory even before he’s president -- in a quick payoff for his union backers, and (just maybe) for a troubled industry and the economy as a whole.

But if it fails to pass, or if it passes and then fails to work, or even if it works but fails to impress, the president-elect owns an issue that helped get him here a bit earlier -- and more completely -- than he did before.

“Democratic leaders in Congress said Tuesday they will push legislation next week to use the $700 billion Wall Street rescue fund to bail out Detroit auto makers, and President-elect Barack Obama ordered his transition team to look at ways to aid the car industry even before his inauguration,” The Wall Street Journal’s Jonathan Weisman, Greg Hitt and John D. McKinnon report.

“For Mr. Obama, the crisis in Detroit is turning into an early test of his leadership. Organized labor, including the United Auto Workers, invested heavily in Mr. Obama's campaign,” they continue. “It's a situation Mr. Obama's team had hoped to avoid, potentially giving the president-elect responsibility for an emergency before he has any real authority to deal with it. . . . For Mr. Obama, a public intervention on behalf of Detroit puts his political capital at stake on behalf of companies that have lost the confidence of investors and many consumers -- reflected in the reluctance of banks to lend to the companies and their continuing loss of market share.”

“A senior Democratic official . . . said Ms. Pelosi had decided to challenge Mr. Bush to work with the Democrats or veto aid to the teetering auto companies -- and take the blame if one of them fails,” David M. Herszenhorn and Carl Hulse write in The New York Times. “The White House has resisted calls by Congress to use the $700 billion to help the automakers, saying that money is better spent easing the credit crunch at the heart of the economic crisis.”

Key detail: “Congressional aides said Democratic leaders were coordinating their activities with [Obama’s] transition team,” Herszenhorn and Hulse report.

What of his role? “Mr. Obama does not intend to play a leading role in the [lame-duck] session. Aides said he was focused on the economic packages he would offer as president, as well as working behind the scenes with Congressional Democratic leaders,” Herszenhorn and Hulse report. “But aides have not definitively ruled out the prospect of Mr. Obama casting his vote if it was needed. His Senate replacement will not be named by then.”

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

November 12, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Bush, George W., Clinton, Hillary, Edwards, John, McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (45)

The Note: Obama Challenged to Lead Early

November 11, 2008 8:38 AM

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

President-elect Barack Obama might have wanted some relaxation time -- or at least some thinking time before that White House he toured Monday becomes his.

But politics is inviting Obama in at every turn: world leaders reaching out; advocacy groups growing restless (already); a Senate run-off where his pull will be tested; a Democrat-turned-independent-turned-McCain-endorser whose future is being debated on the Hill; and, most pressingly, a series of financial matters that can’t wait for Jan. 20 to be resolved.

(And Gov. Sarah Palin is inviting in politics at every turn -- what, is she running for something?)

There will be many Barack Obamas, surely, over the course of his presidency -- the one of the first 100 days, the economic healer, the wartime leader, the manager, the speaker, the relationship-builder, the one who responds to unforeseen crises, and the one who (soon enough) gears up for reelection.

All of them could be defined in part by the pre-presidential Obama we’re seeing now. Just a week past Election Day, Obama is being asked to fill leadership voids all over Washington, and as he responds -- tentatively, for now -- he knows that he’s setting the tone for when it counts.

Behind the pageantry, the makings of a presidential-level standoff: “President-elect Barack Obama yesterday urged President Bush to support immediate aid for struggling automakers and back a new stimulus package, even as congressional Democrats began drafting legislation to give the Detroit automakers quick access to $25 billion by adding them to the Treasury Department's $700 billion economic rescue program,” Lori Montgomery and Michael D. Shear write in The Washington Post.

“Bush, speaking privately to Obama during their first Oval Office meeting, repeated his administration's stand that he might support quick action on those bills if Democratic leaders drop their opposition to a Colombia trade agreement that Bush supports,” they report. “The discussions raised the stakes for a lame-duck session of Congress that could begin next week and came as fears about General Motors' financial condition yesterday pushed the company's stock price to its lowest level in about 60 years.”

“A week after Mr. Obama’s election, and more than two months before he takes office, the steadily weakening economy and the prospect of many more job losses are testing his effort to remain aloof from the nation’s business on the argument that ‘we only have one president at a time,’ ” Jackie Calmes writes in The New York Times.

“As the auto industry reels, rarely has an issue so quickly illustrated the differences from one White House occupant to the next,” she writes. “How Mr. Obama responds to the industry’s dire straits will indicate how much government intervention in the private sector he is willing to tolerate. It will also offer hints of how he will approach his job under pressure, testing the limits of his conciliation toward the opposition party and his willingness to stand up to the interest groups in his own.”

“Mr. Obama's focus on the auto industry came as fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill started moving on their own to help Detroit gain access to federal rescue funds allocated for the financial sector,” Jonathan Weisman and John D. McKinnon report in The Wall Street Journal. “Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan said Monday that he is drafting legislation, aimed for quick passage, that would free up money from the $700 billion Wall Street rescue for Detroit auto makers careening toward seeking bankruptcy protection.”

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

November 11, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Bush, George W., McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (22)

Cassoulet - Mystery Solved

November 10, 2008 4:44 PM

ABC News' Brian Hartman reports: Throughout ABC's election night coverage from New York, it was impossible to miss, amid shots of the boisterous crowd gathered in Times Square, a large banner emblazoned with the conundrum: "cassoulet."

One viewer wrote on the Dallas Morning News website, "That may well be the most confusing sign I have ever seen anywhere."

Heads also were scratching in ABC's election coverage studio.

"I want to know who 'cassoulet' is," George Stephanoulos said on-air to Charles Gibson just before a commercial break.

Many viewers were just as curious. Thousands logged onto the internet for answers, making "cassoulet" -- a French bean casserole -- one of the top 100 search terms on Google for Election Day.

The real answer, it turns out, appears to be that US election night was the backdrop for a French joke.

As seen in this video clip, a sound engineer for "Le Petit Journal" (The Little Journal), a comedy show that airs on the Canal + TV network, had been making the rounds of US live news broadcasts that day. Wherever Mathieu the engineer could find a camera, he would wave a sign with messages for his mother -- capping off the day with a massive banner that paid homage to her beloved cassoulet.

The video can be seen HERE.

November 10, 2008 in Biden, Joe, McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah, Vote 2008: Democrats, Vote 2008: Republicans | Permalink | User Comments (25)

The Note: Goldilocks Approach: Obama Seeks Balanced Pace

November 10, 2008 8:37 AM

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

When No. 43 hosts No. 44 Monday, the two men come to the White House riding competing historical crosscurrents -- and it’s not just that one is coming and one is going.

The future of the Republican Party hinges on the argument over whether the GOP got where it is because it was growing too big or thinking too small.

The future of the Democratic Party hinges on the argument over whether President-Elect Barack Obama will get where he needs to by acting big or aiming small.

The challenge for Obama and the team he’s putting together is in finding a Goldilocks balance, when plenty of folks want it hot, and plenty of others want it cold. He needs to deliver on his promises for change, while not eroding the promise of the broad change to politics his election meant to so many.

The new guy gets a big platform, and a bigger opportunity. Early on, he’s conveying the sense of measured action, after months of stasis in the executive branch.

“The American people, right now, need help economically,” incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos Sunday on “This Week.” “It is essential that we focus on the stress and strains on the middle class.”

Bipartisanship, now: “The challenges are big enough that there's going to be an ability for people of both parties, as well as independents, to contribute ideas to help meet the challenges on health care, energy, tax reform, education,” Emanuel said. “So that is the tone. That is the policy. And that is exactly how we're going to go forward.”

But pacing is everything: “The debate between a big-bang strategy of pressing aggressively on multiple fronts versus a more pragmatic, step-by-step approach has flavored the discussion among Mr. Obama’s transition advisers for months, even before his election,” Peter Baker writes in the Sunday New York Times. “The tension between these strategies has been a recurring theme in the memorandums prepared for him on various issues, advisers said.”

“The argument for an aggressive approach in the mold of Franklin D. Roosevelt or Lyndon B. Johnson is that health care, energy and education are all part of systemic economic problems and should be addressed comprehensively. But Democrats are discussing a hybrid strategy that would push for a bold economic program and also encompass other elements of Mr. Obama’s campaign platform, even if larger goals are put off.”

The pressure builds, already: “Saying Obama's decisive election victory amounts to a mandate, many of the president-elect's staunchest supporters, including labor leaders, are looking for strong, swift action on many of the sweeping proposals -- including reforming health care and increasing the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation -- that he pushed on the campaign trail,” Michael A. Fletcher writes in The Washington Post. “But at the same time, Obama will be under pressure from fiscal conservatives and others to restrain spending, which could cause him to move slowly on his most ambitious plans.”

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

November 10, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Bush, George W., McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (29)

Blue Hen Biden Goes Home to 'Bury the Hatchet'

November 06, 2008 5:09 PM

ABC News' Matthew Jaffe Reports: Vice President-elect Joe Biden returned to his home state of Delaware Thursday for "Return Day," a traditional ceremony when the election’s winners and losers “bury the hatchet” after the heated battles of the campaign trail.

"This is a great event," Biden said during the parade. "Feels like the old days."

Biden defeated Republican challenger Christine O’Donnell Tuesday to win re-election as Delaware senator, a seat he has held for 36 years but will now have to resign to assume the vice-presidential post.

On a rainy afternoon Thursday in Georgetown, winning and losing candidates rode in open horse-drawn carriages as part of the post-election celebration that dates back centuries.

Leaning out of his white carriage, Biden basked in the cheers of onlookers, waving and shaking hands as the caravan made its way through town.

"Feels good," said Biden, accompanied by his wife Jill. "Feels good to be home."

"I'm coming home a lot," he promised later.

Despite the drizzling rain, Biden's soaking-wet supporters showed no signs of any dampened enthusiasm, cheering loudly and snacking on the traditional barbecued ox, cooked on an open pit and handed out for free.

After the parade, the winners and losers participate in the "Burial of the Tomahawk," the symbolic ending of Delaware’s political season, before the town crier reads the election returns from the Sussex County courthouse balcony.

Following the ceremony, Biden was set to fly back to Chicago to attend meetings in the coming days as President-elect Barack Obama prepares to transition to the White House.

November 6, 2008 in Biden, Joe, Obama, Barack, Vote 2008: Democrats, White House | Permalink | User Comments (15)

Palin Bust in Alaska?

November 06, 2008 2:49 PM

ABC News’ Rick Klein Reports: Election officials in Alaska were preparing for record-breaking turnout on Tuesday, with hyper-competitive House and Senate races -- and, of course, a popular home-state governor having won a spot on Sen. John McCain’s ticket.

But Election Day is looking like it was a turnout bust in Alaska. As of Thursday, voter turnout in the state stood at a measly 45.1 percent -- well below the 69.1 percent turnout clocked in in the 2004 presidential race, according to state election officials.

The 2008 number is certain to rise significantly as additional absentee and provisional ballots are tallied. But turnout specialists say it’s clear that the so-called “Palin effect” Republicans expected to see didn’t drive up voting numbers in Gov. Sarah Palin’s home state.

“It’s just perplexing to me,” said Michael McDonald, a George Mason University professor who specializes in voter turnout. “You can make some inferences, I guess, about Sarah Palin’s future. If this was a referendum on her in the state, perhaps there’s not as much enthusiasm about her as their used to be.”

Shelly Growden, Alaska’s elections systems manager, tells ABC News that the current vote totals don’t tell the full story. At least 70,000 absentee and provisional ballots have yet to be counted, she said.

The state won’t know for several days even how many absentee and provisional ballots were issued, or many of those will be received in time to counted. In Alaska, absentee ballots must be postmarked by Election Day but can arrive as many as 10 days after the election if mailed domestically, and 15 days if sent from overseas, Growden said.

She said she expects final 2008 turnout to have exceeded the 60.1 percent recorded in the 2000 election, though it still probably won’t approach the numbers reached in 2004.

“We were preparing for it to be higher,” Growden said.

The numbers are particularly surprising not just because of Palin but because, for the first time in recent history in Alaska, two competitive congressional races were being decided.

Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, was bidding for an eighth term in a race that remains too close for a winner to be declared. And Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, was vying for a 19th term as the state’s sole House member, in another race where no winner has yet been determined.

Alaska was not seriously contested at the presidential level. The McCain-Palin ticket cruised to Alaska’s three electoral votes, winning by a 62-36 margin as of Thursday’s latest count.

And turnout in Alaska may have been impacted by the relatively early resolution of the presidential contest. Polls closed there at 1 am ET, some two hours after the major networks projected that Sen. Barack Obama would win the presidency.

More likely, McDonald said, is that the tattered state of the Republican Party nationally and locally kept GOP voters home. Stevens was convicted on federal felony charges last month, and Young is also under criminal investigation -- and was the proud champion of the much-derided “Bridge to Nowhere” project.

Either explanation for the lower-than-expected turnout probably isn’t good news for Palin, who returns to Alaska with two years left on her gubernatorial term, McDonald said.

“By all accounts, turnout should have been up in Alaska,” he said.

November 6, 2008 in Biden, Joe, McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah | Permalink | User Comments (311)

The Note: Obama Seeks to Define Mandate

November 05, 2008 8:24 AM

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

The One is the one. Yes, we can, and yes, he did -- but can he really?

A new dawn arrived, coming long before sunrise -- and closing out a long-lasting morning in America. It casts light on a new map, produced by a new electorate, and invites in a new president’s vision for a troubled time.

President-Elect Barack Hussein Obama -- his name itself speaking to the improbable journey that brought him here -- gets a mandate to go with his landslide, yes. Now, out of the grand scramble to define what that means, comes the great challenge that may define a generation: What to do with it.

For Sen. John McCain -- a graceful exit that gives the nation the gift of finality, if not quite unity. A return to the Senate enhanced by a remarkable run of his own -- the chance, still, to serve his country.

For congressional Democrats -- expanded majorities in the House and Senate, though not the kind that makes compromise optional. (And will we find out what Nancy Pelosi’s House looks like without Rahm Emanuel -- the odds-on choice to become Obama’s chief of staff?)

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.

For the GOP -- rock-bottom, perhaps, and new opportunities. The party is wide open for rebranding, and the smart minds know how quickly 2010 approaches. (In the meantime, it’s going to get ugly.)

This is Obama’s story though, with much still unwritten. He won his way: A calm, confident campaign that defied conventions and disproved assumptions. A broad demographic and geographic sweep -- the kind we’ve been trained to think can no longer exist in polarized American politics.

Can he govern the same way?

“A national catharsis,” declares The New York Times’ Adam Nagourney, “a repudiation of a historically unpopular Republican president and his economic and foreign policies, and an embrace of Mr. Obama’s call for a change in the direction and the tone of the country.”

“Barack Obama built his victory out of a concrete base of near unanimous support from black voters, layered with overwhelming support from Hispanics, young people and enough white voters to remake the partisan landscape in the United States,” ABC’s Brian Hartman writes.

“This happened because we did this -- we did this, America did this,” Oprah Winfrey told ABC’s Robin Roberts, on “Good Morning America” Wednesday.

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

November 5, 2008 in Ballotwatch, Biden, Joe, Bush, George W., Clinton, Bill, Clinton, Hillary, McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah, Vote 2008: Democrats, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (88)

Grandpa Joe & 10-year-old Finnegan Hold Biden Family Press Conference

November 04, 2008 3:46 PM

ABC News' Matthew Jaffe reports: On Election Eve, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., came to the back of his plane for the first time in weeks to field questions from reporters.

On Election Day, he did it again. But with a new wrinkle.

A slew of Biden family members, 36 to be exact, accompanied the Democratic vice-presidential nominee to Chicago today on his flight from Richmond. And one of them, his 10-year-old granddaughter Finnegan, eventually strayed to the back of the plane where reporters sit.

So the man known as “Pop” had to come track her down, leading to an impromptu press conference.

On the day when he might be elected the nation’s next vice president, Biden said he has Finnegan to thank for talking him into accepting the running mate offer from Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

"She's the one who pushed the hardest for me to be vice president, didn't you?" Biden asked his eldest granddaughter.

“Well, first, it'd be really cool,” said Finnegan, daughter of Biden’s son Hunter. “And he and Barack Obama will make a difference."

Biden, who noted he has not talked to Obama yet today, said he would be watching returns closely this evening.

"The polls are going to close and by 9 o’clock Eastern time you will have Virginia, well into, you know, Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, by that time,” he said. “You know, and you’re going to get a pretty -- you’re going to know whether you’re going to be up, you know, a long night or if it’s going to be a short night."

But despite the Democrats’ lead in the polls, the superstitious Blue Hen did not want to make any predictions.

"I think it's just so, so presumptuous as a candidate, you know, to let yourself think that you know what the voters are gonna do,” he said. “I know it sounds silly, but I really mean it."

If the Democratic ticket wins, Biden’s wife Jill promised her husband that he could get a dog, but today Biden refused to even talk about what kind of dog he might get.

“We’re not there yet,” he warned. “The deal’s not closed yet in terms of this one issue.”

If Biden does win, he would move from Wilmington to the Naval Observatory in Washington, the vice president’s residence, but other than that, the Delaware lawmaker said he didn’t think his life would change all that much.

“If we were to win, I don't know that it would change a lot,” he said. “In the sense that, just being a different locus, I guess."

Instead of the senator traveling back to Wilmington every day on Amtrak, he would be living down in the nation’s capital. And some of his family members would now be making the trek south to Washington, D.C.

“I guess it’d just be flipped, you know, Beau and Hallie and my grandchildren and my mother would be coming the other way," he said. "So I don’t think, I don’t really – in terms of the family, I don’t think it would – in a sense, it may be a little easier if we were to win.”

One Biden family member who will not be joining the clan in Chicago tonight is Biden’s aforementioned son Beau, the Delaware attorney general who is currently training in Texas ahead of a year-long deployment to Iraq. Biden noted that Beau was offered the chance to fly to Chicago to watch the election results with the family, but turned it down.

"This kid is a different brand of kid,” Biden said. “His, you know, he said he's gonna watch it with the rest of the troops."

At one point on the flight, another of the senator’s grandkids, Beau’s 4-year-old daughter Natalie, also came down the aisle to see what was going on.

“Well, I’m gonna leave you guys to this press conference,” concluded the senator eventually, leaving his two grandkids to face the media throng as he headed back towards the front of the plane.

In the past two months on the trail, Biden has often quoted Finnegan in his stump speeches. After outlining something his Republican rival Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has said or done, Biden – as Finnegan would say – exclaims, “Hello?!Whoa?!”

And it might not be long before Finnegan is on the stump herself quoting her grandfather. Asked what she wants to be when she grows up, Finnegan replied, “President.”

November 4, 2008 in Biden, Joe, McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah, Vote 2008: Democrats, Vote 2008: Republicans | Permalink | User Comments (69)

Biden Greets Virginia Voters on Election Day

November 04, 2008 11:32 AM

ABC News' Matthew Jaffe Reports: On Election Day, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., this morning greeted voters at a Richmond polling station in the critical battleground state of Virginia.

"Feeling good. Always feel good at the end of the race, but it ain’t over til it's over, so we're waiting til the polls close, right guys?" said the Democratic vice-presidential nominee.

"Absolutely," one voter responded.

"You gonna deliver Virginia for us?" Biden then asked the crowd of about 50 people at Montrose Elementary School.

Chants of "Yes we can!" rang out as Biden, joined by his wife Jill and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, made the unannounced visit, shaking hands, signing autographs, and posing for pictures behind the ropeline.

"Did you all vote?" Biden asked one supporter.

"Yes, sir!" came the man's reply.

"Take a picture, make me famous," Biden told another supporter, who was having a hard time snapping a photo of the Delaware lawmaker.

"This is not hard, take your time," he said.

"Nervous - we're doing history here," the woman told him.

Moments later, Biden removed his Secret Service flag pin from his lapel to place it on a 6-year old boy.

"That's a secret service flag," he pointed out.

"Thanks for voting," Biden later joked to two young boys no older than 12.

Another supporter asked the senator to cross the ropeline, but Biden, who voted this morning in Wilmington, said he could not do so.

"Apparently they told me not to do that because I'd be tempted to vote again, you know what I mean?" he responded.

Before leaving, Biden stopped in the parking lot to visit with first-time voter Wayne Phillips of Richmond, who suffers from sickle cell anemia. Philips, 19, was too ill to make it into the polling station, so election officials brought the voting machine out to the parking lot so he could cast his ballot.

After about 20 minutes outside the school, Biden boarded his motorcade to return to the Richmond airport and fly to Chicago, where he will spend the afternoon doing satellite interviews from the Hyatt Hotel before heading to Grant Park late tonight for his rally with the man at the top of the ticket, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill..

November 4, 2008 in Biden, Joe | Permalink | User Comments (50)

The Note: Candidates Make Final Stops as Election Goes to Voters

November 04, 2008 8:55 AM

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

My friends, it’s time to turn the page. You betcha, literally.

From Wasilla to Wilmington, whether you’re a plumber or a superdelegate, a Wright or a Wurzelbacher, a hopemonger or a pitbull or Miss Congeniality, That One or The One or Joe Sixpack, it’s all over but the voting now.

That would be 19 hours of voting -- with the first polls having opened at 6 am ET in eastern states (and long lines forming early) and the last polls closing at 1 am ET Wednesday in Alaska. (Alas, no one votes at 3 am.)

Your bitter fundamentals: 35 Senate races, 435 House races, 11 governor’s contests, ballot initiatives from a ban on gay marriage in California to a ban on the income tax in Massachusetts -- and a little big thing known as the presidency being decided in 50 states plus the District of Columbia.

This remarkable journey -- the longest and costliest campaign in history, with detours through Rudy and Huck and Romney and Ron Paul ’08, and Edwards and Richardson and Mike Gravel and Hillary and Hillary and Hillary -- isn’t quite done yet:

John McCain votes in Arizona Tuesday morning and then makes quick trips to Colorado and New Mexico -- trying to hold on in his native Southwest. (No movie on this kind of packed schedule.)

Barack Obama touches down in the Indianapolis area during the day before settling in for the evening in Chicago, with his massive late-night rally set for Grant Park. (And yes, he’s building in some time for basketball.)

Joe Biden votes in Wilmington, Del., early Tuesday, then hits Richmond, Va., at 11 am ET before heading to the Hyatt Hotel in Chicago for the long wait.

Sarah Palin is en route to Wasilla, Alaska, to vote Tuesday, then will head back to Arizona to be with McCain at the Biltmore in Phoenix.

As for who gets to celebrate: The final ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll puts it at a nine-point race, 53-44 Obama over McCain. Obama is “strong in the center and even encroaching on some Republican-leaning groups. Obama trails by 7 points among whites, for example -- a group John Kerry lost by 17,” per ABC’s polling director Gary Langer.

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

November 4, 2008 in Ballotwatch, Biden, Joe, Clinton, Bill, Clinton, Hillary, McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah, Vote 2008: Democrats, Vote 2008: Republicans, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (29)