Political Radar: Edwards, John

Subscribe to this blog's feed

Category: Edwards, John | Main

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?

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.

“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)

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)

Edwards Back in the Spotlight; Affair Remains in the Dark

November 11, 2008 10:51 PM

ABC News' Raelyn Johnson reports: Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards returned to the political stage this evening in his first public appearance after admitting he had an extramarital affair.

Edwards delivered an address to students at Indiana University. In prepared remarks he spoke about the 2008 presidential race, but made no mention of his headline-grabbing admission that sent him into seclusion for past three months.

"The result of last Tuesday was not an accident," said Edwards speaking of President-elect Barack Obama. "Americans want change and they wanted something different."

He reaffirmed praise for Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, and noted that Obama was a more formidable opponent for Republican John McCain because of the long primary battle he fought with her.

In a lighthearted moment, Edwards said McCain "came back from the dead to win the Republican nomination." As the audience laughed, he quickly noted his comment was not a joke about the 72-year-old senator.

Following his remarks, Edwards answered presubmitted questions from students. He was reportedly paid $35,000 for his speech.

The event marks Edwards’ first foray back into the public spotlight, after admitting exclusively to ABC News in August that he had an affair with Rielle Hunter, a videographer who was hired to work on his 2008 presidential campaign.

Edwards has since kept a low profile, canceling all speaking engagements during the general election season, in order to avoid distracting attention from Obama. The former senator and vice presidential candidate played no role in his party’s nominating convention, this past August in Denver.

Edwards left students with the very message he left voters with during this campaign—that ending poverty is the central cause of his life, and will remain his life’s work.

Ben Phelps of the Indiana Daily Student contributed to this report.

November 11, 2008 in Edwards, John | Permalink | User Comments (59)