The Note

‘Top Line’ with Sally Quinn -- Inside the First Obama State Dinner

2009-11-24T13:57:20-05:00

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: It’s easily the hottest ticket of Washington’s holiday season -- the first formal State Dinner in the Obama White House, being held tonight in honor of the prime minister of India.

Only 320 lucky guests get to be inside. So on today’s “Top Line,” we checked in on what to expect with a guest who knows more about them than just about anyone: Sally Quinn, a journalist and author who’s been to more State Dinners than she can count over 40 years in Washington.

Quinn said she’s a little surprised it’s taken the Obamas so long to hold their first such event. While much of the attention is on the glitz and the glamorous, state dinners are a critical piece of diplomacy, she said.

“The suggestions from people in the State Department and National Security Council probably have more say than anybody else over who’s on the guest list,” Quinn said. “Then you start adding the glitz and the glamour. But first you have to really make sure that you’ve got the people who you need to bolster the invitation list, to make it really an important event for the guest.”

Among the most difficult tasks in pulling together a State Dinner: Honing the guest list.

“There’s blood all over the floor” by the end of the process, Quinn told us. “There are a lot of people who put a lot of pressure on the White House. And then I think that some people in the White House have special favors they want to do for their friends, and people they want to pay back.”

“There are a lot of people who ask, who call, who cry. I’ve heard of people calling and crying, begging to be invited because it’s a really special deal,” she said. “I think most people here don’t expect to get invited. But there are a lot of people who do want to, and who will go to great lengths to try.”

Watch the full interview with Sally Quinn HERE.

Also today, we checked in with Ana Marie Cox of Air America -- who joked that she’s taking Sarah Palin as her guest at tonight’s dinner.

We touched on the latest in the health care debate -- with Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., making clear that he won’t support any kind of public option -- and the effort among some Republicans to impose a sort of purity test on GOP candidates.

On Lieberman, she said: “I gave up on Joe Lieberman a long time ago. I wish voters would.”

On Afghanistan, Cox said: “I wonder how much time between now and that address is going to be spent on policy and how much is going to be spent on the speech. Because it’s explaining to the American people why he’s doing what he’s doing that’s going to be the hard thing to do.”

Watch part two of today’s “Top Line,” with Ana Marie Cox, HERE.

GOPers to Biden: Stop Using Stimulus Jobs Numbers

2009-11-24T12:56:11-05:00

ABC News’ Matthew Jaffe and Rick Klein report: Amid the growing outcry about inaccuracies in the Obama administration’s claims of stimulus job growth, top Republican lawmakers today wrote to Vice President Joe Biden asking the administration to stop promoting jobs “saved or created” by the program, according to a letter exclusively obtained by ABC News.

“Following documented gross inaccuracies and confusion associated with the counting of job claims, we ask that the Administration cease public use of the inaccurate jobs ‘created or saved’ metric and instead focus efforts on lowering the unemployment rate,” House Minority Leader John Boehner and House Oversight Committee ranking member Darrell Issa say in the letter.

In their Oct. 30 report on the program, the administration announced that 640,000 jobs have so far been saved or created by stimulus funds -- a number the White House says it continues to believe is accurate. But in recent weeks these claims have been damaged by numerous reports.

Last week, ABC News reported that hundreds of these jobs listed as saved or created were listed as coming from Congressional districts that don’t exist.

Before even releasing the Oct. 30 report, the administration decided to jettison more 60,000 jobs from its claims because of inaccurate data. Then, last Thursday, a government watchdog group found that more than 50,000 jobs included in the report stemmed from projects that reported spending no stimulus money yet.

In their letter to Biden, Boehner and Issa write, “The inaccuracy of the job creation and retention claims posted on the Administration’s website, www.recovery.gov, has not prevented Administration officials from touting this misleading and inaccurate number as evidence that the President’s stimulus spending package is succeeding even as the unemployment rate continues to rise. The reality is that the metric of jobs ‘created or saved’ was invented by politicians, not economists – it cannot be verified as accurate.”

The GOP lawmakers ask Biden to respond to their letter by Dec. 1, in advance of a jobs summit being held by the White House Dec. 3.

At a hearing last Thursday before the House Oversight panel, Issa suggested to Earl Devaney, chairman of the Recovery Act Transparency & Accountability Board, that the administration be more upfront about the flaws in the stimulus reporting system.

“Shouldn’t we be more conservative and say, ‘Look, this is what the reports are. We’re scrubbing it. This is a new system. It has its problems. We hope at least they’re reporting the dollars right and we have no idea whether these people have the ability to calculate the full time jobs equivalent, but we’re going to get to the bottom of it.’ Wouldn’t that be a fairer way to put it?” Issa suggested.

“I like that statement,” Devaney replied.

The recent uproar over inaccuracies in stimulus reporting, Boehner and Issa tell Biden, has now become “a distraction” from efforts to address the nation’s unemployment rate, which currently sits at a 26-year high of 10.2 percent.

Citing that President Obama described the controversy over questions about stimulus job creation as “a side issue”, Boehner and Issa state, “We respectfully submit that the President is missing the point.”

“If the Administration is ready to send a signal that it seeks credible and bipartisan solutions to fix the economy, discontinuing deceptive accounting tricks and returning to tried and tested metrics of measuring economic growth is a good place to begin,” write Boehner and Issa.

Exit Ramps: Democrats Grow Restless on Afghanistan Strategy

2009-11-24T08:31:47-05:00

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports:

One exit strategy down, one to go.

An off-ramp, finally, for the decision-making process on Afghanistan: Monday night's two-hour minute meeting of President Obama's war council (meeting No. 9 -- and this one, tellingly, with Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag present) will be the last such gathering.

"President Obama is expected to address the nation in prime time a week from today, Tuesday, December 1, to announce his new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan," ABC's Jake Tapper reports. "Though the president has yet to pull the final trigger, officials expect him to select a strategy of sending approximately 34,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan, officials said. Troops would begin deploying early next year."

This whole process has been problematic for the White House -- with the leaks (both directed and not so much), the rolling meetings, the public speeches and private hints, and the many distractions feeding storylines the president could do without.

And while the decision was not to decide, opposition has grown and cemented on both sides. The Dick Cheney "dithering" critique got stronger with age; throw in the skepticism of David Obey, Carl Levin, and Nancy Pelosi, and things get interesting on his left.

At this point -- who on the Hill is going to want to stand beside the president when he announces his new strategy? (Is there a worse political case to make than giving Gen. Stanley McChrystal his numbers, but not an unqualified endorsement?)

The political storyline has beaten the president to the finish line. As if the war in Afghanistan isn't enough, he's got a quagmire at home to contend with -- tied up with the other big forces pressing on his presidency.

ABC's David Chalian: "The cost of human life and limb is, no doubt, the one that weighs most heavily on President Obama as he prepares his final touches on his Afghanistan strategy, but the estimated cost of $1 million per solider per year in the current economic context and its impact on other Obama priorities is one the White House is taking into very serious consideration. ... On Afghanistan, Democrats are mixing a much more dangerous political brew for President Obama [than on health care.]"

A more problematic narrative -- tied together by Les Gelb, coming out of the Asia trip. "Amateur Hour at the White House":

"First, the trip's limited value per day of presidential effort suggests a disturbing amateurishness in managing America's power," Gelb writes for The Daily Beast. "On top of the inexcusably clumsy review of Afghan policy and the fumbling of Mideast negotiations, the message for Mr. Obama should be clear: He should stare hard at the skills of his foreign-policy team and, more so, at his own dominant role in decision-making. Something is awry somewhere, and he's got to fix it."

Henry Kissinger, to columnist Roger Cohen: "He reminds me of a chess grandmaster who has played his opening in six simultaneous games. ... But he hasn't completed a single game and I'd like to see him finish one."

Cohen, on the Afghanistan decision: "The clarity of March yielded to the cloudiness of fall and the long think has, in the words here of John McCain, ‘sounded an uncertain trumpet.' Peter MacKay, the Canadian defense minister, said the hesitation was ‘not helpful' because ‘everyone has hit the pause button until the U.S. decision.' "

"I worry now that Obama's quest for perfect calibration will yield a less than resounding fudge where the tenacious message of a troop increase is undermined by talk of exit timing. That's not how you break the will of an enemy."

Some details: "Aides say this is not going to be a nation-building strategy," Tapper reported on "Good Morning America" Tuesday. "Last night we're told President Obama heard the right answers when it came to those off-ramps."

McClatchy's Jonathan S. Landay, John Walcott and Nancy A. Youssef: "The administration's plan contains ‘off-ramps,' points starting next June at which Obama could decide to continue the flow of troops, halt the deployments and adopt a more limited strategy or ‘begin looking very quickly at exiting' the country, depending on political and military progress."

Plus: "They will really push NATO -- and what they want is 5 to 10,000 troops from NATO," ABC's Martha Raddatz reported on "GMA." "So in the end, Stan McChrystal may get exactly the number he wanted."

The sales pitch -- wedged around the jobs summit: "The top U.S. general and the U.S ambassador in Afghanistan have been told to prepare to testify before Congress as early as next week, according to White House and other U.S. officials, giving an indication of how and when President Obama plans to announce his war strategy," Michael D. Shear and Scott Wilson report for The Washington Post.

"Several people briefed on administration deliberations said that the president's advisers had been testing the reaction to an increase of 20,000 to 30,000 troops," The New York Times' Eric Schmitt and Helene Cooper report. "American commanders in Afghanistan said they were anxious to learn whether Mr. Obama would approve 40,000 additional troops, as requested by General McChrystal, or something less."

Did the middle ground slope upward? "Military officials and others expect Obama to settle on a middle-ground option that would deploy an eventual 32,000 to 35,000 U.S. forces," the AP's Anne Gearan and Jennifer Loven report.

Pressing, from the Democratic side of the aisle: "Call it ‘pay as you fight.' After months of listening to conservatives caterwaul over deficits and health care, senior House Democrats want a graduated surtax on individuals and corporations to pay for another big drain on the treasury: the Afghanistan war," Politico's David Rogers reports. "The speaker has been silent thus far, and many dismiss the idea as more rhetoric than real legislation. But with President Barack Obama due to make a final decision soon on adding more U.S. troops, the initiative testifies to the growing restlessness among Democrats over the costs of the American commitment in Afghanistan."

As for their critics -- it's a time for unease among the base:

"He had little record but lots of rhetoric -- much of it morally stirring and beautifully written," Richard Cohen writes in his Washington Post column. "As president, though, he has tried so hard to be the un-George Bush that the former president's overweening moralism -- his insistence on seeing things as either black or white -- has become an Obama gray. Human rights in general has been treated as if it's a Republican idea. Obama should reread his Philadelphia speech. He'll find a good man there."

A decision soon on Copenhagen: "What the president has always said is that if it looks as though the negotiations have proceeded sufficiently that going to Copenhagen would give a final impetus, a push, to the process, then he would be willing to go," a senior administration official said Monday, per ABC's Sunlen Miller. (Wasn't this the Olympics standard, too?)

Coming Tuesday: A joint press conference with President Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the White House East Room, at 11:35 am ET.

And the evening brings the Obamas' first State Dinner, with the guest list at 320.

It's "the hottest ticket in town and the most highly anticipated social event of the year," ABC's Karen Travers reports. It is "the ultimate invitation and the result of months of planning by hundreds of staffers, including the First Lady herself."

The entertainment: "Soul singer and Chicago native Jennifer Hudson has been confirmed to perform at the White House state dinner Tuesday evening, according to a representative at the singer's label, Arista Records," per The Washington Post.

Big names: "Among the Hollywood contingent asked to attend, are onetime DreamWorks partners David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg; Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman Michael Lynton; and WME Entertainment Agency co-CEO Ari Emanuel," Nikki Finke reports for Deadline Hollywood.

Also on the list, per ABC's Claire Shipman: Actress Freida Pinto, and Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit -- plus Robin Roberts.

The business end: "Behind the elaborate ceremony of the Indian prime minister's state visit Tuesday, Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama will be working to smooth over differences on climate change and U.S. ties with Indian rivals China and Pakistan," the AP's Foster Klug reports. "The White House is eager to show that, despite what some Indians see as a lack of attention during Obama's first 10 months, it values Singh's country as a key partner in dealing with extremists in South Asia, in settling international trade and global warming pacts and in steering the world economy out of turmoil."

On health care -- the big (true) picture: "So many Democrats have drawn so many lines in the sand on what they can and can't support that the only way anything may get passed is if several of them go back on their word," ABC's Jonathan Karl reports.

Howard Dean, growing pessimistic: "This is really tough. I didn't anticipate being in this position. I thought it would pass. Maybe Harry has some magic up his sleeve. But I don't see how he gets those four votes ... without compromising the bill," Dean tells The Huffington Post's Sam Stein.

Making that line in permanent ink: "I'm going to be stubborn on this," Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., tells The Wall Street Journal's Jerry Seib.

Seib: "So any version of a public option will compel Mr. Lieberman to vote against bringing a bill to a final vote? ‘Correct,' he says."

Back -- and staying for a while: "Lobbying over abortion was turning into a sleepy business. But the health care debate has brought a new boom, and both sides are exploiting it with fund-raising appeals," David D. Kirkpatrick reports in The New York Times.

Don't forget jobs: "Just as Katrina exposed critical weaknesses in the priorities and competence of the Bush administration, the unfolding unemployment disaster is threatening to do the same for the Obama White House," Arianna Huffington writes.

Palin 2012? "While the conventional wisdom has it that Palin is too badly damaged to make a serious run in 2012 -- and I agree that her success is not probable -- it is definitely a possibility that Palin could be elected president of the United States," Matthew Dowd writes in a Washington Post op-ed. "Like it or not, if Sarah Palin decides to seek our nation's highest office, she has a shot. The probability of her success depends on her ability, and that of President Obama, to admit and learn from their mistakes as we head into 2012."

From the battle for the party soul -- what Dede's done: "A group of conservative Republican leaders is proposing a solution to the internecine warfare over what the party should stand for: a 10-point checklist gauging proper adherence to core principles like opposing government financing for abortion and, more generally, President Obama's ‘socialist agenda,' " Jim Rutenberg and Adam Nagourney write in The New York Times. "In what was being dubbed a purity test when it leaked out to reporters on Monday, the proposal would require the party to withhold campaign money and endorsements from candidates who do not adhere to at least seven principles on the checklist."

"The purpose is to assist in reestablishing the conservative bona fides of the Republican Party by putting our money behind conservative candidates who will govern as conservatives," National Committeeman James Bopp Jr. of Indiana tells ABC's David Chalian.

More party turmoil: "ABC News has learned RNC communications director Trevor Francis has resigned his post atop the GOP's messaging shop. No replacement has yet been named to succeed Francis," Chalian reports. "The RNC advises that veteran Republican consultant and ad man Alex Castellanos will take over as senior communications adviser to the RNC."

Vicki Kennedy sat down with Oprah, in an interview set to air Wednesday. Will she ever run for Senate? "No, no, not for me. Not for me, no," she told Oprah. "We had Senator Kennedy in our household, and -- no, not for me."

(But keep the seat warm for Little Teddy -- who's ready to run in about 30 years, ABC's John Berman reports.)

A Kennedy, as an issue in the race to replace Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.: "US Representative Michael Capuano and Attorney General Martha Coakley both said Providence Bishop Thomas Tobin's overreacted in his written request that US Representative Patrick Kennedy not take communion because of the Rhode Island Democrat's stance on abortion," The Boston Globe's Matt Viser reports.

In Florida, the pushback begins: "It's hard to be more conservative than I am on issues -- there's different ways stylistically to communicate that -- I'm pro-life, I'm pro-gun, I'm pro-family, and I'm anti-tax. I don't know what else you're supposed to be, except maybe angry too," Gov. Charlie Crist, R-Fla., told the St. Petersburg Times' Adam Smith. "Campaigns, thank God, are an educational opportunity. ... I believe in Reagan's 11th Commandment -- thou shall not speak ill of a fellow Republican -- but I also think you need to be honest and truthful and make sure that before people go to the ballot box they have a good opportunity to be well-informed."

The never-ending saga of Gov. Mark Sanford, R-S.C.: "The State Ethics Commission has charged Gov. Mark Sanford with breaking state ethics laws 37 times, including using state planes for family trips, spending campaign funds on a hunting trip and flying first class, instead of coach, while on state travel," Gina Smith writes for The State. "The commission, which last week wrapped up its preliminary, three-month-long investigation into allegations against the embattled governor, released the charges to the public Monday. The commission's findings have been eagerly awaited by legislators, who are deciding whether to oust Sanford from office before his term ends in January 2011."

Under Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, a new tone: "A new focus inside the State Department is financial inclusion: ensuring women have access to savings accounts, health insurance, home ownership and business funding," Bloomberg's Janine Zacharia reports. "By elevating the plight of women so publicly, Clinton has breathed new life into women's issues on Capitol Hill."

Congrats, and welcome: "Kevin Huffman wins the title of America's Next Great Pundit, and along with it a three-month contract with The Post and a launching pad into the world of punditry."

(Surely it was this performance, on ABCNews.com's "Top Line" Monday, that put him over the top.)

The Kicker:

"National security." -- David Axelrod, in not discussing President Obama's golf scores.

"Yes is the answer." -- Lou Dobbs, asked by Fred Thompson whether he's thinking about running for president in 2012.

For up-to-the-minute political updates check out The Note's blog . . . all day every day:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/

The Note's Must-Reads for Tuesday, November 24, 2009

2009-11-24T04:25:10-05:00

The Note's Must-Reads are a round-up of today's political headlines and stories from ABC News and the top U.S. newspapers. Posted Monday through Friday right here at www.abcnews.com

Compiled by ABC News Desk Assistants KRISTEN RED-HORSE, PETER MARTINEZ, JAYCE HENDERSON, CARRIE HALPERIN and CLAUDIA MORALES

BOOKMARKS:

The Note: LINK

The Must-Reads Online: LINK

Top Line Webcast (12noon EST M-F): LINK

ABC News Politics: LINK

The Political Punch (Jake Tapper): LINK

George's Bottom Line (George Stephanopoulos): LINK

Clem's Chronicles: LINK

ABC News Mobile: LINK

ABC News app on your iPhone/iPod Touch: LINK

HEALTH CARE:

ABC News’ Jonathan Karl: “Reid’s Numbers Game: To Public Option, or Not?” LINK

The Wall Street Journal’s Naftali Bendavid: “Abortion to Be New Flashpoint in Senate Bill” LINK

The Wall Street Journal’s Gerald F. Seib: “Lieberman Digs In on Public Option” LINK

The Associated Press: "Schumer says health bill will pass" LINK

Time's Jay Newton-Small: "Can Bob Casey Bridge the Abortion Divide on Health Care?" LINK

Time's Swampland: "Reconciliation" LINK

Time's Karen Tumulty: "Republicans Plot Their Health Care Attack Strategy" LINK

The New York Times’ David Kirkpatrick: “Health Bill Revives Abortion Groups” LINK

The Hill's Mike Soraghan: “Side deals stack up as health bills move along" LINK

ECONOMY / JOBS / STIMULUS / FED / HOUSING:

USA Today's Matt Kelley: "Feds target misuse of stimulus cash" LINK

USA Today's Sandra Block: "Home buyer tax credits: Frequently asked questions" LINK

USA Today's Julie Schmit: "Higher gasoline prices greet Thanksgiving travelers" LINK

The Associated Press: "Goodbye jobs, hello mom and dad, say young adults" LINK

Time's Tim Padgett: "Are Minorities Being Shortchanged by the Stimulus?" LINK

Time's Barbara Kiviat: "Home sales surge. Time to party?" LINK

AFGHANISTAN:

ABC News’ David Chalian: “The Brewing Democratic Civil War” LINK

ABC News’ Jonathan Karl: “Top Dem to Obama: ‘There Ain’t Going to Be Money for Nothing if We Pour It All Into Afghanistan’” LINK

The Los Angeles Times' Julian E. Barnes and Christi Parsons: "Obama's Afghanistan announcement may be soon" LINK

Bloomberg’s Roger Runningen and Nicholas Johnston: “Obama Conducts Strategy Session on Afghan War as Decision Nears” LINK

The Associated Press: "Obama huddles again with advisers on Afghan strategy" LINK

The Associated Press' Anne Gearan and Jennifer Loven: "Afghanistan announcement expected next week" LINK

The Boston Globe's Political Intelligence: "War council No. 9 on Afghanistan" LINK

The Associated Press' Anne Gearan and Jennifer Loven: "Decision on troops near, Obama faces tough sell" LINK

FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

The Los Angeles Times' Tony Perry: "IED threat shadows Marines' every move" LINK

The Los Angeles Times' Josh Meyer: “U.S. youths recruited to fight in Somali militia, authorities say" LINK

The Los Angeles Times' Liz Sly and Caesar Ahmed: “January election in Iraq? Doubtful" LINK

The Los Angeles Times' Richard Boudreaux: “Israel, Hamas said to be near deal on prisoner swap" LINK

The Boston Globe's Darlene Superville: "CAPITAL CULTURE: 60 years of US dinners for India" LINK

The Hill's Maryann Dreas: “Lawmakers want Obama to intervene on behalf of Chinese dissident" LINK

PRESIDENT OBAMA AND HIS ADMINISTRATION:

ABC News’ Sunlen Miller: “Obama Decision on Copenhagen Summit Attendance “In the Coming Days” LINK

ABC News’ Sunlen Miller: “Obama To Cabinet: “’We Cannot Sit Back and Be Satisfied’ With Some Progress Amid High Unemployment Rate” LINK

ABC News’ Vija Udenans: “VP Biden’s Thanksgiving Dinner for the Troops” LINK

Politico’s Josh Gerstein: “NPR, Emanuel no longer on first-name basis” LINK

Politico’s Lisa Lerer: “W.H. hits back on climate critics” LINK

The Washington Times’ Joseph Curl and Mathew Mosk: “Not Invited: Republican lawmakers” LINK

SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON:

Bloomberg’s Janine Zacharia: “Clinton Makes Women’s Economic Power, Security Key Policy Goals” LINK

CONGRESS:

ABC News’ Cynthia McFadden, Melinda Arons, and Lauren Sher: “Exclusive: Doug Hampton Speaks Out on Sen. Ensign’s Affair With His Wife” LINK

USA Today's Matt Kelley: "Audit: Civic education group misused $5.9M" LINK

Politico’s Chris Frates: “PhRMA targets Lieberman” LINK

Politico’s Jeanne Cummings: “Bishops search for Senate sponsor” LINK

DEMOCRATS/REPUBLICANS:

The New York Times’ Adam Liptak: “Right and Left Join to Take on U.S. Over Criminal Justice” LINK

The New York Times’ Jim Rutenberg and Adam Nagourney: “Conservatives Make a List to Measure Candidates’ Commitment” LINK

USA Today's John Fritze: "Democrats at risk in 2010 shift from offense to defense" LINK

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT:

The Los Angeles Times' Todd Woody: “Solar energy industry brings a ray of hope to the Rust Belt" LINK

The Wall Street Journal’s Keith Johnson and Gautam Naik: “Lawmakers Probe Climate Emails” LINK

The New York Times’ John Broder: “U.S. to Set Emissions Target Before Climate Talks” LINK

The Washington Post’s Anthony Faiola: “Nuclear power regains support” LINK

The Associated Press' Robert Wielaard: "Obama to offer target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions" LINK

The Hill's Alexander Bolton: “Health reform debate, Copenhagen head for December collision" LINK

The Hill's Silla Brush: “Energy companies eye exemption in financial derivatives overhaul" LINK

SARAH PALIN:

Politico’s Jonathan Martin: “Insider: Sarah Palin uninformed on Latino issues” LINK

OTHER MUST-READS:

The Washington Times’ S.A. Miller: “S.C. governor faces 37 ethics violations” LINK

The Washington Times’ Jim McElhatton: “Gaming groups get big bucks on politics” LINK

Time Magazine's Tim McGirk: "How One Army Town Copes With Post- Traumatic Stress" LINK

USA Today's Donna Leinwand: "Vets get aid with legal problems" LINK

Time Magazine's Bobby Ghosh: "CIA Chief Panetta Winning Over Doubters at the Agency" LINK

The New York Times’ Shaila Dewan: “Gov. Sanford Faces 37 Ethics Charges” LINK

The Washington Post’s Carol Leonnig: “Justice probing lawmaker with oversight over department” LINK

The Hill's Roxana Tiron: “Pentagon official: Lockheed should share costs of keeping program on track" LINK

ABC NEWS VIDEOS:

“Obama Addresses Long-Term Economic Recovery” LINK

“President's Agenda: Health Care, Afghanistan” LINK

“New Details on Sen. Ensign's Affair” LINK

“Presidential Agenda” LINK

“Jake Tapper on Senate Debate on Health Care Bill” LINK

RNC's Communications Chief Resigns

2009-11-23T16:31:59-05:00

ABC News' David Chalian Reports:

Just as the Republican Party is expressing optimism about its chances in 2010 following two significant gubernatorial victories in 2009, RNC Chairman Michael Steele has lost his top message man.

ABC News has learned RNC communications director Trevor Francis has resigned his post atop the GOP's messaging shop. No replacement has yet been named to succeed Francis.

Republican sources are not pointing to any one incident that caused Steele's communications chief to resign his post, but instead to a growing perception among many party insiders that Michael Steele has not yet solved his message discipline challenges despite Francis' efforts.

Keeping any party chairman on message and playing nicely with others is never an easy task, but the outspoken Mr. Steele has caught foot-in-mouth disease from time to time during his 10 month tenure, occasionally tripping up the GOP's intended message of the day.

Michael Steele called Trevor's RNC stint a "hiatus" from the private sector in a statement issued after Trevor resigned.

"Trevor took a hiatus from a very successful private sector career to give service to the Republican Party this year. Trevor's talents will be missed at the RNC. We have accomplished a great deal in the year he was here. He worked tirelessly, as did the whole team, on the victories in Virginia and his home state of New Jersey," said Steele.

UPDATE: The RNC advises that veteran Republican consultant and ad man Alex Castellanos will take over as senior communications adviser to the RNC.

Castellanos served as an adviser and advertising consultant to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign in 2007-2008.

Prior to that, Castellanos garnered much attention for the health care ad he produced for the RNC during the 2000 presidential cycle where the word “RATS” appeared briefly on the screen in what many observers believed was subliminal messaging.

A Better Palin Than Tina Fey?

2009-11-23T15:27:05-05:00

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports:

How real does "real America" get?

Among the many thousands of faces that Sarah Palin encountered on her book tour was one in Noblesville, Ind., that looked a whole lot like her own. So much so that that the photo made into the official Facebook photo gallery from the "Going Rogue" tour.

‘Top Line’ -- ‘America’s Next Great Pundit’

2009-11-23T14:12:11-05:00

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: We bring you plenty of pundits on “Top Line” -- plus, in at least one instance, fake pundits -- but this was a first for us: Certified pundit wannabes.

Kevin Huffman and Zeba Khan are the two finalists in The Washington Post’s “America’s Next Great Pundit” contest. The winner, based on today’s final voting, gets a column in the Post, which guarantees a place in the official Washington punditocracy.

They’ve had to write sample columns and blogs, answer questions from readers, and chew over the news in front of cameras.

Today, we asked for their take on Sarah Palin, President Obama, the health care push, their idols among current DC pundits, and more.

Watch Kevin Huffman and Zeba Khan duke it out for the title HERE.

And when you’re done, vote for your favorite HERE. The balloting closes at 8 pm ET.

‘Top Line’ at the Movies: ‘Outside the Law: Stories from Guantanamo’

2009-11-23T14:00:33-05:00

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: The prison camp at Guantanamo Bay has been a recurring political headache for President Obama.

Just in the last few weeks, the attorney general’s decision to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammad to trail in New York has drawn the president fire on his right, while his admission that he won’t meet his deadline of closing Gitmo by January 2010 has angered some on his left.

On ABCNews.com’s “Top Line” today, we spoke with Andy Worthington, a journalist who has written extensively about Guantanamo and is the director of a new documentary about some of those imprisoned there: “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantanamo.”

Worthington said President Obama is sorting through complicated baggage left by the previous administration:

“I think it’s a great thing that the people who are genuinely accused of these terrible atrocities are actually going to face justice in a federal court,” he told us. “I’m slightly less happy that the military commissions have been revived as what appears to be a second-tier justice system for people that the administration perhaps thinks it has less evidence against.”

Worthington, who joined us from London, based his film around extensive interviews with former Guantanamo detainees, and has visited Gitmo repeatedly. Many detainees, he said, are caught in the same legal gray zone they were in under President Bush.

“Every day they wake up wondering when, if ever, they will be released. And this is still the same outcome of what the Bush administration set up, that it decided not to hold people as enemy prisoners of war or as criminals, but as this novel category of human being who really have no rights and can be held indefinitely -- which is an extraordinary mental anguish.”

And Worthington said he’s disappointed that President Obama won’t meet his January 2010 deadline for closing Gitmo: “It seems that without some effort to set a new deadline and to put pressure on Congress, they could be languishing in Guantanamo for years. And we could be having this same conversation a year from now.”

Watch the full interview with Andy Worthington HERE.

In the second part of today’s program, we tried out two would-be pundits, Kevin Huffman and Zeba Khan, the two finalists in The Washington Post’s “America’s Next Great Pundit” contest.

Read more about the contest HERE, and watch the video clip from their try-out with us HERE.

Mass. GOP Gov’s Candidate Chooses Openly Gay Running Mate

2009-11-23T10:50:03-05:00

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports:

Need more evidence that Republicans aren't putting social issues front-and-center in 2010?

The frontrunner in the Republican gubernatorial primary in Massachusetts today announced that he's chosen a veteran state lawmaker who is openly gay to serve as his running mate.

Charles D. Baker, the former chief executive of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and the leading Republican gubernatorial candidate, announced on his Website that he's chosen state Sen. Richard Tisei as his running mate.

Tisei, 47, told The Boston Globe last week that he is gay. He's been in the state legislature since he was 22, and while he didn't hide his sexual orientation, he hadn't spoken publicly about it until last week, when his name emerged as one of the finalists Baker was considering for lieutenant governor.

Baker is running against Christy Mihos, a wealthy businessman who ran for governor as an independent in 2006, for the GOP nomination.

Republicans would love to win the corner office in Massachusetts, one of the nation's most Democratic states -- and one that is now led by a close ally of President Obama, Deval Patrick, who is running for a second term next year.

Tisei actually isn't the first GOP lieutenant governor's candidate to be openly gay. Then-Gov. Jane Swift named Patrick Guerriero her running mate in 2002, but that ticket quickly fizzled when Mitt Romney jumped into the race with his own running mate. Guerriero went on to head the Log Cabin Republicans.

Workplace Diversity: Lines in Sand Make Mess for Dems

2009-11-23T08:25:42-05:00

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports:

Gee, 60 votes sure was fun -- what do you say we do it all over again?

First you get to go home and think about it.

Time isn’t an ally for Democrats on health care -- if only because it gives everyone more time to draw lines in the sand.

The experience to date has demonstrated that momentum built in Washington can get lost in lawmakers’ districts -- and that deadlines shift with the political winds.

(And the winds blow in a new direction on Afghanistan -- with a key House lawmaker warning of the need for a "war surtax" if President Obama wants to send more troops into battle.)

The good news is there’s broad agreement inside the Senate Democratic caucus that the health care bill needs major revisions.

The bad news is that each senator has rather distinct notions of what those revisions need to look like.

Some line-drawing:

Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., on ABC’s "This Week" Sunday: "It doesn’t do enough to control costs, that’s for sure," he told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. "If the public option is wrong, if the CLASS act is still in it, if -- if there are a whole host of other items that are the same as they are right now, I wouldn't vote to get it off the floor."

"I don’t want to fix the problems in our health care system in a way that creates more of an economic crisis," said Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.

"There's lots of diversity as Democrats," Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., told the Los Angeles Times’ Mark Z. Barabak. "You can't just draw a line in the sand and say, 'As Democrats, this is what we have to be for.' "

This sort of looks like sand. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.: "I strongly suspect that there are number of senators, including myself, who would not support final passage without a strong public option."

"Many hurdles lie between here and the finish line, a 'significant, formidable, and never-ending list,’ one top Senate Democratic aide says," per ABC’s Jake Tapper, on "Good Morning America" Monday.

"Three-dimensional legislative chess -- with a time clock," said ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. "Keeping this all together is tremendously difficult."

McClatchy’s David Lightman: "The flashpoints will be familiar -- abortion, federal deficits, government involvement in health care decisions and other hot topics -- and many Democrats already have said they want to see, and are well-positioned to seek, changes in the bill."

The Wall Street Journal’s Greg Hitt and Janet Adamy: "A handful of Democrat centrists say they can't support the government-sponsored health-insurance plan -- known as the public option -- that is included in the bill. And Democrats are divided over abortion, an issue that nearly derailed the House earlier this month when it narrowly passed a health bill that blocked abortion coverage from federally subsidized insurance plans, including some run by private insurers. Another growing concern even as the bill progresses is the political heat on Democrats over expanded government spending amid rising unemployment and deficit concerns."

Negotiating the public option: "There are many variations on the theme," said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill. "At the end of the day, we want insurance to be more affordable."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s task: "As he struggles, the reasons are clear: deep divides among Democrats on a public insurance plan, abortion, tax hikes and cost-cutting. Liberals want the plan to be generous enough. Moderates fear a budget-buster. And everyone is trying to avoid angering seniors," Politico’s Carrie Budoff Brown and Patrick O'Connor write.

Any other goodies left? "Given the concessions that Reid offered to Landrieu, Lincoln and Nelson to secure their votes on Saturday, including a $300 million Medicaid provision for Landrieu's home state of Louisiana, liberal senators are fully aware that the public option is vulnerable," Shailagh Murray writes in The Washington Post.

Giving Reid more options: "The two moderate Republican senators from Maine, Susan Collins and Olympia J. Snowe, say Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, reached out to them after he unveiled the Senate measure, encouraging them to bring forward their ideas and concerns," The New York Times’ Carl Hulse reports. "Both senators have talked privately with Democrats and independents about devising joint amendments on areas like cost control, and both said they would keep seeking compromises."

Defense: "The real battle will be an ongoing rearguard action, to fend off changes from the right -- amendments that, in many cases, Republicans will support even though they have no intention of voting for the final bill. Abortion. Immigration. The mandates, for individuals and employers. You name it," The New Republic’s Jonathan Cohn reports. "For progressives, victories are more likely to come in the form of ground not conceded than ground gained. Every day that legislation doesn’t get worse is a day to cherish."

Making things more complicated -- another line in a another big piece of sand: "There ain't going to be no money for nothing if we pour it all into Afghanistan," House Appropriations Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., warned in an interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl. "If they ask for an increased troop commitment in Afghanistan, I am going to ask them to pay for it."

Meet the "war surtax": "On the merits, I think it is a mistake to deepen our involvement," Obey said. "But if we are going to do that, then at least we ought to pay for it. Because if we don’t, if we don’t pay for it, the cost of the Afghan war will wipe out every initiative we have to rebuild our own economy."

And a warning: "That’s what happened with the Vietnam War, which wiped out the Great Society," Obey said. "That’s what happened with the Korean War, which wiped out Harry Truman’s Square Deal. That’s what happened with the end of the progressive movement before the ’20s when we went into World War I. In each case, the cost of those wars shut off our ability to pay for anything else."

Can the president afford to do anything like the McChrystal report? Or is the real questions whether he can he afford not to?

No announcement scheduled yet: "They’re looking at next week -- but that is not definite," Stephanopoulos reported on "GMA" Monday.

As we wait: "The lengthy policy debate inside the administration has spun out of control as it nears its finish, with damaging leaks and counterleaks," Dan Balz writes for The Washington Post. "Public opinion won't decide the outcome of this debate. The real question is in what ways have Obama's views of Afghanistan -- and this country's prospects for success there -- changed during the first year of his presidency."

Trade-offs, in politics and policy, per Elisabeth Bumiller of The New York Times: "If Mr. Obama limited any additional American troops to 10,000 to 15,000, the military would deploy them largely as trainers, with some reinforcements likely in the southern province of Kandahar, the Taliban’s spiritual home. The neighboring, and opium-rich, Helmand Province and the eastern border with Pakistan, military analysts say, would receive few if any American troops and would remain largely as they are today. Such trade-offs are part of the discussions under way in the West Wing and at the Pentagon as Mr. Obama and his top advisers debate escalating the eight-year-old war."

Looming over the debate: "Treasury officials now face a trifecta of headaches: a mountain of new debt, a balloon of short-term borrowings that come due in the months ahead, and interest rates that are sure to climb back to normal as soon as the Federal Reserve decides that the emergency has passed," The New York Times’ Edmund L. Andrews reports. "Even as Treasury officials are racing to lock in today’s low rates by exchanging short-term borrowings for long-term bonds, the government faces a payment shock similar to those that sent legions of overstretched homeowners into default on their mortgages."

Jobs bill -- but do not call it a "stimulus": "The White House is lukewarm about proposals by congressional Democrats to introduce broad legislation to create jobs, instead favoring targeted measures that would be less likely to inflate the deficit," Elizabeth Williamson writes in The Wall Street Journal. "Hamstrung by the nation's $1.4 trillion deficit and his pledge not to raise taxes on middle-class Americans, Mr. Obama is keen to avoid any measures suggestive of a second, big-ticket stimulus."

Getting the message -- but maybe over-learning it? "Most economists I talk to believe that the big risk to recovery comes from the inadequacy of government efforts: the stimulus was too small, and it will fade out next year, while high unemployment is undermining both consumer and business confidence," Paul Krugman writes in his New York Times column. "Now, it’s politically difficult for the Obama administration to enact a full-scale second stimulus. Still, he should be trying to push through as much aid to the economy as possible. And remember, Mr. Obama has the bully pulpit; it’s his job to persuade America to do what needs to be done."

Behind the heat directed at the Treasury secretary: "The leading edge of this anger could be seen in Congress last week when Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner faced calls to resign. One lawmaker said he should never have been hired," Bloomberg’ Al Hunt writes in his column. "Geithner also has become an issue in the Connecticut Senate race. ... The Treasury secretary is a proxy for the real animus, directed at Wall Street."

More animus: "The Fed finds itself both the punchbowl keeper and the punching bag. Imagine the outcry when it does begin to crank up rates -- perhaps just ahead of next year's midterm elections," the AP’s Tom Raum reports. "Fireworks seem likely at Senate confirmation hearings early next month on President Barack Obama's nomination of Bernanke to a second four-year term as chairman."

Watching the lines converge... Gallup has the president at 48 percent approval in its rolling three-day tracking with 44 percent disapproval.

Some spin with your turkey? "Dems will spend next week trying to claim the offensive on the economy after rising unemployment rates in recent months have driven Pres. Obama's approval ratings to new lows," Reid Wilson writes for Hotline On Call.

Monday’s White House schedule -- back in action: "Back from his week-long trip in Asia the President starts his week refocusing on the domestic agenda and will hold an event focusing on "initiatives designed to boost science, technology, and mathematics education," in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building," per ABC’s Sunlen Miller.

"Later Mr. Obama will then hold a full cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House, and afterwards will meet separately with Secretary of State Clinton Hillary Clinton. In the evening the President will present the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Awards in an East Room ceremony."

Washingtonpost.com’s Chris Cillizza: "Cabinet meetings have become more photo-op than serious policy discussion in recent years but the gathering of the Obama braintrust -- the first since Sept. 10 -- is sure to set off discussion of the series of challenges facing the administration in the coming months."

Getting ready for Tuesday -- the Obamas’ first State Dinner: "The White House has been preparing for this dinner for months, culling names for the invite list (finalized a month ago, a White House source told me) and deciding on the menu, flowers, china and an unending list of logistical details," Lynn Sweet writes in her Politics Daily column. "Overseeing all this is Mrs. Obama's East Wing, with Social Secretary Desiree Rogers putting on her most anticipated show yet."

Who’s in, who’s out: "I'm told by a West Winger that all top-level Obama staffers have been invited, as well as the congressional leadership, a selection of other members of the House and Senate and Cabinet, prominent Indian-Americans from across the country, including Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and Indian-American members of the business community. There will even be a few journalists, including CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta. A contingent of Obama pals from Chicago is also expected. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's brother, Ari, the Hollywood super agent, got an invite; another brother, Ezekiel, a White House health policy adviser, did not."

"In a departure from the traditional venue -- the elegant State Dining Room -- the Obamas will gather with a few hundred VIPs in a huge, heated tent on the South Lawn," Katherine Skiba reports in the Los Angeles Times. "The guest list for the black-tie gala remains a closely guarded secret. Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, will certainly be there. Several notables are good bets, such as Oprah Winfrey and Chicago hotel billionaire Penny Pritzker, as are top Obama aides David Axelrod, Valerie Jarrett and Rahm Emanuel."

Next up on the road with Sarah Palin: Fort Bragg. "The Army wants Palin's appearance at Fort Bragg on Monday to be much quieter," Martha Quillin reports for The (Raleigh) News & Observer. "The base has asked Palin not to make a speech at a public book-signing at the base exchange; she also will not write personal notes, pose for photographs or sign anything besides her new memoir, 'Going Rogue: An American Life.’ "

While she’s in town: "Sarah Palin, the hottest name in the Republican Party, took a detour from her book-signing tour Sunday to dine with Billy Graham at his mountaintop home in Montreat," Tim Funk reports in the Charlotte Observer.

Says Franklin Graham: "Daddy feels God was using her to wake America up."

Going where the buyers are, or where the voters are? "Of the 31 counties [Palin is visiting on her book tour], just 11 were carried by President Obama," Chris Cillizza writes.

Popular where it counts: "Sarah Palin could expect a lot of support in Iowa's Republican caucuses if she launched a campaign for the 2012 presidential nomination, according to The Des Moines Register's Iowa Poll. More than two-thirds of Republicans like what they see, making her a credible candidate for the 2012 caucuses should she decide to run for president," Thomas Beaumont writes for the Register.

"Iowa Republicans view Palin about as favorably as they do former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who won the 2008 caucuses, and former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich. More view Palin favorably than former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, runner-up in the 2008 caucuses. ... Nearly a quarter of Iowa Republicans view Palin unfavorably, twice as many as [Mike] Huckabee."

Ross Douthat, on the choices of two GOP superstars: "So far, they’ve chosen celebrity instead. Huckabee spent the last year hamming it up on a weekly talk show, and the last month hawking a book of inspirational Christmas stories. As for Palin -- well, you probably know what she’s been up to lately," he writes.

"Nobody should begrudge them their choices. Think tanks are a snooze; Senate races are a grind. Signing autographs for your adoring fans is more fun than rounding up budget votes in Juneau. But they were the wrong moves if either wanted to become president someday."

New questions for Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., out of Doug Hampton’s interview with ABC’s Cynthia McFadden, to air on "Nightline" Monday.

Said Hampton: "Tom Coburn said, 'What I would do, Doug, if I were you, is I would have them buy your home, give you a million bucks so you can start over, and that is what I am willing to help you negotiate,’ " Hampton told McFadden.

Ensign turned the offer down, according to Hampton: "John said: 'No can do, not going to happen.’ "

That account contradicts Coburn’s public statements. And Coburn is standing by his account: "There was no negotiation," he told George Stephanopoulos on "This Week," though he acknowledged that he had worked to "bring two families to a closure of a very painful episode."

In Massachusetts, where the primary is almost certainly the general: "Attorney General Martha Coakley has a solid lead in the four-way Democratic race for the open US Senate seat, but with just 16 days until the primary election, nearly three-quarters of likely voters have yet to decide who they will support, according to a Globe poll," Frank Phillips and Matt Viser write in The Boston Globe. "Coakley gets the support of 43 percent of respondents when asked who they would vote for if the primary were held today. US Representative Michael Capuano has support from 22 percent of the likely voters; Boston Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca from 15 percent, and City Year cofounder Alan Khazei from 6 percent."

Maybe a preview of fights to come? "In a handful of next year’s most competitive Senate races -- and for a few of the Democratic Party’s most precariously perched incumbents -- discordant Democratic primaries are already taking shape, complicating a midterm election landscape in which the party will be playing defense for the first time in four years," Politico’s Alex Isenstadt reports.

The Kicker:

"I will correct something. It’s not $100 million, it’s $300 million, and I’m proud of it and will keep fighting for it." -- Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., tripling the size of this year’s "Louisiana Purchase."

"We had on CNN and as they announced the vote, the plane actually jiggled. I thought it was Teddy reaching down." -- Vice President Joe Biden, telling Iowa Democrats what he was doing when the Senate vote on health care was called Saturday.

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