POLITICS & PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION WATCH:
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| IN FOCUS | Canada in Focus:- Dion's Speech Beset By Technical Woes:
In the battle of the airwaves Wednesday, Liberal Leader Stephane Dion showed up almost an hour late
and a few pixels short in his duel with the prime minister he hopes to replace. -
Canadian Press, 12-4-08
- Gov. Gen. Agrees to Suspend Parliament:
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has won a stay of political execution - at least until January.
Harper convinced Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean to suspend Parliament on Thursday, delaying a non-confidence
vote scheduled for Monday that would have brought down his beleaguered minority Conservative government. -
Canadian Press, 12-4-08
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| THE HEADLINES.... | The Headlines... |
| POLITICAL QUOTES | Political Quotes- Gen. Shinseki as Secretary of Veterans Affairs:
President-elect Barack Obama announced today that General Eric Shinseki will be his nominee for Secretary of
Veterans Affairs. General Shinseki is a former Army Chief of Staff and 38-year Army veteran who served two
combat tours in Vietnam. He understands the changing needs of our troops and their families and shares
President-elect Obama's commitment to modernizing the VA to meet the challenges of our time. -
You Tube, 12-7-08
- Obama Sharpens Tone on Auto Industry:
Part of what I'm hoping to introduce as the next president is a new ethic of responsibility, where we say that,
if you’re laying off workers, the least you can do when you’re making $25 million a year is give up some of your
compensation and some of your bonuses, figure out ways in which workers maybe have to take a haircut, but they
can still keep their jobs, they can still keep their health care, and they can still stay in their homes....
They have been building better cars now than they were 10 or 15 or 20 years ago. They are making some
investments in the kind of green technologies and the new batteries that would allow us to create plug-in hybrids. -
NYT, 12-7-08
- Obama Warns of Further Economic Pain: "This is a big problem, and it's going to get worse."....."I don't think it's an option to simply allow it to collapse...
I think Congress is doing exactly the right thing by asking for a
conditions-based assistance package that holds the auto industry’s feet to the fire...
If this management team that's currently in place doesn’t understand the urgency of the situation and
is not willing to make tough choices and adapt to new circumstances, then they should go.
As part of our economic recovery package, what you will see coming out of my administration right
at the center, is a strong set of new financial regulations, in which banks, ratings agencies, mortgage brokers, a
whole bunch of folks start having to be much more accountable and behave much more responsibly.
I am absolutely confident, that if we take the right steps over the coming months, that not only
can we get the economy back on track, but we can emerge leaner, meaner and ultimately more competitive
and more prosperous."
NYT, 12-8-08 - Obama Noncommittal on Caroline Kennedy, and Smoking:
Caroline Kennedy has become one of my dearest friends and is just a wonderful American, a wonderful person.
But the last thing I want to do is get involved in New York politics....
I have done a terrific job, under the circumstances, of making myself much healthier.
And I think that you will not see any violations of these rules in the White House....
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N"YT, 12-7-08 - Obama: Economy to get worse before it improves - on"Meet the Press": "We've got to provide a blood infusion to the patient right now to make sure that the patient is stabilized.
And that means that we can't worry short term about the deficit.
We've got to make sure that the economic stimulus plan is large enough to get the economy moving....
Congress is doing the exact right thing by asking for a conditions-based assistance package that
holds the industry's feet to the fire and gives the industry some short-term assistance....
What we need to do is examine, what are the projects where we're going to get the most bang for the buck?
How are we going to make sure taxpayers are protected?
You know, the days of just pork coming out of Congress as a strategy, those days are over...
We are going to maintain a large enough force in the region to assure that our civilian troops or
our civilian personnel and our embassies are protected, to make sure that we can ferret out any remaining terrorist
activity in the region. -
AP, 12-7-08 - The Saturday Word: Roads and Cars:
In the wake of dismal job reports, President-elect Barack Obama called in his radio/YouTube address
for the creation of"millions of jobs by making the single largest new investment in
our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s." -
NYT, 12-6-08
- Barack Obama: Your Weekly Address from the President-Elect: December 6, 2008:
This week President-elect Barack Obama addresses the job loss that our
nation continues to endure and offers solutions to the challenges we face. -
You Tube, 12-6-08
- Obama vows vast public works program:
He proposes rebuilding roads, extending access to Web as way to revive economy -"We need to act with the urgency this moment demands to save or create at least 2 1/2 million jobs so
that the nearly 2 million Americans who've lost them know that they have a future."
Houston Chronicle, 12-6-08
- Obama Statement: Town meetings start health reform effort:
Providing quality affordable health care for all Americans is one of my top priorities for this country because
our long-term fiscal prospects will have a hard time improving as long as sky-rocketing health care costs are
holding us all down. Yet in order for us to reform our health care system, we must first begin reforming how
government communicates with the American people.
These Health Care Community Discussions are a great way for the American people to have a direct say
in our health care reform efforts and I encourage Americans to take part if they are able. -
Reuters, 12-6-08
- Tom Daschle"Town meetings start health reform effort":
The myth is that we have the best healthcare
system in the world. We do have islands of excellence in a sea of mediocrity." -
Reuters, 12-6-08
- Biden's spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander: CONGRESS: Biden unwelcome in Senate huddles, where Cheney wielded power: "Biden had no intention of continuing the practice started by Vice President Cheney of regularly attending internal
legislative branch meetings — he firmly believes in restoring the Office of the Vice President to its historical role.
He and Senator Reid see eye to eye on this."
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Las Vegas Sun, 12-7-08
- Harry Reid: CONGRESS: Biden unwelcome in Senate huddles, where Cheney wielded power: "He can come by once and a while, but he's not going to sit in on our lunches. He's not a senator.
He's the vice president." -
Las Vegas Sun, 12-7-08
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| HISTORIANS' COMMENTS | Historians' Comments- Donald Ritchie: CONGRESS: Biden unwelcome in Senate huddles, where Cheney wielded power:
Associate Senate Historian Donald Ritchie said Johnson was"hurt by the angry response."
Senators then, as they had throughout history, understood potential encroachment of the executive branch
on their power. Similar rebuffs fill the pages of Senate history, from John Adams to Spiro Agnew."Every vice president who has tried to be assertive has been restrained by the Senate," said Ritchie,
the historian."Usually the vice president gets the hint and goes back to the White House."
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Las Vegas Sun, 12-7-08
- Gil Troy"Will recession mean a toned-down inauguration?":
Though costly, an inauguration helps set the tone for a presidency, said Gil Troy, a visiting scholar at
the Bipartisan Policy Center.
The president shouldn't be seen noshing on caviar, but neither should he dispense with glamour entirely, Troy said.
Americans want their leader to be a man of the people and a celebrity superstar, both.
"Americans are people who love to indulge, and deep in our hearts want our leaders to be like the king and
queen of England — but not too much," he said.
President Ronald Reagan fit the bill best when he set a new standard of opulence for his 1981 inauguration,
Troy said. Nancy Reagan wore a $10,000 gown to the three-hour gala with Frank Sinatra.
"Reagan had the ability — and maybe the Obamas will — to somehow make spending look patriotic," Troy said. -
AP, 12-7-08 - Donald A. Ritchie"Can't Put a Price on History For Some, Preparing for Inaugural Events Is
No Time for Frugality":
Donald A. Ritchie, associate historian at the U.S. Senate Historical Office,
said atypical visitors also attended the second inauguration of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Blacks came because it
was the first time they were allowed to march in the parade."Probably the most popular so far was Andrew Jackson's
first inauguration in 1829, because he was seen as the people's president," Ritchie said."The well-to-do of
Washington were appalled at the common folk who showed up for Jackson's inauguration." -
WaPo, 12-7-08
- Carl Sferrazza Anthony"For Michelle Obama, great expectations":
Historian Carl Sferrazza Anthony said the public misperceived what Carter, who also maintained a weekly working lunch
with her husband, was trying to do."She was just avoiding having to bother him later with questions," said Anthony, of the National First Ladies
Library....
Dolley Madison, on the other hand, was admiringly called"Presidentress" by some for her role as a national
symbol for all Americans, one who knew"how to strike the delicate balance between queen and commoner," Anthony said.
But Elizabeth Monroe, who came next and was much less popular, suffered from the comparison....
The wealthy Julia Tyler was deemed overly regal or queenlike, but then her successor, Sarah Polk, was called"monstrously small" (meaning small-minded) by President Tyler himself, Anthony said. -
AP, 12-6-08
- Michael R. Beschloss"300,000 Apply for 3,300 Obama Jobs":
The presidential historian Michael R. Beschloss said that"it's hard to find a parallel in modern times to
this degree of enthusiasm for going into government," all the more striking in a period previously known for
cynicism about government employment. -
NYT, 12-6-08
- Joan Hoff: 'It was the best of times ... worst of times:' Presidential historian analyzes election: "Never before have we had a president coming in facing two wars, the collapse of a financial system and a
country on the brink of decline in its great nation status."...
"Number one was the question of race. But also, we as a country are reluctant to vote for a president who does
not try to hide his intellect. The last one before Obama was Woodrow Wilson. If you combine these two factors,
it makes it a hugely unique vote."...
"The country is on a seismic brink," Hoff said."As foreign observers are now saying that all the time, we
are on a downward slope in terms of economic footing and our position of power in the world. We are at
the tipping point. And, if that is the case, any president will have to deal calmly and
intellectually with our declining economic and diplomatic power in the world."...
"He has to be like Franklin Delano Roosevelt," Hoff said."FDR gave Americans the impression that he was solving
the Depression. It was the second world war that brought the country out of the Depression."...
"Obama has become an international phenomenon like no other candidate has. It is said that as the U.S. goes,
so goes the world. And people around the world were interested in what was happening in our election.
There is the perception that Obama could bring change not only to the U.S. but also to the world."...
"I was in New York City during the election and it was fun to be there. People poured out
into the streets and closed many of them off when it was announced that Obama had won. In addition,
large crowds unprecedented in size gathered to watch the results in Times Square, Columbus Circle and
Rockefeller Center."
"To be classified as a landslide, a candidate has to win at least 400 electoral votes, and preferably more
than 500. So Obama's 365 (current projections) was definitely was not a landslide, but it was a good mandate.
Historians may, as they have with Truman and the Korean War, positively re-evaluate his Middle Eastern foreign
policy if in 20 years or so it appears more successful than it does now.""This election was really something to experience. Obama will have to utilize his optimism and popularity to
make changes following a failed presidency of unprecedented proportions. No previous president-elect has
inherited two wars and a major recession. The situation is depressing, but it was such an upbeat election that
I can't be depressed. Obama has raised our expectations
in a time of great need and I wish him well in trying to fulfill them." -
MSU News, 12-5-08 - David Brinkley"Bush must navigate a treacherous post-presidency": "The first year for every ex-president is really hard," said David Brinkley, a presidential
historian at Rice University."You have to raise all this money for your library, you've got to
build an organization, you have to write a huge memoir, your papers are in disarray, and you suddenly
realize your mistakes because your pace slows down."...
"This is going to be Bush vision." Brinkley said of the institute."Bush has never liked the academics,
and this is a nonacademic institute aimed at cutting to the core of things:
only pro-democracy foot soldiers who are green-lit by George and Laura Bush are in the mix." -
CNN, 12-5-08 - Julian Zelizer"Bush must navigate a treacherous post-presidency": "He is a president where people are expecting some kind of repair work," said Julian Zelizer,
a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton."If he just goes on the speaking circuit and
focuses his time making huge money, that would only tarnish a presidency that only has a low approval rating."
Instead, Bush is more likely to choose a similar post-presidential path, at least initially, as that
of Jimmy Carter, who also left the White House with poor approval ratings, Zelizer said."What Jimmy Carter showed is that you can be very active in your post-presidential years and help
improve how people think of you as a leader and a policy maker," Zelizer said. -
CNN, 12-5-08
- Stephen Hess"Bush must navigate a treacherous post-presidency": "This president's low approval rating is overwhelmingly connected to Iraq. It will rise and fall depending
what turns out to be the history of that country and that part of the world," said Stephen Hess, a former
Eisenhower aide and a scholar at the conservative Brookings Institution."That really is what his legacy for future historians is all about." -
CNN, 12-5-08
- Gil Troy: Is Bush's Greatest Achievement a Non-Achievement: No Subsequent 9/11s?:
In yet another example of"blowback" actually undermining Islamist terrorism, the Mumbai mayhem may boost George W. Bush’s historical legacy. In the waning days of his presidency, the massacres highlighted one of Bush’s most significant but elusive achievements. Perhaps his greatest accomplishment is a non-event. After September 11, most Americans assumed they would endure a wave of terrorist attacks. Even those Americans who hate Bush must grant him at least some credit for the fact that not one major attack has occurred again on American soil....
Despite all the hype during a presidential campaign about a candidate’s skills, judgment, character, experience, and potential, external events often define presidencies. George W. Bush himself entered office expecting to focus on domestic affairs. The horrific murders in Mumbai – along with the continuing economic roller coaster – illustrate that Obama’s legacy, like that all of his predecessors, remains in the hands of powerful actors and historical forces beyond his control, no matter how talented he is, no matter how focused on this one leader we remain. -
HNN, 12-4-08 - Julian Zelizer: Can President-Elect Obama Manage His Team of Egos?:
Obama has assembled a powerful team that is full of experience, and opinions"He does have this challenge," says Princeton historian Julian Zelizer."It's not a modest cabinet by any
stretch of the imagination. These are people of opinions and experience," and they won't be shy about"pushing the president" to adopt their ideas. The question is whether Obama will be strong enough to manage
the egos around him—and distill from the resulting tensions and rivalries the best policies for the nation
without allowing his government to descend into constant infighting,
as happened under President Jimmy Carter and other chief executives. -
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US News & World Report, 12-2-08
- Douglas Brinkley"Presidential Historian Obama Could Permanently Ban ANWR Drilling":
Douglas Brinkley tells CNN's Lou Dobbs new president may turn Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to
a national monument -"I think what they're trying to do is in the Obama administration, start pointing out some clear divot spots where
they're going to deviate from the Bush administration –things like Guantanamo, things that, 'No, we are not going to
be for drilling around parks,'" Brinkley said."I wouldn't be surprised in the coming year if you see someplace like ANWR in Alaska turn from being a wildlife
refuge run by U.S. Fish and Wildlife and turn over to becoming a National Monument where you couldn't drill.
So you’re going to be, and that's because you're going to have to do some things sort of on the cheap," he said.
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Business and Media, 11-12-08
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