POLITICS & PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION WATCH:
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IN FOCUS |
In Focus:- Barack Obama: Yes, He Could Quite A Year, As Illinois Senator Claims Presidency:
In the first week of 2008, Barack Obama rocked the political world with a win in the Iowa caucuses. But the
question remained: Could this black man with a rich personal history and sparse elective resume make it all
the way to the presidency? Yes, he could.
Obama took us along on a wild ride, smashing political and racial barriers as he was elected the nation's
44th president in an electoral landslide. His message of hope and change - and the viral YouTube mantra of"Yes, we can" - resonated with millions of voters after eight years of George W. Bush. -
CBS News, 12-24-08 - 2008: The Political Year in Quotes
FOXNews.com runs down the most memorable lines of the 2008 political year:
Barack Obama: "We are the ones we have been waiting for."
John Edwards: "I don't talk about these tabloids. The tabloid trash is full of lies."
John McCain: "The fundamentals of our economy are strong."
Tina Fey: "I can see Russia from my house!"
Rev. Jesse Jackson: "I want to cut his nuts off."
Bill Clinton: "Jesse Jackson won South Carolina twice, in '84 and '88,
and he ran a good campaign, and so did Obama."
Rev. Jeremiah Wright: "I believe our government is capable of doing anything."
Rod Blagojevich: "There's nothing but sunshine hanging over me."
Hillary Clinton: "Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest
glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it has about 18 million cracks in it."
Ted Kennedy: "Together we have known success and seen setbacks, victory and defeat. But
we have never lost our belief that we are all called to a better country and a newer world.
And I pledge to you that I will be there next January." -
Fox News, 12-24-08 - Barack Obama just added you as a friend on Facebook: (Humor)
Washington: Despite the assumption that President-elect Barack Obama’s Cabinet nominees are told of their
selection via phone calls, the Los Angeles Times has learned that the Obama is actually notifying his
picks by"friending" them on the social networking site Facebook. Requests to Obama for comment on the
following transcript have gone unanswered, though he did"poke" us just as this went to press.... -
LAT
- Name by name, Obama's Cabinet taking shape -
12-11-08
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THE HEADLINES.... |
The Headlines... |
POLITICAL QUOTES |
Political Quotes- Obama's Night-Before-Christmas Address: "This holiday season, their families celebrate with a joy that is muted knowing that a loved one is absent,
and sometimes in danger. In towns and cities across America, there is an empty seat at the dinner table;
in distant bases and on ships at sea, our servicemen and women can
only wonder at the look on their child's face as they open a gift back home." -
NYT, 12-24-08
- Condoleezza Rice in an interview with AFP, the chief US diplomat conceded that eight years after
President George W. Bush came to power, his administration's popularity was"not very great" in the Arab world."I understand that a lot of the history between the US and the Arab world is one that Arabs look to as a
time of humiliation and of lack of respect. That did not start with President Bush and it will not merely
end with President Bush," she said.
...Rice, whose job ends when Bush hands over the presidency to Barack Obama on January 20, predicted the Arabs
will change their view of the Bush administration."Over time I think that the fact that America has stood for the Arab world and for the Arabs to have the same
rights and the same ability to live in freedom as we have, that that will ultimately be respected," Rice said.
History will vindicate Bush, she said, by showing that Iraq, in the wake of the 2003 US-led invasion, will
change the face of the Middle East and will be the first multi-ethnic and multi-confessional democracy in the
Arab world.
...The war on terror has failed to eliminate Al-Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden, but the US-led coalition
and Iraq are close to defeating the group's Iraq branch, she said. -
Pam's House Blend, 12-24-08
- Cheney says Congress failed struggling automakers on"Fox News Sunday.": "The president decided specifically that he wanted to try to deal with it and not preside over the collapse of
the automobile industry just as he goes out of office."
Lawmakers"had ample opportunity to deal with this issue and they failed. The president had no choice but to
step in."...
"If you think about what Abraham Lincoln did during the Civil War, what FDR did during World War II.
They went far beyond anything we've done in a global war on terror."...
"I'd want to see what they're going to spend it on. There usually are fairly significant differences
between we Republicans and the Democrats on how you stimulate the economy."
On Sarah Palin in 2012:"I don't think she has any kind of lock on that. She'll have to go out and earn
it just as anybody else would have to."
On bin Laden:"He's been holed up in a way where he's not even been communicating and there are questions
about whether or not he's even running the operation."
"It wasn't my decision to make," Cheney said of firing Rumsfeld."The president doesn't always take my advice."
did not regret using an obscenity beginning with"f" in an exchange with Sen.
Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., on the Senate floor in June 2004."I thought he merited it at the time,"
Cheney said with a chuckle in the interview."And we've since, I think, patched over that wound and
we're civil to one another now." -
AP, 12-21-08 - Ill. Gov. Blagojevich pledges to fight, won't quit: "I will fight. I will fight. I will fight until I take my last breath. I have done nothing wrong."...."I'm not going to quit a job the people hired me to do because of false accusations and a political lynch mob."..."I'm here to tell you right off the bat that I am not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing, that I intend to stay
on the job, and I will fight this thing every step of the way."...."Merry Christmas, happy holidays."
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AP, 12-19-08
- Harry Reid: Obama team weighs up to $850 billion economic jolt:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Wednesday that Obama has indicated that Congress will get
his recovery recommendations by the first of the year.
"He's going to get that to us very quickly, and so we would hope within the first 10 days to two weeks that
he's in office, that is after Jan. 20, that we could pass the stimulus plan. We want to do it very quickly."
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AP, 12-18-08 - Bush says he didn't compromise soul to be popular: "Look, everybody likes to be popular.""What do you expect? We've got a major economic problem and I'm the president
during the major economic problem. I mean, do people approve of the economy? No. I don't approve of the economy.
... I've been a wartime president. I've dealt with two economic recessions now. I've had, hell, a lot of serious
challenges. What matters to me is I didn't compromise my soul to be a popular guy."
"I'm a free market guy. But I'm not going to let this economy crater in order to preserve the free market system.
So we made a lot of very strong moves and it's been painful for a lot of people, particularly because, you know,
this — the excesses of the past have caused a lot of folks to hurt when it comes to, like, their 401(k)'s or,
you know, their jobs."
"I think the incoming administration's going to have to fully analyze the risks and the tools and — come to
their own conclusion. But one thing's for certain. I'm confident that President-elect Obama knows that one
of his most solemn duties is to protect the American people."
"They're going to have to sort it through in Illinois. Obviously anytime anybody allegedly betrays the
public trust there's got to be great concern because, you know, democracy really is, you know, really rests
on the trust of the people. It's a system of people and by people and for people. And, therefore, the public
trust is important." -
AP, 12-18-08 - Obama chooses Chicago schools chief Ed. Secretary: "When it comes to school reform, Arne is the most hands-on of hands-on practitioners.
He's not beholden to any one ideology, and he's worked tirelessly to improve teacher quality."
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AP, 12-16-08
- Will deft shoe-dodge improve Bush's image?: "Everybody calm down please," he said over his attacker's shouting from the next room,
before a small grin returned to his face."First of all, thank you for apologizing on behalf of the Iraqi people.
It doesn't bother me. If you want the facts, it's a size 10 shoe."
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National Post, 12-15-08
- McCain on ABC's"This Week" I can't promise to support Palin for president":
I can't say something like that. We've got some great other young governors. I think
you're going to see the governors assume a greater leadership role in our Republican Party....
The greatest appreciation for Gov. Palin and her family, and it was a great joy to know them.
She invigorated our campaign....
Have no doubt of my admiration and respect for her and my view of her
viability, but at this stage, again ... my corpse is still warm, you know?
I think that the Obama campaign should and will give all information necessary.
You know, in all due respect to the Republican National Committee and anybody -- right now, I think we should
try to be working constructively together, not only on an issue such as this, but on the economy, stimulus
package, reforms that are necessary.
I don't know all the details of the relationship between President-elect Obama's campaign or his people and the
governor of Illinois. But I have some confidence that all the information will come out. It always does, it
seems to me.
I think my job is, of course, to be a part of, and hopefully exert some leadership, in the loyal opposition.
But I emphasize the word loyal. We haven't seen economic times like this in my lifetime. We haven't seen
challenges abroad at the level that we are experiencing, certainly since the end of the Cold War, and you
could argue in some respects that they're certainly more complex, many of these challenges. So let's have
our first priority where we can work together... Will there be areas of disagreement? Of course. We are different
parties and different philosophy. But the nation wants us to unite and work together.
That would sound like I am detracting from President-elect Obama's campaign. I don't want to do that...
Nobody likes a sore loser. Get busy and move on. That's the best cure for it. I spent a period of time
feeling sorry for myself. It's wonderful. It's one of the most enjoyable experiences that you can have.
But the point is: You've got to move on... I'm still a senator from the state of Arizona. I still have the
privilege and honor of serving this country, which I've done all my life, and it's a great honor to do so. -
CNN, 12-14-08
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HISTORIANS' COMMENTS |
Historians' Comments- David Greenberg 'Buff' Obama Images Cause Stir in U.S.
David Greenberg, a professor at Rutgers University who is working on a history of political spin, said no
one should be surprised by the latest development. When then-president John F. Kennedy was pictured shirtless,
there were media accounts then fretting about the threshold Americns had crossed as a country, he said."There was John F. Kennedy by the beach, shirt off, this young, glamorous president," Greenberg said."So in a way this is 48 years old now that we're having this." Since then, Lyndon Johnson lifted his
shirt to show reporters his surgery scar and there have been pictures of Ronald Reagan and Bill
Clinton in swim trunks.
"It was kind of an erosion of what had been boundaries of formality between the president and the public,"
Greenberg said."We've had 'boxers and briefs' and a real acquaintanceship with a personal side, an uninhibited
side, an unclothed side of the president."...
But such personal shots - dropping the girls off at school, hitting the gym, practising his golf swing - also
serve to humanize the president. Greenberg can see why Obama might allow the beach photos to be taken."I'm sure if he didn't do it on purpose, he's not exactly crying in his coffee about it," he said."I don't see any downside." -
AP, 12-24-08 - James M. McPherson Historian sees lessons, Lincoln parallels for Obama:
...Georges Clemenceau, the French prime minister during World War I, famously said that"War is too important
to be left to the generals." Lincoln certainly would have agreed with that. What Clemenceau meant is that every
activity involved with fighting a war has political consequences, has consequences far beyond the battlefield,
has an impact on the entire society and therefore can't really be decided strictly on military criteria.
And I think that Lincoln certainly learned that and that's something Obama will have to keep in mind. I think he
probably is well aware of it, that, for example, whatever decisions he makes about withdrawing troops from Iraq
or beefing up troops in Afghanistan don't take place in a social and cultural and political vacuum. They all have
consequences far beyond the battlefield itself.
Lincoln had the ability to communicate ideas and communicate policy to the average person. He could make things clear,
even complicated things clear, to the average person, and I think Obama has that gift, too.
I think I do. ... Lincoln occasionally did lose his temper, but he usually managed to maintain his cool. ...
This kind of temperament -- keeping your cool, keeping your temper, trying to base your decisions on rational
thought rather than emotions or temporary explosions of temper -- I think they're similar in that respect and
that was a really important factor in Lincoln's leadership qualities.
Well yes, it's almost exhilarating to have a president who reads history, knows history and realizes the
value of understanding history."Pleasure" is the right word. -
CNN, 12-23-08 - E.J. Dionne: Obama team may be more left than it seems:
Oh, my: Barack Obama is still more than a month away from assuming the presidency and already there are reports
about"the left" being dispirited about change they no longer believe in. These fears -- in this case expressed
by a rather small number of bloggers and writers -- are aggravated by praise for Obama's transition choices from
conservatives who seem relieved the president-elect is neither Lenin nor Robespierre....
This means that parts of the political left will have some differences with Obama over the next four years, but it
doesn't mean that most on the left are already disillusioned with him.
Take it from Schlesinger. In his 1960 diary entry he ascribed to Kennedy the view that"especially with a
liberal Congress, conservative-appearing men can win more support for liberal measures than all-outers."
Schlesinger added:"Of course, there is something to this argument." -
Newsday, 12-24-08
- A changing Washington: Obama's new home was slow to integrate -
McClatchy Newspapers, 12-24-08
- Julian Zelizer"Obama completes cabinet of 'rivals' line-up": "This was one of the more well-organized and well-prepared transitions that we have seen," Princeton
University historian Julian Zelizer said."Not only has he appointed some very high-quality picks in terms of intellectual capacity and experience,
but on key areas -- including economics and defense -- he has been able to move to the center without
alienating his core supporters," he said.
By common consent, Obama has filled his cabinet quickly but also with much thought to ability as he
emulates the"team of rivals" assembled by his political hero, Civil War president Abraham Lincoln.
AP, 12-19-08
- Julian Zelizer"Contrasting views of Cheney":
Historian Julian Zelizer calls Vice President Dick Cheney the most influential vice president in history. -
Poitico, 12-22-08
- Michael Beschloss: Obama Cabinet Picks Create Open Senate Seats, and Controversy:
As top Democrats move from the U.S. Senate into jobs in President-elect Barack Obama's White House,
the process of filling those Senate seats without elections has, in some instances, led to charges of
nepotism or bribery.
According to presidential historian Michael Beschloss, the process of selecting senators via state legislators
bred corruption."The reason why the 17th Amendment in 1913 changed all that was that the Senate was brought so many cases where
people said, 'This guy became a senator because of bribery and intimidation,' they felt you needed direct election,"
Beschloss told the NewsHour. -
PBS Newhour, 12-16-08 - Gil Troy: Will deft shoe-dodge improve Bush's image?:
According to Gil Troy, a history professor at McGill University, Mr. Bush handled the potentially embarrassing
situation with a grace that could benefit the way people remember him."One of the things that he has always had as an advantage as part of his skill set has been a very fluid and
smooth physicality," he said."At his best, when he's been most effective, he has been able to use a kind of
sheer physical presence and fluidity, the grace of an athlete -- and he has the grace of a jogger. I think that
helped him in this incident."
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National Post, 12-15-08
- Elena Razlogova: Will deft shoe-dodge improve Bush's image?:
Elena Razlogova, an assistant professor at Concordia University, surmised in an e-mail from Moscow that
regardless of how Mr. Bush reacted to the situation, the damage has been done."However graceful Bush was, he'll never live this down," she wrote."In Russia, the networks reported on this at
length and with glee. I think people everywhere are just happy his presidency is over.... True, Bush did seem
to dodge shoes better than reporters' queries, but throwing a shoe seems so much more pithy and symbolic than
a question." -
National Post, 12-15-08
- Fred Greenstein"Obama faces heady challenges, and they're growing": "There's a lot of ground giving under him. It's a terrific challenge," said Fred Greenstein, a Princeton
University professor emeritus of politics and a presidential historian.
"From one perspective, it's as if he's about to take over the captain's job on a sinking ship.
From the other perspective, he could be on a glide path to Mount Rushmore if he does a combination
of morale building and energizing people while dealing with the economic distress by producing some
constructive changes in the society and in the economy."
"The striking thing is he doesn't seem scared," Greenstein added.
"Part of what he's doing is paying lip service to the notion that there's
only one president while sucking up all the oxygen," Greenstein said. -
AP, 12-14-08 - Gary Mormino:"Fla.'s First Ladies Have Rich History
Carole Rome to join unusual cast of characters when marrying Gov. Crist":
One of the earliest intersections of matrimony and politics in Florida comes from 1929, according to historian
Gary Mormino, an author and professor at the University of South Florida.
The Florida Legislature convened in a special session that year to censure the wife of President Herbert Hoover,
Lou Henry Hoover, who had offended state lawmakers by inviting the wife of a black congressman for a White House
reception. Mormino said the role of first lady has only recently shifted toward the caretaking of pet causes.
The wife of Gov. Spessard Holland had dubious timing with her announcement that she would push for cleaner
public restrooms. Mary Holland's statement was released on Dec. 7, 1941, as Pearl Harbor was attacked.
The Ledger, 12-14-08
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