In what could be the biggest leak of the Obama Presidency so far, there is now speculation that Hillary Clinton is a top candidate for Secretary of State.
CHICAGO – Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is among the candidates that President-elect Barack Obama is considering for secretary of state, according to two Democratic officials in close contact with the Obama transition team.
Clinton, the former first lady who pushed Obama hard for the Democratic presidential nomination, was rumored to be a contender for the job last week, but the talk died down as party activists questioned whether she was best-suited to be the nation’s top diplomat in an Obama administration.
The talk resumed in Washington and elsewhere Thursday, a day after Obama named several former aides to President Bill Clinton to help run his transition effort.
This could be a trans-formative appointment for the country and NY State. Obama would instantly heal any lingering wounds in the party by appointing Hillary to any cabinet post, let alone the third most powerful person in the administration. It would certainly be in line with his desired wishes to have a team of rivals much like President Lincoln did.
But this could also transform NY State. At one point before governor Spitzer had to step down, then Lt. Governor, now Governor David Patterson was rumored to want to succeed Senator Clinton. With Obama’s departure in the Senate there will be a noticeable absence of African Americans in the Senate. With the NY state Senate going Democratic and a lack of Lt. Governor since Patterson had to fill Spitzer’s spot, that would mean incoming Majority Leader Malcolm Smith could become Governor and fill out the last two years in Spitzer’s Patterson’s term.
Things could get very very interesting in the Empire State very very soon.
FLASHBACK TO THE BEGINNING:
The remaining $6 million of the $26 million raised by Clinton is designated for use in the general election if the former first lady wins her party's nomination. Clinton also has slightly more than $10 million that she has transferred from her 2006 Senate campaign account.
Clinton has a distinct money advantage and leads in every national poll, but the fact that rookie Obama has bested a veteran like Clinton in many aspects of fundraising -- he rasied $6.9 million on the Internet, for instance, compared with Clinton's $4.2 million -- has stunned the political world.
"We're really humbled by the amazing outpouring of support," Obama told WLS Radio today. "It is broad-based -- we did it without taking PAC money, without taking federal lobbyist money, so we feel really good about it."
Added a prominent supporter, Rep. Jesse Jackson, D-Ill., "This is a long road and a long process to the White House, but make no doubt about it, Barack Obama is driving the fastest car."
Obama received donations from more than 100,000 donors, far surpassing any other candidate, including Clinton (50,000); Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., (45,000); former Sen. John Edwards, D-NC, (40,000); or former GOP Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (34,000).
SO WHAT IS THE DEAL ? BILL RICARDSON V HILLARY ?
LIKE I DUG DEM VIBES BIG DADDY 'o" BUT I AIN'T FEELIN DA LOVE BACK BIG MAN .. !
During an appearance yesterday on talk radio - at almost the same time as Obama co-chair Jesse Jackson Jr. questioned Hillary's tears - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo used some words with a very troublesome racial history, apparently in reference to Barack Obama. "It's not a TV crazed race. Frankly you can't buy your way into it," Cuomo said, according to Albany Times Union reporter Rick Karlin. He then added, "You can't shuck and jive at a press conference. All those moves you can make with the press don't work when you're in someone's living room."WELL ANDY BABY I AIN'T FEELING DA LOVE IN MY LIVIN ROOM, WITH YOU OR THIS RUMORED APPOINTMENT , I DID NOT GIVE THE CHANGE SPEECHES DADDY , I JUST GAVE DA CHANGE, LIKE YA DIG.. IT;S LIKE TAKIN A DATE TO THE PROM AND SWITCHING DATES OUT..
During an appearance yesterday on talk radio - at almost the same time as Obama co-chair Jesse Jackson Jr. questioned Hillary's tears - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo used some words with a very troublesome racial history, apparently in reference to Barack Obama.
"It's not a TV crazed race. Frankly you can't buy your way into it," Cuomo said, according to Albany Times Union reporter Rick Karlin. He then added, "You can't shuck and jive at a press conference. All those moves you can make with the press don't work when you're in someone's living room."
WELL ANDY BABY I AIN'T FEELING DA LOVE IN MY LIVIN ROOM, WITH YOU OR THIS RUMORED APPOINTMENT , I DID NOT GIVE THE CHANGE SPEECHES DADDY , I JUST GAVE DA CHANGE, LIKE YA DIG.. IT;S LIKE TAKIN A DATE TO THE PROM AND SWITCHING DATES OUT..
But there are real differences between the candidates. We are looking for more than just a change of party in the White House. We're looking to fundamentally change the status quo in Washington.
It's a status quo that extends beyond any particular party and right now that status quo is fighting back with everything it's got, with the same old tactics that divide and distract us from solving the problems people face, whether those problems are health care that folks can't afford or a mortgage they cannot pay.
So this will not be easy. Make no mistake about what we're up against. We're up against the belief that it's all right for lobbyists to dominate our government, that they are just part of the system in Washington.
But we know that the undue influence of lobbyists is part of the problem and this election is our chance to say that we are not going to let them stand in our way anymore.
We're up against the conventional thinking that says your ability to lead as president comes from longevity in Washington or proximity to the White House. But we know that real leadership is about candor and judgment and the ability to rally Americans from all walks of life around a common purpose, a higher purpose.
We're up against decades of bitter partisanship that cause politicians to demonize their opponents instead of coming together to make college affordable or energy cleaner. It's the kind of partisanship where you're not even allowed to say that a Republican had an idea, even if it's one you never agreed with.
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) -- Here is the transcript of Sen. Barack Obama's remarks after he won the Democratic presidential primary in South Carolina.
IT FEELS LIKE I TOOK A SHOWER AND PUT MY WEEK OLD UNDERWEAR BACK ON..
BURY MY HEAD IN THE SAND AND SWALLOW DA DIRT ..?
If David Axelrod decides to join the Obama White House, he’ll have to do more than move to Washington. He’ll also have to take an enormous pay cut and possibly reveal the extent of his lucrative corporate public relations work. The Obama campaign advisor’s firms have collected more than $35 million since 1998 for all manner of political consulting and lobbying work, including more than $2.5 million from Obama’s presidential campaign alone, according to a Politico analysis of local, state and federal campaign and lobbying records compiled in part with the assistance of New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG). The figures likely include a lot of overhead for production and possibly broadcast costs. But they don’t include fees paid to an Axelrod corporate communications and lobbying firm with a mostly unknown client list, nor do they take into account how the payments were divided between Axelrod and his partners, so it’s difficult to extrapolate just how much money Axelrod has made over the years. One thing is certain, though – even the nearly $200,000-a-year government salary a top White House aide could earn wouldn’t begin to match the current earnings of the Chicago-based Democratic operative. If Axelrod does sign on as a special assistant to President Obama, as Axelrod confidants expect, the requisite government disclosures could offer an intriguing glimpse inside one of the preeminent and lucrative Democratic consulting shops. That’s because Axelrod would almost certainly be pressured to divest his ownership stakes in the firms he founded, AKP&D Message & Media and ASK Public Strategies, and could be required to report how much he--
My bologna has a first name It's O-S-C-A-R BOSNIA SNIPER FIRE My bologna has a second name It's HILLARY M-A-Y-E-R Oh I love to eat it everyday And if you ask me why I'll sayyyy Cause Oscar Mayer has a way With B-O-S-N-I-A SNIPER FIRE..
AND DAT;S DA NAME OF DAT TUNE DADDY O !
By Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. environmental groups see Barack Obama's presidential victory as a chance to undo the Bush legacy on global warming, and one idea they are discussing is the possibility of a White House "climate czar".
Members of the environmental community in and around Washington say such a post could oversee various government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Interior Department, to focus on tackling global warming and fostering clean energy to jump-start the flagging economy.
"For the first time, candidates and voters are really connecting the dots between energy, the environment and the economy," said Cathy Duvall, Sierra Club's political director. She said at a news briefing that Obama had made it clear that investing in cleaner energy would be a top priority in his plan for economic recovery.
One way to coordinate these interrelated issues would be to have one person in charge, based at the White House, according to sources in the environmental community familiar with the idea.
"NO MORE BIC LIGHTERS I SAID ! "
CHICAGO (AP) - As Barack Obama bid farewell to the Senate, the president-elect kept his attention on building a White House team, announcing the hiring Sunday of more key personnel.
Obama, who resigned his Senate seat Sunday, said in a letter published in Illinois newspapers that he was "ending one journey to begin another. ... But I will never forget and will be forever grateful to the men and women of this great state who made my life in public service possible."
Shifting to assembling his staff, Obama added veterans from his campaign and Senate office to his incoming White House operations:
_senior adviser Pete Rouse. He was Obama's Senate chief of staff, a post he also held while working for former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
_Mona Sutphen, deputy chief of staff. A member of Obama's transition team staff, she has been managing director of Stonebridge International, a strategic consulting firm based in Washington. The chief of staff is Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill. Sutphen also was a foreign service officer and worked on the National Security Council in the Clinton White House.
_Jim Messina, deputy chief of staff. He is now director of personnel for Obama's transition team and was national chief of staff during the presidential campaign.
On Saturday, Obama named longtime Capitol Hill aide Philip Schiliro as assistant to the president for legislative affairs when the new administration takes over Jan. 20.
Obama's team also includes Ron Klain, a former chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore, who now will serve in the same role for Vice President-elect Joe Biden, and longtime Obama friend and supporter Valerie Jarrett will be a senior adviser and assistant to Obama for intergovernmental relations.
Other staff positions expected to be announced soon could include the likely appointments of campaign senior adviser Robert Gibbs as White House press secretary, chief strategist David Axelrod as a top White House adviser, and Gregory Craig, President Clinton's impeachment trial lawyer, as White House counsel.
SREEEEEEEEEEECHHHHHHHH! HUH ? WHAT THE HECK ?
YO DUDE ! WOW DADDY O ! THAT'S THE WRONG MESSAGE , WAZZ UP WITH DAT ?
In his published letter, Obama quoted Abraham Lincoln, "another son of Illinois" who had left for Washington, "a greater man who spoke to a nation far more divided." OK THAT'S COOLIO MAN !
Lincoln, Obama wrote, said of his home: "To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe everything."
Obama wrote, "I feel the same, and like Lincoln, I ask for your support, your prayers, and for us to "`confidently hope that all will yet be well.'" O.K BIG DADDY O, BUT LET'S NOT DO THE TEAM OF RIVALS AND GROW A BEARD AND WEAR A STOVE PIPE HAT DIG IT MAN ?
Definitions of change on the Web:
