http://www.realclearpolitics.com/ en Copyright 2008 Sat, 22 Nov 2008 08:45:24 -0600 Sarah Palin is juggling offers to write books, appear in films and sit on dozens of interview couches at a rate astonishing for most Hollywood stars, let alone a first-term governor.Oprah wants her. So do Letterman and Leno.The failed Republican vice presidential candidate crunched state budget numbers this past week in her 17th-floor office as http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/22/oprah__leno__letterman__what_s_palin_to_do_next_.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/22/oprah__leno__letterman__what_s_palin_to_do_next_.html Michael R. Blood The Associated Press Sat, 22 Nov 2008 08:45:19 -0600 On second thought, some of those Minnesota Senate ballots may be un-challenged.Officials for both Norm Coleman and Al Franken said Friday they'll review the hundreds of challenges they've made so far in their Senate race recount — and withdraw some — before the state Canvassing Board meets next month to consider them.Minnesota's Senate battle http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/22/minn__senate_campaigns_reconsidering_challenges.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/22/minn__senate_campaigns_reconsidering_challenges.html Brian Bakst The Associated Press Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:45:05 -0600 Two more senior managers at the Ohio agency where computers were used to dig up information about "Joe the Plumber" have been suspended without pay for their roles in the searches, an official at the agency said Friday.Fred Williams, the Department of Job and Family Services' assistant director, will be placed on two weeks unpaid suspension http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/21/4_more_punished_over__joe_the_plumber__searches.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/21/4_more_punished_over__joe_the_plumber__searches.html The Associated Press Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:30:20 -0600 A recount watchdog for Norm Coleman flagged a ballot because the voter put a check next to Al Franken's name instead of blacking in the oval. A Franken monitor challenged an apparent vote for Coleman because Franken's name was also marked. And representatives of both men invoked challenges because of marks elsewhere on the ballot that could make http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/21/disputed_senate_ballots_hold_key_to_minn__win.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/21/disputed_senate_ballots_hold_key_to_minn__win.html Patrick Condon The Associated Press Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:45:26 -0600 President-elect Barack Obama has waded into Georgia's U.S. Senate runoff, recording a radio ad supporting Democrat Jim Martin, but there's still no word on whether the president-elect will make a personal appearance.In the spot, Obama thanks Georgians who voted for him Nov. 4, then urged support for Martin."The elections aren't over," Obama said. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/20/obama_records_radio_ad_for_martin_in_senate_runoff.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/20/obama_records_radio_ad_for_martin_in_senate_runoff.html Shannon Mccaffrey The Associated Press Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:00:46 -0600 Provisional ballots must be counted in a tight congressional race in central Ohio, one of the last undecided contests in the nation, a federal judge ruled Thursday.The decision by U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley could affect the outcome of the race between Republican Steve Stivers and Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy in the 15th District. But his http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/20/provisional_ballots_could_alter_tight_ohio_race.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/20/provisional_ballots_could_alter_tight_ohio_race.html The Associated Press Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:15:45 -0600 More Floridians voted for John McCain than Barack Obama on Election Day, but the Democrat sealed his victory in the state by winning more early and absentee votes.An Associated Press study of 94 percent of the state's total shows that the Republican beat Obama by almost 5 percentage points on Nov. 4, but Obama trumped McCain by 11 percentage http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/20/early__absentee_voting_pushed_obama_to_win_in_fla_.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/20/early__absentee_voting_pushed_obama_to_win_in_fla_.html Jennifer Kay The Associated Press Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:00:38 -0600 In a 2008 Super Bowl ad, NFL golden boy Tom Brady asked nearly 100 million viewers to text "FIT" to donate $5 to the United Way. About 25,000 people responded, raising $10,000.Now imagine if President-elect Barack Obama had been able to ask the 100,000 people who showed up at his rally in St. Louis in October to give $5 or $10 with a simple text. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/20/politics__next_step__donations_go_high_text.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/20/politics__next_step__donations_go_high_text.html Rob Runyan The Associated Press Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:45:14 -0600 It's taken two and a half centuries but Columbia College, one of the oldest in the nation, finally will have one of its alumni in the Oval Office.And if the transition chatter is accurate, Barack Obama will choose as his attorney general Eric Holder, another graduate of the 254-year old Ivy League college on New York's Morningside http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/20/obama_is_1st_columbia_graduate_to_become_president.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/20/obama_is_1st_columbia_graduate_to_become_president.html Barry Schweid The Associated Press Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:45:16 -0600 President-elect Barack Obama has chosen a veteran Capitol Hill aide as his top White House representative to Congress, the Democrat's transition team announced Saturday as he works to fill out the senior ranks of his team.Philip Schiliro has worked in Congress for more than 25 years, many of which were spent as a top aide to longtime Rep. Henry http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/20/obama_names_veteran_congressional_aide_to_staff.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/20/obama_names_veteran_congressional_aide_to_staff.html The Associated Press Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:15:49 -0600 It's Washington's favorite parlor game during a presidential transition: trying to figure out who'll land a top spot in the new administration. President-elect Barack Obama is weighing an array of Washington insiders and outsiders, including some Republicans, for Cabinet and other top positions, according to Democratic officials.Just like the http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/20/who_s_in_the_running_for_obama_administration_jobs.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/20/who_s_in_the_running_for_obama_administration_jobs.html The Associated Press Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:00:33 -0600 Alaska's incoming senator is bullish on gun rights, wants to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling and believes less government is better. And he's a Democrat.But "definitely different than a New York Democrat," says Mark Begich. "I'm from Alaska."Begich, the 46-year-old, two-term Anchorage mayor, will take office in http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/20/ted_stevens__fall_points_to_political_shift.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/20/ted_stevens__fall_points_to_political_shift.html Michael R. Blood The Associated Press Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:45:16 -0600 As the manual recount in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race began, one volunteer judge asked the city election director what to do if she spotted a questionable ballot and no one else did."I don't think that's likely," election director Cindy Reichert said, waving a hand at a bevy of watchdogs encircling the counting table Wednesday. "I think at least http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/20/minnesota_senate_recount_gets_tedious__pretty_fast.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/20/minnesota_senate_recount_gets_tedious__pretty_fast.html Patrick Condon And Martiga Lohn The Associated Press Thu, 20 Nov 2008 04:45:19 -0600 Republicans have controlled the Pennsylvania Senate for most of the last three decades, and now they have new bragging rights: The Senate is the last state legislative chamber in the Northeast in GOP hands.The party's success could provide a template for fellow Republicans looking to win back majorities not just in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/20/pa__senate_gop_has_bragging_rights_in_northeast.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/20/pa__senate_gop_has_bragging_rights_in_northeast.html Marc Levy The Associated Press Thu, 20 Nov 2008 04:00:30 -0600 In two undecided open-seat House races, both candidates are playing Congress member-elect this week.Both the eventual winners and the eventual losers from too-close-to-call contests in California and Ohio came to Washington for new-lawmaker orientation — though only one contender from each race will ever get sworn in."I don't know as I'd say http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/20/on_capitol_hill__campaign_rivals_take_orientation.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/20/on_capitol_hill__campaign_rivals_take_orientation.html Erica Werner The Associated Press Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:30:39 -0600 Barack Obama is enlisting former Senate leader Tom Daschle as his health secretary, embracing a third Washington insider in the early stages of Cabinet-building by the president-elect who promised change. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the capital's most famous woman for two decades, seemed ever more likely to be his secretary of state.Clinton is http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/19/daschle_to_take_health_post__another_familiar_face.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/19/daschle_to_take_health_post__another_familiar_face.html Kevin Freking The Associated Press Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:30:21 -0600 It's a controversy that Republicans refuse to forget: Bill Clinton's pardon eight years ago of fugitive financier Marc Rich. Just ask Eric Holder, President-elect Barack Obama's top choice for attorney general.Holder, who was deputy attorney general during the Clinton administration, is in line for the attorney general job he long has wanted, but http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/19/marc_rich_pardon_controversy_just_won_t_die.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/19/marc_rich_pardon_controversy_just_won_t_die.html Pete Yost The Associated Press Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:00:19 -0600 Former President Bill Clinton has agreed to publicly disclose the names of most donors to his presidential foundation and library, a significant concession aimed at helping smooth the path for his wife to become the next secretary of state.Hillary Rodham Clinton, meanwhile, was expected to decide soon whether to take the job, which associates said http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/19/hillary_clinton_weighing_secretary_of_state_post.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/19/hillary_clinton_weighing_secretary_of_state_post.html Beth Fouhy The Associated Press Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:30:38 -0600 The Congressional Black Caucus announced its new leaders Wednesday without mentioning President-elect Barack Obama until asked. Members disputed the notion that his historic presidency would affect their profile or their role."Certainly President-elect Obama is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, but I think it's important to recognize http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/19/black_caucus__no_special_relationship_to_obama.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/19/black_caucus__no_special_relationship_to_obama.html Erica Werner The Associated Press Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:00:19 -0600 The Associated Press asked several interior designers to suggest Obama-style changes for the White House. Some of what they had to say about their designs via e-mail:THE OVAL OFFICEVern Yip, designer and host of HGTV's "Deserving Design"I wanted to design an eclectic space that combined White House treasures with modernist Brno flat chairs http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/19/obama_white_house_could_be_green__high_tech.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2008/Nov/19/obama_white_house_could_be_green__high_tech.html The Associated Press Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:45:28 -0600