2008 U.S. Presidential Campaign Discussion Thread 13: Victory Lap

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Good for Gupta!

It actually makes a lot of sense. He has political experience. He served as a White House Fellow, and was an advisor to Hillary during the Clinton administration.
 
with all the wrong that's been glaring in our faces lately about the US political process, and the way our government operates in general... this picture pretty much sums up all that is right...

capt.65b5d1a3830b475f8d46a6f1399ab1ba.the_presidents__club_dcsa109.jpg


every living former, current, and future leader... standing in the oval office, together... each one having taken over for the other without blood shed... knowing that the office is bigger than the person occupying it.
 
Um, ok..


(AP)TOLEDO, Ohio — Joe The Plumber is putting down his wrenches and picking up a reporter's notebook.

The Ohio man who became a household name during the presidential campaign says he is heading to Israel as a war correspondent for the conservative Web site pjtv.com.

Samuel J. Wurzelbacher says he'll spend 10 days covering the fighting.

He tells WNWO-TV in Toledo that he wants to let Israel's "'Average Joes' share their story."

Wurzelbacher gained attention during the final weeks of the campaign when he asked Barack Obama about his tax plan.

He later joined Republican John McCain on the campaign trail. At one stop, he agreed with a McCain supporter who asked if he believed a vote for Obama was a vote for the death of Israel.
 
with all the wrong that's been glaring in our faces lately about the US political process, and the way our government operates in general... this picture pretty much sums up all that is right...

capt.65b5d1a3830b475f8d46a6f1399ab1ba.the_presidents__club_dcsa109.jpg


every living former, current, and future leader... standing in the oval office, together... each one having taken over for the other without blood shed... knowing that the office is bigger than the person occupying it.


Nice post. :up: :)
 
I should get that, that might become a collectible. But there aren't any comic book shops near me.

9091300f-755e-4d9f-8575-7c4fa3c64f89.jpg


1e5fc961-6c3c-4a5a-b207-83f15c1b212a.jpg




WASHINGTON (AP) - Spider-Man has a new sidekick: The president-elect.

Barack Obama collected Spider-Man comics as a child, so Marvel Comics wanted to give him a "shout-out back" by featuring him in a bonus story, said Joe Quesada, Marvel's editor-in-chief.

"How great is that? The commander in chief to be is actually a nerd in chief," Quesada said. "It was really, really cool to see that we had a geek in the White House. We're all thrilled with that."

The comic starts with Spider-Man's alter-ego Peter Parker taking photographs at the inauguration, before spotting two identical Obamas.

Parker decides "the future president's gonna need Spider-Man," and springs into action, using basketball to determine the real Obama and punching out the impostor.

Obama thanks him with a fist-bump.

Marvel comics have featured most presidents, but generally in walk-on roles, Quesada said.

"I think President Nixon might have appeared on the cover, but not in a good way," he said.

Obama has said that as a child, he collected Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comic books. His Senate Web site used to have a photo of him posing in front of a Superman statue.

The Obama story is a bonus in Marvel Comic's Amazing Spider-Man #583, available in comic book shops nationwide on Jan. 14 for $3.99 and is expected to sell out, with half the covers devoted to Obama.
 
Actually, the one who took over for Carter is no longer with us.

But I digress.

:wink:

Bush Sr, should have stood between Carter and Clinton.

Then it would have been chronological.

And Bush Sr was part of the Reagan - Bush Presidency.

(or maybe Sr, thought he was saving a place for Jeb)
 
I think the Dems have something like 57 (including Lieberman and Sanders)

Minnesota race with Franklin barely ahead will likely be in the courts for a few months.

The Illinois appointment being refused, can leave that seat vacant for some time.

That will leave the Dems with only 57 when they should have 59.

The Dems can not resolve the Minn seat any faster by themselves.

They can seat Burris and at least have a solid 58.



This looks interesting

The Dems are concerned about getting their 59 votes locked in

So they are moving on Burris, as I suggested,
and it looks like they may create a situation or justification for seating Franken

Senate open to seating Franken

Manu Raju
55 mins ago

Neither Al Franken nor Roland Burris have been officially certified as senators, but Democratic leaders are still open to seating Franken while refusing to seat Burris until he has his paperwork in order.
Republicans see inconsistency in this stance, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) says the cases are totally different.
"People have gotten the certificate thing messed up," Reid said. "State of Illinois is an appointment. State of Minnesota is an election. Two different things."
Minnesota's canvassing board this week announced that Franken was the winner in his bitterly contested race with Republican Norm Coleman, but state law prohibits granting an election certificate if legal challenges are pending. Coleman is suing over the election results that show Franken won by just 225 votes out of nearly three million cast.
Like Franken, Burris, the 71-year-old former Illinois attorney general, does not have complete credentials to take the Senate seat because he lacks a signature from his secretary of state, who refused to sign the paperwork because he was appointed by scandal-plagued Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Democrats are eager to fill the two open Senate seats, fearing that their current majority of 57 senators would make it harder to move Barack Obama's agenda when he is sworn into office Jan. 20. Despite initially opposing Burris because of the taint of Blagojevich, Democrats have backtracked under enormous pressure and are now setting a process for him to be seated.
How long Franken will be in limbo is unclear, and Democrats have called on Coleman to concede and drop his pending litigation. If it drags on, Democrats are signaling they may move ahead.
When asked whether he would seat Franken before the litigation is resolved, Reid said: "We're going to be very patient and not rush through it."
But Reid made clear to Politico in an interview earlier this week that he would not hesitate to send the Franken-Coleman case to the Rules and Administration Committee, which handles election disputes. Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), the hard-nosed Democratic partisan, will soon assume the chairmanship of that panel, but refused to comment Thursday.
Pushing the Franken case, though, opens up Democrats to criticism after they refused to seat Burris. Democrats are still arguing that Burris cannot be seated until his lawsuit calling for the secretary of state's signature is resolved.
Senate rules say the secretary of the Senate shall keep credentials of each senator "elected or appointed."
Republicans see a double-standard and plan to block any attempt in the Senate to seat Franken before the litigation is resolved.
"The winner cannot be certified until those remedies have been exhausted," said Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah), top Republican on the Rules Committee and a close adviser to Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. "This is a problem for Minnesota to resolve, not the Senate."
 
politico.com

January 09, 2009
Categories: Transition
Hochberg to head Ex-Im

A source tells me Fred Hochberg, an openly gay former Clinton Administration official, will be named to head the Export-Import Bank.

Hochberg, who was deputy administrator of the Small Business Administration under Bill Clinton, was a prominent Clinton supporter in the primary, and a is a major donor to both Democratic and gay causes.

Gay groups have complained of a shortage of high-profile gay and lesbian appointees, and the appointment of Hochberg, who is prominent in gay political circles and served on Obama's transition, may ease those complaints, though gay groups had been lobbying to make him Commerce Secretary.

Hochberg, heir to the Lillian Vernon catalogue business, was until recently the Dean of the New School's Milano School of Management, and has been occasionally mentioned as a candidate for office in New York City.

UPDATE: Human Rights Campaign sends over a statement from its president, Joe Solmonese:

The chair of the Export-Import Bank of the United States is an important position in President-elect Obama's economic team. Fred is one of the most highly qualified and experienced public servants in our community and the fact that President-elect Obama has tapped him for such an important economic position speaks well for the LGBT community.
 
What I Want for You — and Every Child
in America'
By President-elect Barack Obama
Publication Date: 01/14/2009



Next Tuesday, Barack Obama will be sworn in as our 44th President. On this historic occasion, PARADE asked the President-elect, who is also a devoted family man, to get personal and tell us what he wants for his children. Here, he shares his letter to them.


Dear Malia and Sasha,

I know that you've both had a lot of fun these last two years on the campaign trail, going to picnics and parades and state fairs, eating all sorts of junk food your mother and I probably shouldn't have let you have. But I also know that it hasn't always been easy for you and Mom, and that as excited as you both are about that new puppy, it doesn't make up for all the time we've been apart. I know how much I've missed these past two years, and today I want to tell you a little more about why I decided to take our family on this journey.

When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me-about how I'd make my way in the world, become successful, and get the things I want. But then the two of you came into my world with all your curiosity and mischief and those smiles that never fail to fill my heart and light up my day. And suddenly, all my big plans for myself didn't seem so important anymore. I soon found that the greatest joy in my life was the joy I saw in yours. And I realized that my own life wouldn't count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment in yours. In the end, girls, that's why I ran for President: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation.

I want all our children to go to schools worthy of their potential-schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill in them a sense of wonder about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college-even if their parents aren't rich. And I want them to get good jobs: jobs that pay well and give them benefits like health care, jobs that let them spend time with their own kids and retire with dignity.

I want us to push the boundaries of discovery so that you'll live to see new technologies and inventions that improve our lives and make our planet cleaner and safer. And I want us to push our own human boundaries to reach beyond the divides of race and region, gender and religion that keep us from seeing the best in each other.

Sometimes we have to send our young men and women into war and other dangerous situations to protect our country-but when we do, I want to make sure that it is only for a very good reason, that we try our best to settle our differences with others peacefully, and that we do everything possible to keep our servicemen and women safe. And I want every child to understand that the blessings these brave Americans fight for are not free-that with the great privilege of being a citizen of this nation comes great responsibility.

That was the lesson your grandmother tried to teach me when I was your age, reading me the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence and telling me about the men and women who marched for equality because they believed those words put to paper two centuries ago should mean something.

She helped me understand that America is great not because it is perfect but because it can always be made better-and that the unfinished work of perfecting our union falls to each of us. It's a charge we pass on to our children, coming closer with each new generation to what we know America should be.

I hope both of you will take up that work, righting the wrongs that you see and working to give others the chances you've had. Not just because you have an obligation to give something back to this country that has given our family so much-although you do have that obligation. But because you have an obligation to yourself. Because it is only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize your true potential.

These are the things I want for you-to grow up in a world with no limits on your dreams and no achievements beyond your reach, and to grow into compassionate, committed women who will help build that world. And I want every child to have the same chances to learn and dream and grow and thrive that you girls have. That's why I've taken our family on this great adventure.

I am so proud of both of you. I love you more than you can ever know. And I am grateful every day for your patience, poise, grace, and humor as we prepare to start our new life together in the White House.


Love, Dad
 
That was the best part of the whole show. Interesting

Biden tries to shush wife after state-VP slip

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – Joe Biden's wife said Monday that he had his pick of being Barack Obama's running mate or the secretary of state nomination that eventually went to Hillary Rodham Clinton, a slip that the vice president-elect immediately tried to shush.

Jill Biden's comment came during an appearance with her husband on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," taped at Washington's Kennedy Center on the eve of the inauguration.

"Joe had the choice to be secretary of state or vice president," she said. Her husband turned to his wife with his finger to his lips and a "Shhhh!" that sent the audience into laughter. "OK, he did," Jill Biden said in her defense.

The vice president-elect blushed, grimaced and gave his wife a hug while the audience continued to erupt in laughter. "That's right," he finally said to his wife. "Go ahead."

Mrs. Biden said she told him vice president would be better for the family.

"If you're secretary of state, you'll be away, we'll never see you, you know," she said. "I'll see you at a state dinner once in a while."

After the exchange aired on television three hours later, Biden spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander denied Jill Biden's account in a statement e-mailed to reporters.

"To be clear, President-elect Obama offered Vice President-elect Biden one job only — to be his running mate," the statement said. "And the vice president-elect was thrilled to accept the offer."

While the statement denies that Obama ever offered Biden the secretary of state job, it doesn't rule out that the two discussed the possibility. Obama's transition office did not respond to questions about their private discussions.

Clinton's spokesman declined to comment about the suggestion that she was the second choice.

Joe Biden said he didn't immediately take the vice presidential offer since he wasn't sure it was the best place for him to serve. But Biden, who ran against Obama in the Democratic primary race, said he agreed after getting some assurances from Obama about his role.

"This is a partnership," Biden said. "He's president of the United States, but as I said to him when he asked me, I said, `Barack, don't ask me unless the reason you're asking me is you're asking me for my judgment. I get to be the last guy in the room when you make every important decision. You're president. Any decision you make, I will back.'

"He said he wanted to have a confidant and somebody who wouldn't be a yes man. He's pretty sure about that last part," Biden said with a laugh.

Alexander's statement said, "Like anyone who followed the presidential campaign this summer, Dr. Jill Biden knew there was a chance that President-elect Obama might ask her husband to serve in some capacity and that, given his background, the positions of vice president and secretary of state were possibilities. Dr. Biden's point to Oprah today was that being vice president would be a better fit for their family because they would get to see him more and get to participate in serving more."
 
I know it has only been a day or so


But, I will give Obama credit for more change than I expected.

It will be interesting to see how all this plays out.
 
I know it has only been a day or so


But, I will give Obama credit for more change than I expected.

It will be interesting to see how all this plays out.

While I've always liked Obama, I didn't expect him to get things moving so fast, if at all.

So I'm pleasantly surprised and have high hopes for the next few weeks.
 
Martha, I'm unbelievably jealous. I'm thinking of emigrating :up:
 
Back
Top Bottom