The Republican Party is starting to react to the recent actions of Chip Saltsman, a candidate for the RNC chairmanship who sent a gift bag to committee members that included a CD with a satirical song called "Barack The Magic Negro." Not surprisingly the reaction has been mostly negative -- but not entirely:

• The current RNC chairman Mike Duncan, who is seeking re-election against a wide field of challengers, was quick to condemn Saltsman. Duncan declared that the 2008 election was a "wake-up call for Republicans to reach out and bring more people into our party," and that he was "shocked and appalled" that anyone would think this was appropriate.

• Michigan GOP chairman Saul Anuzis, who is also a candidate, said the CD was in bad taste. "Just as important, Anuzis said, "anything that paints the GOP as being motivated in our criticism of President-elect Obama by anything other than a difference in philosophy does a disservice to our party."

• Interestingly enough, Saltsman does have one prominent defender in rival RNC candidate Ken Blackwell, one of two black contenders for the chairmanship, who blamed "hypersensitivity in the press regarding matters of race." Blackwell also added: "When looked at in the proper context, these concerns are minimal."

Duncan and Anuzis have some obvious reasons to condemn Saltsman, besides basic morality: They would want to simultaneously show they can take the moral high ground, while also discrediting one of their rivals. As for Blackwell: If Saltsman implodes, his supporters might just appreciate Blackwell having stuck up for their guy.

Blagojevich: The Tapes Show Me Fighting For Illinois
On Friday, Rod Blagojevich defended himself from the idea that his wiretapped conversations show him engaged in anything improper. "Even in this process, without saying too much, that was all about trying to end up with the right decision that could do the most things for the people of Illinois, and when the full truth is told, you will see precisely that," said Blagojevich. "If somehow that's impeachable, then I'm on the wrong planet and I'm living in the wrong place."

Obama's Vacation Hit By Blackout
The Hawaiian island of Oahu, the site of the Obama family's vacation, was hit by a massive blackout that affected its roughly 900,000 residents. Power is coming back around the island, but the neighborhood hosting Obama is unlikely to come back online until later today.

Obama Slips Away From Press Pool
Barack Obama managed to get away from the traveling press pool that has been tracking his every move during his Hawaiian vacation, taking his daughters and other family and friends to Sea Life Park. His escape wasn't complete though -- CNN says they saw the amusement park outing.

Caroline: If I'm Not Appointed, I Won't Run In 2010
In an interview with NY1, Caroline Kennedy said that if she is not appointed to Hillary Clinton's Senate seat by Gov. David Paterson, then she won't run in the 2010 special election. Instead, she will support whoever Paterson ends up appointing.

Obama Aide: No Pre-Inaugural Visit To Iraq
The Obama transition team has quashed speculation that Obama might visit Iraq before he takes office. A transition spokesman said definitively that there are no plans to go to Iraq before January 20.

Ohio Asks For Billions In Stimulus
With Barack Obama promoting a stimulus plan estimated at $800 billion, states and localities are lining up asking for help in meeting their own budgetary needs -- and the big industrial state of Ohio is certainly no exception. The Washington Post reports that Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland left this amusing voicemail with Rahm Emanuel, his former Congressional colleague: "Rahm, it's Ted. You've never failed me and I need $5 billion."

Washington Doesn't Invite New York Police To Help With Inauguration
The New York Times reports that New York police were never asked to help patrol the inauguration of Barack Obama, even though thousands police of police are coming from around the country. A spokeswoman for the D.C. Metropolitan Police said they assumed New York wasn't interested because they didn't want to participate back in 2005 -- while an NYPD spokesman says they weren't asked in 2005, either.

It's been an interesting day for Caroline Kennedy, giving interviews to two separate media outlets in which she made some, well, interesting pronouncements.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Kennedy acknowledged the unusual nature of her current effort to be appointed to Hillary Clinton's Senate seat. "I came into this thinking I have to work twice as hard as anybody else," said Caroline. "I am an unconventional choice."

On the other hand, she said that her public push to get the seat is not a political campaign -- after all, the decision all comes down to one man, Gov. David Paterson -- but is instead a matter of accountability to the public. "If I were to be selected," she said, "I understand that public servants have to be accessible."

Separately, in an interview with NY1, Kennedy rebutted the comparison that Dem Congressman Gary Ackerman made this past weekend, likening her to Jennifer Lopez.

"I admire the journey J. Lo has traveled," said Kennedy. "I've been to a school in the Bronx near the house she grew up in and so I actually have a lot of admiration for her and she looks pretty good but in terms of public policy and as we spend our adults lives and I don't think there is really much we have in common."

And here's what she had to say about the criticism regarding her record of missing elections in New York Democratic primaries: "I was dismayed by my voting record."

As President Bush gets ready to leave office, a new CNN poll lays out the extent to which the American people despise him.

CNN asked respondents whether various positive attributes applied to President Bush. In all cases the answer was No, and in most cases it was overwhelming. The list just goes on and on:

Thinking about the following characteristics and qualities, please say whether you think it applies or doesn't apply to George W. Bush:

Is a strong and decisive leader: Yes 45%, No 55%

Cares about people like you: Yes 37%, No 62%

Brought the kind of change the country needed: Yes 13%, No 86%

Is honest and trustworthy: Yes 37%, No 62%

Managed the government effectively: Yes 25%, No 75%

Is a person you admire: Yes 27%, No 72%

Shares your values: Yes 34%, No 65%

Generally agrees with you on issues you care about: Yes 34%, No 66%

Inspires confidence: Yes 20%, No 80%

Has united the country and not divide it: Yes 17%, No 82%

Was tough enough for the job: Yes 49%, No 51%

Can get things done: Yes 31%, No 69%

On top of this, 75% say they are glad Bush is leaving office, compared to only 23% who say they'll miss him. And 66% want him to get out of public life, with 33% saying he should remain active.

If one of the Republican Party's challenges is how to effectively oppose the first black president without coming off as racist, one of the candidates for RNC chair is hardly off to a good start -- he is now distributing a CD that includes a racially-charged song called "Barack, The Magic Negro."

Chip Saltsman, the former campaign manager for Mike Huckabee, has distributed a goodie bag to committee members that includes a CD by Paul Shanklin, a writer of right-wing parody tunes who is often featured on Rush Limbaugh. The "Magic Negro" track, which first gathered controversy in the Spring of 2007, featured Shanklin portraying Al Sharpton as an Amos & Andy stereotype, ridiculing white liberals who support Obama.

Saltsman defended the choice of the Shanklin CD, telling The Hill: "Paul Shanklin is a long-time friend, and I think that RNC members have the good humor and good sense to recognize that his songs for the Rush Limbaugh show are light-hearted political parodies."

The Boston Globe reports that the Obama team is being careful to take a very different approach to health care reform than Bill and Hillary Clinton did in 1993 and 1994, mainly avoiding one big mistake: The Clintons' virtual exclusion of Congress from policy deliberation.

Instead, the new White House is going to lay out parameters of what they want done, and then let Congressional leaders do the actual work of writing a bill that is acceptable to the members. A key player in this will be Tom Daschle, who served in the Senate during the failure of the Clintons' bill in 1994, and will now work with his former colleagues in Congress in his new role as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

"Congress did not want to be told what to do," said Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), who is planning to take a key role in the upcoming health efforts. "They're very cognizant of that and they don't want to make the same mistake."

Poll: Plurality Says Obama Most Admired Man Living Today
A new USA Today/Gallup poll shows Barack Obama continuing to have high personal ratings, with 32% naming him the most admired man living today. Trailing way behind were George W. Bush at 5%, John McCain with 3%, and Pope Benedict XVI, Billy Graham and Bill Clinton tied at 2% each.

Hillary The Most Admired Woman, Followed By Palin
The same poll showed Hillary Clinton to be the most admired woman living today, at 20%. Sarah Palin is at 11%, Oprah Winfrey 8%, Condoleezza Rice 7%, and Michelle Obama 3%.

Obama Staying Out Of Public Eye On Hawaii Vacation
Barack Obama has stayed out of the public eye during his family's trip to Hawaii -- or least he has done so as much as possible. During a visit to a golf range on Sunday, Obama told photographers snapping off pictures: "Come on... How many shots do you need?"

Obama Visited Troops On Christmas
Barack Obama visited Marine Corps Base Hawaii yesterday, greeting troops and their families on Christmas. The stop lasted for more than an hour.

Obama Sets New Record For Speaking To Prosecutors
The New York Times points out that because of the Blagojevich scandal, Barack Obama appears to have set a new record for a president giving an interview with prosecutors -- in this case, before he even takes office. "With no known legal exposure himself, of course, that was an easier decision for Mr. Obama," the Times says.

Hillary's Appointment Could Deprive Dems Of Fundraising Machine
The Hill reports that Hillary Clinton's move to the State Department could deprive Democratic candidates of a prolific fundraising machine, due to a combination of legal restrictions and cultural taboos against a Secretary of State raising money for politicians. Indeed, Hillary's fundraising might continued well past her presidential candidacy, bringing in $1.2 million for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee alone.

D.C. Adds More Inauguration Parking For Buses
D.C. officials have decided to allow an estimated 10,000 charter buses to park inside the city during the inauguration, so as to accommodate the rush of tourists and lessen the burden on public transit. This is double the amount of buses they'd previously been willing to let in.

Norm Coleman just got a Christmas present from the Minnesota Supreme Court: A giant lump of coal.

In a unanimous decision handed down just now, the state Supremes denied Coleman any relief in a lawsuit he was waging to deal with allegations of double-counted absentee ballots, which his campaign says have given an illegitimate edge to Al Franken. The Coleman campaign was seeking to switch 25 selected precincts back to their Election Night totals, which would undo all of Franken's recount gains in those areas and put Coleman back in the lead.

The court, however, sided with the Franken camp's lawyers in saying that a question like this should be reserved for a post-recount election contest proceeding, as the proper forum to discover evidence -- and which also has a burden of proof that heavily favors the certified winner.

Simply put, Coleman is in very big trouble right now. With Al Franken leading by 47 votes, this lawsuit was Coleman's best shot at coming from behind. And it just failed, making a Franken win nearly a foregone conclusion when this recount finishes up in early January.

Late Update: The Coleman campaign's lead lawyer Fritz Knaak says the court's decision today "virtually guarantees that this will be decided in an election contest." So say hello to some messy litigation. But at the point where we go into an election contest, the chances of a Coleman victory are really slim to none.

The Minnesota Supreme Court has granted a request from the Franken and Coleman campaigns to approve a framework for counting wrongly-rejected absentee ballots -- including an extension of the process into the first week of January, guaranteeing that this recount will last a little while longer.

The reason for the extension itself is that the campaigns and local officials needed to find ways to preserve ballot secrecy in counties that might have only one or two rejected absentees, choosing to forward all the accepted ballots on to a general statewide pile that keeps the origins of individual votes private. But the process still has the peculiarities inherent in the court's decision from last week.

The court's latest order specifies that local officials sort out ballots that don't qualify under any of the four legal reasons for rejecting a ballot, and then still gives the campaigns final approval over the inclusion of any individual envelopes. This would mean campaigns are faced with ballots that truly appear to be legal, but still have the unilateral power to reject them.

It still seems like the most logical outcome is for hardly any votes to be counted at all.

It looks like the Democrats won't be moving quickly on one particular issue that is favored by many in the party base, Roll Call reports: Repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and allowing gays to openly serve in the military.

"It ought to be re-examined and it ought to be on the agenda, but it shouldn't be very high on the agenda," said Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI). "There are just too many other more important things to do."

A cautious non-approach to this was also supported by Brad Luna, communications director for the Human Rights Campaign, the country's largest gay-rights group. "There is a strategically correct way to go about this," said Luna. "This policy has been in place for a number of years. It's not going to be repealed overnight."

So if the Minnesota recount isn't settled by Jan. 6, the date that the new Senators will be sworn in, will the state be stuck with only one Senator until the mess is finally sorted out?

It now appears likely that the answer to that is yes, the Star Tribune reports, after Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty's office looked into the possibility of making an interim appointment.

A Pawlenty spokesman told the paper, "it appears the governor only has the authority to appoint in the case of a permanent vacancy and this situation likely wouldn't apply."

Barack Obama just released this new Presidential YouTube Address, a Christmas greeting that is geared towards reassuring the public during a tough economic period:

These are also tough times for many Americans struggling in our sluggish economy. As we count the higher blessings of faith and family, we know that millions of Americans don't have a job. Many more are struggling to pay the bills or stay in their homes. From students to seniors, the future seems uncertain.

That is why this season of giving should also be a time to renew a sense of common purpose and shared citizenship. Now, more than ever, we must rededicate ourselves to the notion that we share a common destiny as Americans - that I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper. Now, we must all do our part to serve one another; to seek new ideas and new innovation; and to start a new chapter for our great country.

Today: Possible Ruling From Minnesota Supreme Court
The Minnesota Supreme Court could possibly hand down a key ruling today in the Senate recount, relating to a lawsuit by Norm Coleman that alleges the double-counting of a small but potentially consequential number of absentee ballots. The Coleman campaign's requested remedy is to go back to the Election Night totals in 25 targeted precincts -- which would also undo any recount gains that Al Franken made in these areas, putting Coleman back in the lead.

Obama Attends Memorial For Late Grandmother
Barack Obama attended a memorial service yesterday for his late grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, who died the day before he was elected to the presidency. The Obama family and their friends scattered Dunham's ashes at an ocean overlook called the Lanai Lookout, the same spot where Obama scattered his mother's ashes.

Poll: Sky-High Ratings For Obama Transition, Cabinet Appointments
A new CNN poll has Barack Obama's at an 82% approval rating for how he's handled his transition, with 80% approving of his cabinet choices. Only 11% rated the cabinet picks as below average or poor, with 32% saying they are average, 38% saying they are above average, and 18% saying they're outstanding.

More New York Dems Coming Out Against Caroline Kennedy
The New York Times reports that more New York Democrats are voicing their opposition to appointing Caroline Kennedy to the Senate, due to factors ranging from an overly-aggressive publicity campaign to her refusal to commit to supporting the Democratic nominee against Mike Bloomberg next year. "If I were the governor, I would look and question whether this is the appointment I would want to make, whether her first obligation might be to the mayor of the City of New York rather than the governor who would be appointing her," said state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

Denver Mayor: I Want Salazar's Senate Seat
John Hickenlooper, the mayor of Denver and a former businessman, has now confirmed that he is interested in the appointment to Ken Salazar's Senate seat and has spoken to Dem Gov. Bill Ritter about the opening. Polling has suggested that Hickenlooper would run well statewide, but Ritter also has a lot of other choices in a state that has swung strongly to the Democrats.

Corzine Calls For $1 Trillion Stimulus Over Two Years
New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) has a new op-ed piece in the Washington Post, advocating an aggressive stimulus package totaling $1 trillion over two years. "This is a large sum," Corzine writes, "but if the spending is executed effectively, it should be a significant investment in our country's physical and human resources that will pay long-term dividends while also creating and saving jobs."

Obamas And Bidens To Appear At Ten Officials Inaugural Balls
Barack Obama, Joe Biden and their wives are now set to appear at a total of ten official balls to celebrate the inauguration, though it will just be to briefly stop by and wave to the crowds of well-wishers. This is less than Bill Clinton's 14 balls in 1997, greater than George W. Bush's eight from 2001, and equal to the number Ronald Reagan attended in 1985.

Poll: Blago The "Naughtiest" Politician This Year
A new pre-Christmas CNN poll asked respondents which politician has been the "naughtiest" this year, from among three choices and with their offenses listed. The winner, and by a landslide: Rod Blagojevich at 56%, followed by Eliot Spitzer with 23%, and John Edwards at 19%.

Minnesota Public Radio reports that a major breakthrough has taken place in the ongoing fight over wrongly-rejected absentee ballots in the Senate recount, which could potentially have a big impact on who wins -- or perhaps not.

The campaigns have submitted a plan to the state Supreme Court, in compliance with the court's very muddled opinion from last week, laying out a framework under which the two campaigns would come to an agreement about whether particular ballots were rejected fairly or unfairly, and then send them to the Secretary of State to be counted. In other words, the campaigns both have to consent to forwarding any single absentee ballot on to the Secretary of State, based on how they look on the outside and without knowing who the vote is for -- though they could probably infer a few things based on what part of the state the ballot is from.

And there's one more catch: The agreement would continue into the first week of January, even though the court called for a plan that would conclude in December.

Read more »

The Obama transition team has now released its much-awaited internal report on staff contacts with Rod Blagojevich and his own office, saying that members of the transition team did not behave improperly.

The report confirms one thing that has been widely reported -- that Rahm Emanuel did speak to Rod Blagojevich's chief of staff John Harris about a list of acceptable candidates for Obama's Senate seat. But beyond that it makes very clear that no sort of corrupt deal was ever discussed:

Mr. Harris did not make any effort to extract a personal benefit for the Governor in any of these conversations. There was no discussion of a cabinet position, of 501c(4), of a private sector position or of any other personal benefit to the Governor in exchange for the Senate appointment.

Although Mr. Emanuel recalls having conversations with the President-Elect, with David Axelrod and with Valerie Jarrett about who might possibly succeed the President-Elect in the Senate, there was no mention of efforts by the Governor or his staff to extract a personal benefit in return for filling the Senate vacancy.

Beyond that, the report says that neither Barack Obama himself, nor Valerie Jarrett or David Axelrod had any conversations with Blago or his staff about the Senate seat.

The report also gets into Obama friend Eric Whitaker, saying he had a conversation shortly after the election with a Blagojevich aide, who wanted to know who spoke for Obama on the Senate seat:

The President-Elect told Dr. Whitaker that no one was authorized to speak for him on the matter. The President-Elect said that he had no interest in dictating the result of the selection process, and he would not do so, either directly or indirectly through staff or others. Dr. Whitaker relayed that information to Deputy Governor Peters.

Late Update: Another key nugget from the report is that Obama has spoken to the feds about this, in addition to Jarrett and Rahm.

In the state Supreme Court hearings just now in Minnesota, regarding the Coleman campaign's allegations that a small number of damaged absentee ballots were copied and then double-counted in the recount, the Franken campaign made a striking accusation: That the implications of the Coleman camp's suit would mean the entire recount itself would be delegitimized, and would have be to run all over again.

At issue was the fact that the Coleman campaign has only picked 25 specific precincts where they say problems happened, and where they want the totals to be put back to the Election Night numbers to compensate for the alleged damage -- a change, by the way, that would just so happen to wipe out Al Franken's current lead and put Norm Coleman back ahead.

"All 4,001 precincts would have to be re-canvassed," said Franken lawyer William Pentelovitch. "They've cherry-picked what they want to look at."

At heart here is the issue of equal protection, which would seem to be violated by triggering a review of just 25 precincts for a problem that would have happened elsewhere, too. "I don't want to use the names of two former candidates for the presidency," Pentelovitch said. "But yes, that's the problem."

Later on, Coleman lawyer Roger Magnuson said this inquiry can legitimately be confined to just those 25 precincts: "Most election judges did this right. Most didn't make mistakes."

During a brief Q and A with reporters at the economic briefing today, Joe Biden said in the strongest terms that the upcoming internal report from the Obama transition team, covering any contacts with Rod Blagojevich or his staff, will show that they have nothing to worry about:

Q: Sir, will the Blagojevich report exonerate the transition team?

A: I don't think there's anything to exonerate. There's-- ah --it's been clear that the President-elect has had no contact with Blagojevich and/or anyone on his team that he's asserted, and you'll soon find out in the release today that there has been no inappropriate contact by any member of the Obama staff or the transition team with Blagojevich, and I think the report you'll see will reflect that this afternoon.

The report is due out at 4:30 p.m. ET today.

Another poll out today shows that Caroline Kennedy remains the favorite for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat, but at the same time there is serious division about whether she should get it.

The new numbers from Quinnipiac: Among all registered voters in New York, 33% say Gov. David Paterson should name Kennedy to the seat, edging out state Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo at 29%. Among Democrats only, it's Kennedy 41% to Cuomo 27%. On top of that, New Yorkers expect that Kennedy will get the seat by a 48%-25%.

On the other hand, the poll isn't all good news for her: Only 40% of respondents said she is qualified to be a U.S. Senator, with 41% saying she is not. And Andrew Cuomo has a better favorable-unfavorable rating of 55%-11%, compared to Kennedy's 46%-17%.

It simply doesn't end in Minnesota. Just as the state canvassing board was meeting this morning to review and perhaps even approve the new vote totals showing Al Franken ahead by 48 votes, the Coleman campaign put forward a new maneuver to try to undo the lead -- or to at least buy time.

Coleman's lawyer Tony Trimble said the campaign wanted to re-argue 16 decisions on disputed ballots that the board had ruled on last week, plus they alleged that 34 ballots for which the challenges had been withdrawn were then wrongly allocated, giving an illegitimate boost to Franken. Note that 16 plus 34 equals 50 -- so if they were to somehow sweep this whole set of arguments, they would just manage to undo Franken's current 48-vote edge.

The board is now recessed, planning to come back in a little while and look at those 16 ballots the Coleman camp wants to reargue. But this also means the Franken campaign will have their own turn at rearguing the disputed ballots where they didn't like the calls -- which will come up at the board's next meeting on December 30...

Late Update: And it didn't work. The board just looked at all 16 ballots, and in all 16 cases declined to take any further action like the Coleman camp wanted. So don't expect the Franken camp to fire back, as lead attorney Marc Elias indicated they didn't want to do so but were prepared to compete. Just to make sure, Dem Sec. of State Mark Ritchie said on the board's behalf that they're not interested in this coming up again.

Late Late Update: The board has now ended their meeting for the day. The 48-vote lead is not yet set in stone, though, as both campaigns have alleged clerical errors in the awarding of some of the ballots. (The Franken camp has listed just a tiny fraction compared to the Coleman campaign's 34 ballots.) That should all be checked again and hopefully resolved by the next meeting on December 30.

Here's another wrinkle in the never-ending Minnesota recount: The Coleman campaign has accused Al Franken of turning the state into a new Florida, but it turns out Coleman's own legal team includes one Benjamin Ginsberg, who served on George W. Bush's legal team during the 2000 recount.

And the Florida recount wasn't the only mess Ginsberg was involved in -- he also served as a legal adviser to the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth back in 2004, and was forced to resign from the Bush re-election campaign after that had been revealed.

This is even funnier when you consider that the Democratic Sec. of State Mark Ritchie said at a press conference this past Friday that he hoped seeing this recount to completion might heal some of the wounds from Florida in 2000, when a recount was stopped.

Today: Obama Team To Release Blago Report
The Obama transition team is expected today to release their internal report on staff communications with Rod Blagojevich and his office, and which is reported to absolve Rahm Emanuel and other staffers from any allegations of impropriety. "You're going to see this is a lot about nothing," a Democratic source told CNN.

Today In Minnesota: New Official Vote Numbers, Plus State Supreme Court Litigation
It's a big day in Minnesota today, with the state canvassing board meeting at 10 a.m. ET to review the new vote totals with the allocation of challenged ballots -- and Al Franken is expected to be ahead by around 48 votes. There will also be a crucial state Supreme Court hearing at 3 p.m. ET, regarding a complaint by the Coleman campaign that some absentee ballots were allegedly counted twice.

Biden Subbing In For Vacationing Obama At Today's Economic Briefing
Joe Biden is holding an economic briefing this morning with a group of top Obama economic advisers, essentially stepping in to provide the image of competent national leadership on the economy while Barack Obama himself is on vacation in Hawaii with his family. The briefing is scheduled for 10:45 a.m. ET, in Washington.

Hillary Seeks Expanded Role At State Dept.
The New York Times reports that Hillary Clinton is seeking an expanded sphere of influence for the State Department, with a higher budget to deal with problems ranging from economic affairs to an expanded role for diplomacy in the post-Bush years. A key appointment she will reportedly be making is that of Jacob Lew, the former White House budget director under Bill Clinton, who will focus on increasing the financial resources for the diplomatic corps.

Obama To Be Sworn In On Lincoln's Bible
The Presidential Inaugural Committee has announced that Barack Obama will be sworn into office upon the same Bible that Abraham Lincoln used at his first inauguration. Obama will be the first president to use this Bible for his swearing-in since Lincoln himself, back in 1861.

The Hill: Economy Going Down, But K Street Doing Just Fine
The Hill reports that the lobbying business is dodging the economic downturn hitting almost everyone else, thanks to the expectation that the new Obama White House will seek broad legislation to deal with the economy and other issues -- thus creating a greater market for lobbyists. "Anytime government gets more active and more involved in your business, you'll look for more help in Washington," said Steve Elmendorf, a lobbyist and former aide to Dick Gephardt.

Amtrak Increases Service For Inauguration Day
Amtrak is boosting its capacity for the Inauguration Day crowd, currently predicted to be about two million, with increased trains for people without hotel reservations to come in for the day, watch the big event, and then go back home.

The Obama transition team is clearly being careful to not leave a void of national leadership on the economy -- or at least the perception of it, during the presidential interregnum -- and are now having Joe Biden pick up the slack during Barack Obama's trip to Hawaii.

Biden will be holding a briefing with Obama's top economic advisers tomorrow, scheduled for 10:45 a.m. ET. The group will be giving opening remarks to the press at the beginning of it, and will be discussing the economic stimulus package that the incoming White House will be submitting to Congress in January.

In the latest piece of evidence that Al Franken is the favorite to win the Minnesota recount, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune has come up with a new number for where this should end up, based on an analysis of a draft state report: Franken ahead by 48 votes, a margin of 0.00164% out of over 2.9 million cast, and at the upper end of the Franken camp's own claim of a 35-50 vote edge.

The official number from the state, with a few more loose ends settled, should be unveiled at the canvass board meeting tomorrow morning. The reason we don't have it already is that both campaigns lodged thousands of challenges during the recount, which took those votes out of the count. But now the withdrawn challenges are finally being fed back into the count, a process that has taken all weekend and through today.

But this won't be the end. There is still continued legal wrangling over the Coleman camp's claim that enough absentee ballots were accidentally double-counted to put Franken artificially ahead -- which the state Supreme Court is hearing tomorrow -- and the Franken camp's long-running issue about an estimated 1,600 absentee ballots that were never counted to begin with. This thing appears on track to last up to the first week of January, if not longer.

The Coleman campaign is now definitely the one playing defense in the interminable Minnesota recount, with its path to victory increasingly narrowing and becoming dependent on winning legal battles in the courts.

To be precise, here's what a Coleman spokesman told reporters: "Our message today is simple and clear: If the balance of this process is completed fairly and legally, Norm Coleman will be in the lead."

They key thing is that each campaign has a pet legal issue here: For Coleman it's the alleged double-counting of a small number of absentee ballots, and for Franken it's the definitely proved non-counting of an even greater number of absentees. The state Supreme Court released a very muddled opinion on Franken's issue last week, after the Coleman camp had sued to stop the counting of wrongly-rejected ballots, and they're scheduled to hear arguments on Coleman's issue tomorrow.

The Coleman campaign maintains that a count that excludes double-counted votes -- something the Franken camp denies has been proven to have happened in the first place -- will make Coleman the victor. But for Coleman to win, he would not only need a big victory on his issue, but he would also need separate legal victories to totally rob Franken of any progress on the other question. And then he would need to accomplish all of this without without provoking a dispute of the election at the Senate itself.

"But if I would have been in charge, I would have wanted to speak to more reporters because that's how you get your message out to the electorate."

-- Sarah Palin, in an interview with Human Events, saying that the biggest mistake from the campaign was that she wasn't allowed to do more interviews.

Katie Couric probably wishes there had been more interviews, too.

(Via Huffington Post)

In an interview with Larry King set to air tonight, Joe Biden defended Barack Obama's selection of Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration:

Barack Obama said you've got to reach out. You've got to reach a hand of friendship across the aisle and across philosophies in this country.

We can't continue to be a red and blue country. We can't be divided like we have been. And he's made good on his promise.

And I would say to the gay and lesbian community, they have nothing to worry about. Barack Obama, every aspect of his life, every aspect of his public life, and every commitment he's made relating to equality for all people, will be things that he will stick with and that they should view this in the spirit in which he offered the opportunity to -- to Mr. Warren.

Biden was also asked about Caroline Kennedy's bid for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat, to which he said he was "a big Caroline Kennedy fan," and defended her against the charge of being a dynasty candidate by saying that anyone who is selected will have to face the voters in 2010. But he also made sure to qualify his statements by saying that he wasn't in the position to tell Gov. David Paterson who he should appoint.

So is Chris Matthews really going to run for Senate from Pennsylvania? Two NBC execs have independently said that they don't believe so, and they think he's sticking around.

NBC News chief Steve Capus said Matthews isn't running: "Well, look, if he were running for office, he wouldn't be on TV."

Meanwhile, MSNBC president Phil Griffin cast doubt on the idea, too. "I've talked to Chris. I think he's going to be here for a long time," Griffin said. "I want him to be here for a long time."

In an interview with the New York Times, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) gave the sort of language we should expect to hear from Republicans over the next four to eight years, denying that Barack Obama has a mandate for genuine policy changes.

"The change that people voted for was a change in management," said Alexander. "If they think the change the country elected them to provide was a lurch to the left, they're in for a big surprise."

The thing is...this just isn't true. There is a mountain of poll data showing that people favor Barack Obama on policy:

• The latest ABC/Washington Post poll finds that 65% of adults support spending $700 billion to stimulate the economy through construction projects, in line with what Obama has proposed. Also, 51% of adults want Obama to make major changes to the health care system soon after taking office, compared to 26% who say he should wait and only 20% who say he shouldn't do it at all.

• A Democracy Corps (D) poll from two and a half weeks ago finds 66% of likely voters saying they support Obama's policies, including 45% strong support.

• A Gallup poll from three weeks ago found 58% saying they supported Obama's infrastructure-based stimulus package.

Expect to hear this line a lot from the GOP over the next four to eight years, that Americans didn't actually support Obama's policies when they voted for him -- no matter how much it gets debunked.

Today: Possible New Vote Numbers From Minnesota
Minnesota could potentially finish today the process of counting the ballots that either campaign had challenged during the course of the recount but later withdrew the challenges, taking them out of the count until now. The Franken campaign has claimed they will be ahead by 35-50 votes when this step in the process is over, while the Coleman camp claims they'll be ahead -- but they've failed to give any specific number range.

Obama In Hawaii, But Still Working
Barack Obama and his family are on their annual vacation in Hawaii, where reporters are getting to see him play golf and go to the beach -- but he's still working on the transition from there. The Los Angeles Times reports that Obama will be joined by Valerie Jarrett.

Obama Team Expected To Release Blago Report Today Or Tomorrow
The Obama transition is expected to release their internal report on the Blagojevich scandal, which will say that Rahm Emanuel only had one single direct contact with Blago and that no deals were discussed for the Senate seat. The release will reportedly come no later than Tuesday.

Inauguration Crowd Estimate Cut In Half
Officials in Washington have cut the estimates of the expected crowd size for Barack Obama's inauguration, originally ranging from four to five million, to around half that size. "The fact is, earlier it was speculation," said city administrator Dan Tangherlini. "Now we're beginning to flesh it out and what the physical capacities of the system are."

WaPo Profiles Obama's Scheduler
The Washington Post has a new profile of Alyssa Mastromonaco, Barack Obama's scheduler during the campaign and his incoming scheduler in the White House, depicting a savvy manager who helped run a massive operation with no room for error, and effectively became Obama's backstage coach through the whole process. "We were so efficient," said Mastromonaco. "That's why the government feels a little weird right now."

Obama's Election Expected To Energize Talk Radio
Republican politicians may have taken a beating last month's elections, but there's one branch of the conservative movement that is expected to see a real resurgence now: Talk radio. Maja Mijatovic, a national media-buying executive, said that even though talk radio usually has a drop-off the year after the election, "I think people are going to tune in more than ever."

Biden Heading Up "White House Task Force On Working Families"
The Obama transition team announced this morning the creation of the "White House Task Force on Working Families," which will be chaired by Joe Biden and also include the Secretaries of Labor, Commerce, and Health and Human Services, plus many other top economic advisers. The task force's goal is to craft policies furthering the areas of education, work/family balance, labor standards and workplace safety, and income and retirement security.

Obama Expands Stimulus Targets To Cope With Rising Unemployment Projections
Barack Obama has reportedly expanded his economic stimulus plan to have a target of creating three million new jobs, up from a prior goal of 2.5 million jobs. However, the New York Times points out that even this would fall short of the projected four million jobs that many economist believe would be lost if no action were taken in an economy that is only getting worse and worse.

Report: Obama Team To Say Rahm Only Spoke With Blago Once
George Stephanopoulos reports that an upcoming internal report from the Obama transition team will say that Rahm Emanuel only had one conversation with Rod Blagojevich, a courtesy call after Rahm was named as White House Chief of Staff. The alleged conversation was mostly about Rahm's own House seat, with only a "passing reference" to the Senate seat and with no deals over it being discussed.

Poll: Public Optimistic About Obama
The new ABC/Washington Post poll finds 68% of adults saying they are optimistic about the policies that Barack Obama will pursue upon taking office, and 65% support a large infrastructure-based economic stimulus plan such as the one he's laid out. In addition, a 51% majority wants him to make major changes to the health care system right after taking office, compared to 26% who say he should wait and only 20% who say he shouldn't do it at all.

Hillary's Debts At $6.4 Million
Hillary Clinton's campaign debt is now $6.4 million, lower than it was at any previous time this year -- and the amount is owed to just 16 specific creditors, the most notable one being Mark Penn. Hillary is in a bit of a race against the clock to get the money paid off, as she will be unable to personally conduct fundraising activities after she is sworn in as Secretary of State.

Cheney On Biden's Rhetoric: "I Don't Take It Seriously"
During an interview aired today on Fox News Sunday, Dick Cheney ridiculed Joe Biden for having attacked Cheney's performance in office, and said it was Biden who doesn't understand the Constitution. "I write that off as campaign rhetoric," said Cheney. "I don't take it seriously. And if he wants to diminish the office of vice president, that's obviously his call."