Today: Congress Being Sworn In, Biden At The Senate
This is the day that Congress will be sworn in. Joe Biden will be on Capitol Hill to be sworn in again for a seventh term in the Senate -- which he will resign within the next two weeks or so, to become vice president.

The Big Event: Burris At The Senate
With Congress being sworn in, of course, this means Roland Burris will be showing up at the Senate, and is expected to be turned away. Burris has said he won't make a scene or cause any confrontation -- but any scenario in which he's turned away from the door would inherently be a scene, no matter how civil it might be.

No Senator Franken Today
Senate Democrats will not make any attempt today to swear in Al Franken as the new Senator from Minnesota, instead leaving that seat vacant for now. There is some speculation that they might be planing to try it soon -- but they would encounter a promised Republican filibuster, while Norm Coleman pursues his legal challenges to the election result.

Obama Meeting With Economic Team Today
Barack Obama is meeting with his economic team, this afternoon at his D.C. transition office. The subject of the meeting will be to plan ahead for the 2010 budget, and how they will bring the deficit down as the economy recovers.

Gregoire D.C. Trip Sets Off Speculation About Commerce Department
Gov. Christine Gregoire (D-WA) is reportedly on a trip to Washington, after having cancelled a lunch appearance back home -- setting off speculation that she is being vetted as a last-minute choice for Secretary of Commerce after Bill Richardson's withdrawal. Gregoire was re-elected by six points this past November, and if this is true she would be succeeded by Democratic Lt. Gov. Brad Owen. (Late Update: Gregoire is visiting troops in Iraq, and is apparently not lining up for a cabinet post.)

Laura Bush Lands Book Deal
Laura Bush has secured a book deal, to publish her memoirs about her years as First Lady. The book will be published in 2010.

Former eBay Head And McCain Surrogate Preparing California Gubernatorial Run
Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, who hit the campaign trail in 2008 as a surrogate for John McCain, is considering a campaign for governor of California in 2010, when Arnold Schwarzenegger will be term-limited. Whitman has already made a key staff hire in lining up campaign strategist Jeff Randle, who has worked for Schwarzenegger and Pete Wilson, and she has stepped down from three corporate boards.

Brownback Running For Governor Of Kansas
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) has filed paperwork to run for governor of Kansas in 2010, after having made good on his previous pledge to not run again for Senate. Brownback is actively aligned with the state GOP's Christian-right faction, and should be viewed as the frontrunner going into this race.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's strategy of governing like a Democrat in order to suck the oxygen out of Dem Phil Angelides's campaign looks like it's working — or so says the Los Angeles Times. The paper today says that Angelides only has one Hail-Mary option left — tie Schwarzenegger to President Bush. California Dems seem to agree: the party has just released a new ad which repeats the mantra that Schwarzenegger and Bush are a two-headed creature without explaining why this should matter to Californians in substantive terms. One cause for optimism: the ad was initially launched in the Monterey area, and there was an increase in poll numbers for Angelides there. Now the ad's running statewide, so we'll see what happens next.

At this point there's really no longer any doubt that Arnold Schwarzenegger is solidifying his hold on the California electorate by playing a Republican governor on TV while in reality enacting Democratic policies which suck the air out of his opponents' attacks on him. The latest example? An elaborate ceremony surrounding his signing of a minimum-wage increase. Arnold took great care to stage it in the midst of a Latino neighborhood marketplace. The Los Angeles Times reports that Arnold went out of his way to make sure the photo op was just right, asking the assembled reporters, "You guys have enough lights?"

Arnold Schwarzenegger is either doing serious work shoring up the conservative base, or he really thinks there's nothing wrong with homphobia in public schools. He has just "vetoed a Democratic bill that would have prohibited schools from teaching anything that `reflects advserely' on people because of their sexual orientation," the L.A. Times reports. The move appears to be designed to bolster conservative support at a time when he has been compromising with Democrats on everything from the minimum wage to global warming, but Arnold's campaign manager denies that's the reason behind the veto.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who's facing a tough re-election fight with state Treas. Phil Angelides, appears to have hit on a strategy for victory: He's essentially adopting virtually the entire Dem agenda in California, presumably to deprive Angelides of any issues to run on. Yesterday, for instance, Schwarzenegger compromised on the minimum wage with the Democratic Legislature. Today he followed that up with an agreement to lower the prices of prescription drugs.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger racks up three big Hollywood execs who normally give tons of cash to Dems: Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and media mogul Haim Saban.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger betrayed some confusion over his exact campaign strategy late last week, displaying just how hard it is to model oneself as a high-minded bipartisan in the midst of a tight reelection race.

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