Barack Obama’s Leadership Paradox

Barack Obama has assumed the Presidency.  Might we say he has transcended the transition?  He will not take the oath of office until January 20, 2009 – but Barack Obama is the President in everything but title.  Obama has assumed the leadership role in America and around the world.  And the paradox of Obama centers […]

Fix Pick: Brooks on the Transition

New York Times columnist David Brooks is reassured by the people with whom President-elect Obama has chosen to surround himself. (By Linda Davidson — The Washington Post) Amid the chaos of Cabinet picks and the whirl of White House staff announcements over the past week, it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture. That […]

The Inauguration: Planning Team Taking Shape

By Katharine Q. Seelye Barack Obama began preparing for his transition to the White House several months ago, and formally established his transition office right after his election. But the team planning his inaugural, set for Jan. 20, is just starting to take shape. One person who is expected to play a prominent role on […]

Obama – Focal Point of Mature Stability

This election was tough.  Hard hitting, loud, boisterous, negative, slanderous, and sometimes mean spirited.  All of us have enjoyed and distressed over the emotional roller coaster.  This was better than any Hitchcock thriller – if tense excitement is what you like.  But the election is over and we are seeing the emotional aftermath.  We can […]

Hillary Clinton ‘outstanding:’ Kissinger

by Mark Silva They don’t call Henry Kissinger a seasoned diplomat for nothing. The former secretary of state and veteran of Republican administrations said today that Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, under consideration for secretary of state in the administration of Democratic President-elect Barack Obama, would make “an outstanding appointment” and display “great courage” […]

Obama Announces More White House Picks

Two of these we sort of knew: Ron Klain will become Vice President Joe Biden’s chief of staff and Valerie Jarrett, longtime friend and confidante of both Barack and Michelle Obama, will have the title Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison (which looks like a very broad troubleshooting […]

Obama weighing idea of “auto czar,” aide says

CHICAGO (Reuters) – President-elect Barack Obama is considering naming a point person to lead efforts to help the distressed auto industry return to health, an Obama aide said on Thursday. General Motors Corp, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler LLC are seeking a federal bailout of up to $50 billion. Automakers and Democratic congressional leaders have […]

Obama’s Fascinating Interview with Cathleen Falsani

Tuesday November 11, 2008 The most detailed and fascinating explication of Barack Obama’s faith came in a 2004 interview he gave Chicago Sun Times columnist Cathleen Falsani when he was running for U.S. Senate in Illinois. The column she wrote about the interview has been quoted and misquoted many times over, but she’d never before […]

Obama’s “number 1 priority”

– Peter Barnes is an entrepreneur and writer whose books include Who Owns The Sky? and Climate Solutions: A Citizen’s Guide. The views expressed are his own. – By Peter Barnes A few days before the election, Barack Obama told Time’s Joe Klein: Finding the new driver of our economy is going to be critical. […]

Sarah Palin: Obama articulated change

Posted November 11, 2008 9:45 AM by Mark Silva The view from Sarah Palin’s kitchen: She would have been happy to speak out for herself more during the presidential campaign. President-elect Barack Obama did “a great job” of speaking for himself, the Republican Party’s vice presidential nominee said in an interview with Matt Lauer of […]

Obama Drives the American Mini Van

Barack Obama has taken the reins, he is behind the wheel, with a delicate foot on the gas pedal.  The American family Mini Van is on a new journey.  With President-Elect Obama at the wheel, Rahm Emanuel riding shotgun, and the back of the van is loaded with the children of an American President. This […]

Obama’s aides: Race not their question

by Mark Silva President-elect Barack Obama’s closest campaign advisers suggest that one of their successes was not becoming obsessed with any question of race, CBS News’ 60 Minutes will report Sunday evening. “Not getting obsessed about Barack Obama’s race was one of the secrets” of a campaign that will deliver the first African American president […]

Obama and Sustainable Solutions

President Elect Obama must govern from the center if he is to have a lasting legacy.  What does this mean?  Simply put, solutions to problems must be sustainable over time.  Solutions which are overturned with changes of political party are not useful or productive.  Legacies are built on centrist resolutions to problems. Let’s look at […]

This Election Was Personal – And Angry

This election was exhausting.  The campaigns were passionate in a time when deep fears griped each of us.  Even George Bush supporters believe he was treated unfairly by world events beyond his control – but those events happened to all of us.  All of us, Americans and our fellow earthly citizens, have been deeply impacted […]

McCain’s Concession Speech

Here is John McCain’s concession speech.  He is and always will be one of the most influential people in America. MCCAIN: Thank you. Thank you, my friends. Thank you for coming here on this beautiful Arizona evening. My friends, we have — we have come to the end of a long journey. The American people […]

Finally, An Intellectual Moral President

Barack Obama is the President-elect. We should say that again: Barack Obama is the President-elect. It has been a long time.  We in America can be proud of ourselves.  Barack Obama is scholarly, educated in constitutional law, intellectually curious, a master communicator, and possesses the moral values of Ghandi, the wisdom of Solomon, and the […]

To The Mountaintop

By Joe Klein Word comes that Barack Obama’s grandmother has died. The timing is ridiculous. But think, for a moment, if you will of Madelyn Dunham, a white woman from Kansas, strolling the aisle of a supermarket, or having lunch in a coffee shop, with her grandson–way back at the turn of the 1970s, when […]

Redneck Gazette – Obama Gonna Win

Redneck Gazette Election Prediction Obama Gonna Be President McCain Goes Home It looks like this here election is a done deal. That fella from Illinois attracted most of the people. And we can tell you why. Because he did a better job – that is why. Some folks around here talked about him being a […]

Washington Post Daily Tracking

Daily Tracking > If the 2008 presidential election were being held today, for whom would you vote? (Among likely voters) Highlights 56% of likely voters say they think Obama‘s views on most issues are about right. 42% of likely voters say they think McCain‘s views on most issues are about right. NOTE: Movable voters are […]

Obama Nation or Abomination

Well, what is it – ObamaNation or Abomination.  These seem to be the prevailing viewpoints of Americans, the prevailing choices for America.  We will either have an abomination – (nasty and disgusting, great hatred and disgust). Or an Obama Nation – (hope and optimism, charming and intelligent).  Which is it? If we look at the […]

Barack Obama – The Color of Water

These are troubling times of war and of economic despair. Yet there is a sense of hope. 50 million people in this country lack health care. Yet there is a sense of hope. We speak of immigration as if we are talking about cattle. Yet there is a sense of hope. Hope transcends troubles. Hope […]

Obama 30 Minute Video

McCain has a Plumber; Obama has an Army

Or, rather, an Air Force pilot: The convention in Denver was Mr. Finan’s introduction to big-time politics, and he quickly found himself doing broadcast interviews for the first time. Between events he and about 25 other Iraq and Afghanistan veterans became like a small platoon. They slept on supporters’ floors. They hung out. And they […]

Axelrod: Obama TV Show to Focus on ‘Where He Wants to Lead’

By Robert Barnes NORFOLK — Barack Obama’s 30-minute informercial airing Wednesday night will feature vignettes of people and families whom Obama has met during his nearly two-year campaign, and it will include a live component from a campaign rally in Florida, campaign sources said tonight. “Barack Obama: American Stories” is the name of the unusual […]

Evangelicals on Nov. 4: Four Predictions

One week until Election Day. Time to start making predictions on the basis of the Faith and Values story lines we have been pursuing since the Summer of 2007. Today, the Evangelicals (tomorrow Jews): A higher percentage of Evangelicals will vote for Obama than voted for Kerry: I would mortgage the house on this one […]