The president-elect officially nominated Hillary Clinton for secretary of state this morning. Clinton and Barack Obama appeared together at a news conference in Chicago for the announcement. Meanwhile, her husband, former President Bill Clinton, agreed to release the names of 200,000 donors to his presidential library and foundation, a list that includes prominent figures in the Middle East and other parts of the world, in order to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest with his wife’s new role.
Obama’s top picks for national security constitute a “Team of Rivals.” With Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, Robert Gates as defense secretary, and former NATO commander Gen. James Jones as national security adviser, the new team members have a more hawkish record on foreign policy than the president-elect. All, however, will be pushing for a more diplomatic approach than the previous administration.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal may be the GOP’s own superstar. Though he denies he has any plans to run for president in 2012, some see a fight coming among Jindal and other prominent Republicans. Jindal spoke in Iowa last weekend, and former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin are both expected to do the same as they compete for Iowans’ attention. The chief strategist from the McCain campaign said it’s not a question of if Jindal becomes president, but when.
High-paid anchors are getting the pink slip at TV news stations across the country. In a sagging economy, it’s apparently more practical to hire fresh faces (that you can pay less) than to keep the veterans.
Two more Senate races stand between Democrats and a filibuster-proof majority. Democrat Jim Martin came just close enough on Nov. 4 to Georgia Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss to secure a runoff. Dems now hold 58 seats in the Senate; 60 would give them the power to bulldoze legislation past Republican opposition. The other contested seat is in Minnesota between Al Franken and Norm Coleman. The recount is still underway, with Coleman ahead by 270 votes, with each side contesting nearly 3,000 ballots to be reviewed by the board.
Some consensus is emerging on universal health care in America, according to the L.A. Times. Hospitals, doctors, labor unions, major businesses, insurance companies and lawmakers are beginning to agree on what such a system would look like. They wouldn’t drop employer-provided insurance; European-style single-payer systems are “off the table.” And change is needed, according to some leading institutions, including Kaiser-Permanente and Mayo Clinic, because Americans aren’t getting their money’s worth from the current system.
Tags: bobby jindal will be president, democrats nearly filibuster-proof., hillary clinton, keeping gates, obama's national security team, secretary of state, tv anchors fired