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• Ten Republicans To Watch – From Rob Portman to Sarah Palin
  The Fix is spending his Friday ensconced in the Capital Hilton as the Republican National Committee chooses its new leader.
  We took a first crack at this Line right after the 2008 election ended but the picture is significantly clearer today with some stars ascending (former Ohio Rep. Rob Portman) and others waning (California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner).

  To be clear: this Line should not be taken as a proxy for the 2012 Republican presidential race. The goal is rather to highlight ten folks who will play a major role in leading Republicans out of the electoral wilderness in which they currently find themselves.
  ++++++
  Flap would add Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman.

  (tags: GOP)
• Democrat Sen. Claire McCaskill slams House on Stimulus Bill slip-ups
  "Whether it is the National Endowment of the Arts or some of the STD funding or contraceptive funding, all we did was just tee up ammunition for the other side to tear this thing down," McCaskill said. "And I would like to think we are smarter than that. I'm hopeful on the Senate side we will be smarter than that."

  McCaskill chalked up the mistakes to Democrats getting comfortable to life without a Republican president. "There has been such a starvation diet for some of these programs that the appropriators got a little over-anxious in the House. They probably did some things they shouldn't have."

  (tags: economic_stimulus claire_mccaskill)
• Bumps in the Road: Obama's HHS Secretary Nominee Tom Daschle Faces Tax Questions Over Car and Driver
  ABC News has learned that the nomination of former Senator Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., to be President Obama's Secretary of Health and Human Services has hit a traffic snarl on its way through the Senate Finance Committee.

  The controversy deals with a car and driver lent to Daschle by a wealthy Democratic friend, a chauffeur service the former senator used for years without declaring it on his taxes.

  It remains an open question as to whether this is a "speed bump," as a Democratic Senate ally of Daschle put it, or something more damaging.
  ++++++++
  Another Obama nominee with tax problems.

  Good grief…..

  (tags: tom_daschle)
• Schwarzenegger says state Emplyee furloughs also apply to statewide officials – Battle Brewing
  Thousands of state workers who until now have been considered outside Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's furlough order are finding out that he wants to pull them in.

  A Schwarzenegger spokesman told The Bee this afternoon that the governor has sent the necessary documents to the State Controller's Office to furlough employees of state constitutional officers beginning Feb. 6.

  "Upon review of the court rulings, it's clear that the governor has the authority," said Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear. "We have called the constitutional officers to inform them."

  The governor also sent "pay letters" to Controller John Chiang, one of the state's eight constitutional officers, authorizing furloughs and the attendant roughly 10 percent reduction in pay.

  The affected offices are: attorney general/department of justice, superintendent of public instruction/department of education, state controller, state treasurer, secretary of state, lieutenant governor, and board of equalization.

  (tags: ArnoldSchwarzenegger)
• Carly Fiorina Eyeing U.S. Senate? Race Against Barbara Boxer
  Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina is making some moves that strongly suggest she's got her eye on a political future in California — and the buzz is that it may even have something to do with that 2010 race against Democratic U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer.

  Last week, Fiorina — the former leader of the Republican National Committee's 2008 Victory drive and chief adviser to presidential candidate John McCain — emerged, after months out of the presidential 2008 campaign spotlight. This time, she was the new political analyst — and a good one, we may add — on George Stephanopolous' ''This Week'' show, talking up the economy and the Obama stiumulus package.

  (tags: carly_fiorina barbara_boxer)
• GOP Sen. Gregg confirms he could go to Commerce – Changes Balance of Power in the US Senate
  Senator Judd Gregg, the New Hampshire Republican, confirmed this morning that he is being considered by President Obama for the post of Secretary of Commerce. The White House said no decision has been made.

  "I am aware that my name is one of those being considered by the White House for Secretary of Commerce, and am honored to be considered, along with others, for the position," Gregg said in a statement. "Beyond that there is nothing more I can say at this time.”

  Democratic sources separately also confirmed that Gregg is being considered.

  (tags: barack_obama Judd_Gregg)
• Feds allege plot to destroy Fannie Mae data – Fired Workeer Planted Virus
  The Justice Department says it foiled a plot by a fired Fannie Mae contract worker in Maryland to destroy all the data on the mortgage giant's 4,000 computer servers nationwide.

  The U.S. Attorney's Office says 35-year-old Rajendrasinh Makwana, of Glen Allen, Va., is scheduled for arraignment Friday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on one count of computer intrusion.

  U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein says Makwana was fired Oct. 24.

  Rosenstein says that on that day, Makwana programmed a computer with a malicious code that was set to spread throughout the Fannie Mae network and destroy all data this Saturday.

  (tags: fannie_mae)
• McCain to Obama: Going After Limbaugh a Mistake
  Former rival tells “Fox and Friends” Friday he can't understand why the president would go after the conservative radio king.

  “He has a very wide viewing audience. He is entitled to his views. People listen very carefully to him… I don't know why the president would take him on.”

  (tags: barack_obama mccain rush_limbaugh)

Michael Steele, the former Lt. Governor of Maryland was elected this afternoon as Chairman of the Republican National Committee.

The Republican Party chose the first black national chairman in its history Friday, just shy of three months after the nation elected a Democrat as the first African-American president. The choice marked no less than “the dawn of a new party,” declared the new GOP chairman, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. Republicans chose Steele over four other candidates, including former President George W. Bush’s hand-picked GOP chief, who bowed out declaring, “Obviously the winds of change are blowing.”

Steele takes the helm of a beleaguered Republican Party that is trying to recover after crushing defeats in November’s national elections that gave Democrats control of Congress put Barack Obama in the White House.

GOP delegates erupted in cheers and applause when his victory was announced, but it took six ballots to get there. He’ll serve a two-year term.

Here is Michael Steele’s acceptance speech:

Congrats to Chairman Steele.

Exit Question: When do we get to work, rebuilding the Republican Party?