Archive for January 21st, 2009
Barack Obama’s botched Oath of Office
Due to the FLAP of Barack Obama’s botched Presidential Oath of Office, Obama has retaken the Oath.
Chief Justice John Roberts has administered the presidential oath of office to Barack Obama for a second time just to be on the safe side.
The unusual step came after Roberts flubbed the oath a bit on Tuesday, causing Obama to repeat the wording differently than as prescribed in the Constitution.
White House counsel Greg Craig said Obama took the oath from Roberts again out of an “abundance of caution.”
The chief justice and the president handled the matter privately in the Map Room on Wednesday night.
Well, after Chris Wallace of Fox News in the video above said that Obama was maybe not President. But, really this is over-kill.
Then, there is the issue of Vice President Joe Biden.
Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Joe Biden, John Roberts
Tags: Barack Obama, Joe Biden, John Roberts
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Caroline Kennedy responds during an interview, Friday, Dec. 26, 2008 in New York
Caroline Kennedy is out.
Caroline Kennedy has told Gov. David Paterson that she is withdrawing her name from consideration to replace outgoing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the U.S. Senate, The Post has learned.
Kennedy cited “personal reasons,” according to sources.
Her stunning move comes as sources revealed that Paterson had intended to appoint her to the now-vacant seat today.
The 51-year-old Camelot daughter’s decision removes the highest-profile name in the ring to step into Clinton’s seat, as she departs after getting confirmed as President Obama’s Secretary of State today.
The surprise decision leaves a crowded field of about 15 people, mostly elected officials, vying to replace Clinton – including Long Island Rep. Steve Israel, Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, upstate Rep. Kirstin Gillibrand and Rep. Carolyn Maloney.
For the first time on Tuesday, shortly after Obama was inaugurated, Paterson acknowledged publicly that he is considering state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for the slot.
Now, the field is cleared for New York Governor David Paterson to appoint Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to the seat which in turn clears the field for Paterson to win the Democrat Party nomination to run for Governor in 2010.
Paterson was NOT going to appoint Kennedy and allowed her a face saving withdrawal. Thus, ends the very short political career of Caroline Kennedy.
The United States Senate seat from New York became vacant this afternoon when Hillary Clinton resigned after her confirmation as Secretary of State.
Previous:
Is it Caroline Kennedy to Replace Hillary in the Senate? Well Maybe
Caroline Kennedy Fades In Yet Another New York Poll – Andrew Cuomo Up By 15 Points
Caroline Kennedy Fades In New York Senate Poll – Andrew Cuomo Now Preferred
New York Governor David Paterson Pulling Away From Caroline Kennedy as Hillary Clinton’s Replacement Senator?
Caroline Kennedy Sinks in the Polls But Does it Matter?
Technorati Tags: Caroline Kennedy, David Paterson
Tags: Caroline Kennedy, David Paterson, Hillary Clinton
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Senator Hillary Clinton smiles as she testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during her confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington to become the next U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary has been confirmed as Barack Obama’s Secretary of State. The vote was 94-2 with GOP Senators David Vitter (Louisiana) and Jim DeMint (South Carolina) voting no.
Earlier in the day, there was a renewal of the McCain-Cornyn feud over the nomination.
Technorati Tags: Hillary Clinton
Tags: Hillary Clinton
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Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani discusses the GOP with David Frum
Rudy wants to nudge the social conservative issues to the background, not alienate voters and recapture the youth and suburban vote. Watch all of the video above to get his point.
The problem with Rudy when he ran for President was his personal baggage with his marriages and Bernie Kerck.He would have won the GOP nomination against McCain even with HIS far more liberal positions on social issues.
He is talking about returning to a “BIG TENT GOP.”
After all, the GOP has lost all of the Northeast, Far West and now parts of the Midwest in the Electoral College. But, is the GOP willing to deemphasize social issues like abortion, stem cell research and gay marriage – even to win elections?
Only, if the GOP is smart.
A little different approach is found in this interview of Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. Pawlenty is of a different generation than Rudy but is essentailly formulating the same “NEW IDEA” method to win back elections.
Question: Back at the RGA meeting [last fall]], you talked about the party needed to get beyond Ronald Reagan. What do you mean by that? The RNC chairman candidates — all they really talk about is Reagan.
Answer: Well, I think I said in my state of my state, but I can also say it about my own party: we can’t be so in love with the past that we miss the future. And the world is changing very rapidly, and there’s a lot of technological change, demographic change, cultural change, and it’s all approaching us at a very rapid speed. And I think the Republican Party fondly remembers Ronald Reagan, and we should. He’s going to go down in history as one of the great presidents. Our challenge is to have the solutions of the 1980s not be the solutions that we have in 2008s. .. A lot has happened since the 1980s. There’s been a lot of change. We can be true to those values and principles, but half of the country doesn’t remember Ronald Reagan very well. If you’re under 40, 35 years old, Ronald Reagan is kind of a foggy notion. All I’m saying is, yes, let’s celebrate that, let’s learn from that, let’s build on it, but let’s talk about new ideas, new leaders, for the future.
The Republican Party is in dismal shape after the two terms of President George W. Bush. The Democrat Party enjoys super majorities in the Congress and now occupy the White House.
Times, demographics and the culture is changing. The GOP can either morph into a competitive, outreaching, ideas driven collection of leaders or slink back into the irrelevancy of a generation of Democrat Party rule.
Technorati Tags: GOP, Rudy Giuliani, Tim Pawlenty
Tags: GOP, Rudy Giuliani, Tim Pawlenty
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The Maverick is back.
John McCain has just come to the rescue of his old drinking buddy Hillary Clinton, bucking his colleague John Cornyn by calling for an immediate voice vote on her confirmation as Secretary of State.
In his first maverick-y move of the 111th Congress, McCain took to the Senate floor to call for unanimous consent to skip the 4:30 p.m. roll call on her nomination.
And he pressed John Kerry, who was deeply amenable, to deal with the matter right after lunch.
“I just talked to with Sen. Cornyn and he doesn’t object,” said McCain, who once bonded on an overseas trip with Clinton by doing shots.
“Sen. Cornyn is happy to yield back time and go to a voice vote once everybody has had their chance to speak,” said spokesman Kevin McLaughlin.
So far, every Republican except Cornyn has risen to say they want her confirmed as quickly as possible.
Ahhhhh the McCain conservatives love to hate is back – turning the Senate GOP Caucus into GO-ALONG Eunuchs.
But McCain, last year’s Republican nominee for president, argued that the Senate should skip the time-consuming roll-call vote and confirm Clinton by unanimous consent. “I think the message that the American people are sending us now is they want us to work together and get to work,†McCain said.
McCain has kept a low-profile since his November loss to Obama, but has enjoyed an unusually close relationship with Obama since the election. On Monday night, Obama held a dinner in McCain’s honor, and Obama has recently consulted McCain on foreign-policy issues, including the war in Iraq.
While McCain said he had spoken with Cornyn to receive his approval for skipping the roll-call vote, McCain and Cornyn have had well-documented battles in the past, including a heated exchange in 2007 over immigration legislation .
Here is the video of Senator John Cornyn capitulating on his hold of Hillary Clinton’s confirmation as Secretary of State.
Looks like Hillary will be confirmed and sworn in by the end of the afternoon.
Technorati Tags: Hillary Clinton, John Cornyn
Tags: Hillary Clinton, John Cornyn
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Barack Obama’s botched Oath of Office
President Barack Obama says it is not Chief Justice John Robert’s fault.
President Obama isn’t blaming Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts for slipping up as he recited the president oath of office during Tuesday’s inauguration ceremony.
Obama said Roberts actually helped him as he gave the oath, and that he was grateful.
“We’re up there, we’ve got a lot of stuff on our mind, and he actually helped me out on a couple of stanzas there,†Obama told ABC News backstage at the “Neighborhood Ball.â€
“So overall, I think it went relatively smoothly and I’m very grateful to him.â€
Various media and blogs have blamed either Roberts or Obama for the flub. Transcripts suggest that Obama broke in earlier than Roberts expected in repeating the oath, and that this may have thrown the chief justice off. He then put the word “faithfully†at the end of the phrase “I will execute the office of the United States†instead of at the front of that phrase.
Yeah, it makes no difference unless you are saying the oath should be administered again and Obama is NOT President.
Good grief…..
Next time, the Chief Justice and President-Elect should have a cheat sheet.
Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, John Roberts
Tags: Barack Obama, John Roberts
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Economic recovery press conference: Eric Cantor, Mitt Romney and Meg Whitman, former eBay CEO and McCain campaign adviser answer questions submit by the American People via YouTube, January 15, 2009
The latest poll from Rasmussen is extremely favorable for former eBay CEO Meg Whitman in the race for California Governor in 2010.
The race may be nearly two years away, but early match-ups for the 2010 gubernatorial election in California show that it’s likely to be a close one.
With the state’s current Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, ineligible for reelection, the most prominent name mentioned on the GOP side is former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, and for now she beats two of the three leading early contenders for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.
The Poll:
- Meg Whitman – 38% Vs. Jerry Brown (California Attorney General and former Governor – 40%
- Meg Whitman – 37% Vs. Gavin Newsom (San Francisco Mayor) – 34%
- Meg Whitman – 41% Vs. Antonio Villaraigosa (Los Angeles Mayor) – 34%
Favorability:
Forty-three percent (43%) of California voters view Whitman favorably, including 10% Very Favorable, while 22% view her unfavorably. Just five percent (5%) have a Very Unfavorable opinion of Whitman. A third of voters (34%) don’t know enough about her to form an opinion.
Brown is the most well-known name to California voters and is viewed favorably by 46%, including 24% who say that view is Very Favorable. Thirty-eight percent (38%) have an unfavorable opinion of Brown, with 26% Very Unfavorable. Just 16%, however, are not sure what they think of the 70-year-old Brown who has been a fixture in California politics for nearly 40 years.
Newson is viewed favorably by 36%, unfavorably by 41%, and 23% are not sure what they think of him. Thirteen percent (13%) have a Very Favorable opinion of Newsom and 25% a Very Unfavorable view. Villaraigosa’s ratings are 38% favorable, with 13% Very Favorable, and 42% unfavorable, including 27% Very Unfavorable. Twenty percent (20%) are not sure what they think of Villaraigosa.
Flap had mentioned that since Steve Poizner, California’s only statewide elected office holder, was running for Governor that perhaps Whitman should should run for the United States Senate instead. But, with these excellent poll numbers, it is fiull speed ahead with the governor’s race.
But, what will a contested GOP primary election do to her unfavorability ratings?
Stay tuned….
Watch Meg Whitman on video at the press conference referenced above.
Technorati Tags: Meg Whitman, Steve Poizner, Jerry Brown, Gavin Newsom, Antonio Villaraigosa
Tags: Antonio Villaraigosa, Gavin Newsom, Jerry Brown, Meg Whitman, Steve Poizner
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