Top Items:
Manu Raju / The Politico:
Murkowski to Palin: Leave my seat alone — Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski has some Republican-to-Republican advice for Gov. Sarah Palin: If you want to make a run at the White House, keep your hands off my Senate seat. — Murkowski, up for reelection in 2010, is nervously awaiting word …
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CNN:
Bill Clinton not interested in wife's Senate seat — WASHINGTON (CNN — Former President Bill Clinton has no interest in replacing his wife in the U.S. Senate, his spokesman said, adding any speculation that he would be interested is “completely false.” — As Hillary Clinton prepares …
Discussion:
City Room, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, TIME.com, Outside The Beltway, Jules Crittenden and Connecting.the.Dots
Alessandra Stanley / New York Times:
A Concession Wrapped in an Acceptance — Presentations of presidential appointees can be important, but they are rarely interesting. Usually, the men and women chosen for top cabinet roles are not well known to the public; if there is drama behind the scenes, most in the audience are blind to it.
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Mel Martinez To Retire — Fla. Sen. Mel Martinez figured to be a top target for Democrats in 2010. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) — Florida Sen. Mel Martinez (R) has decided against seeking a second term, a decision he will formalize shortly in the Sunshine State, according to an informed party source.
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Aaron Blake / The Hill:
Sen. Martinez won't run for re-election in 2010 — Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) announced Tuesday that he will not seek reelection in 2010, passing on what looked to be one of the most difficult reelection battles in the country. — Martinez, 62, has been saying for weeks that he intended …
Discussion:
TPM Election Central
Steve Bousquet / St. Petersburg Times:
Martinez won't seek re-election; Sink will — U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez plans a major announcement in Orlando shortly and a highly-placed Republican source says Martinez will announce that he's not seeking re-election and that he may leave his seat in advance of the end of his term in 2010.
Discussion:
AMERICAblog News
Josh Kraushaar / The Politico:
Sink not running against Martinez
Sink not running against Martinez
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Swamp, Senate Guru, MyDD, Swing State Project and Bark Bark Woof Woof
Brendan Farrington / Associated Press:
GOP official: Mel Martinez won't seek re-election
GOP official: Mel Martinez won't seek re-election
Discussion:
Wizbang
New York Times:
Pardon Is Back in Focus for the Justice Nominee — WASHINGTON — In the much praised career of Eric H. Holder Jr., President-elect Barack Obama's choice to be attorney general, there is one notable blemish: Mr. Holder's complicated role in the 2001 pardon of Marc Rich, a billionaire financier …
Discussion:
The Hill, The Politico, Washington Post, TPMMuckraker, Spin Cycle, Brilliant at Breakfast, Prairie Weather, The RBC and TIME.com
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Richard Cohen / Washington Post:
Pardon My Exception — Soon after Bill Clinton pardoned Marc Rich, the former president and I had a brief telephone conversation. I had been downright heated about the pardon, a lot angrier than I had ever been about Monica Lewinsky. Clinton implied that I had things historically backward.
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Gregory to host ‘Meet the Press’ — NBC News plans to name David Gregory as moderator of “Meet the Press,” infusing one of television's most prized franchises with a sharp edge leavened by a youthful style and versatility, according to network executives. — Gregory, 38, celebrated …
MSNBC:
Ford CEO offers to work for $1 a year — Part of plan to persuade Congress to lend automakers $25 billion in aid — (L-R) United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger, General Motors (GM) CEO Richard Wagoner, Jr., Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli and Ford Motor Company CEO Alan Mulally wait …
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Ann Scott Tyson / Washington Post:
Gates's Top Deputies May Leave — Major Shifts at Pentagon Anticipated in Obama Administration — Although President-elect Barack Obama's decision to keep Robert M. Gates at the helm of the Pentagon will provide a measure of continuity for a military fighting two wars …
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Booman Tribune, TIME.com, The Reaction and MSNBC
Robert Kagan / Washington Post:
The Sovereignty Dodge — What Pakistan Won't Do, the World Should — “We don't think the world's great nations and countries can be held hostage by non-state actors,” Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said yesterday. Fair enough. But what is the world to do when those non-state actors operate …
Reliable Source:
Christmas Colors for the White House: Red, White and Impeach — When Deborah Lawrence got the invitation from the White House, the Seattle-based artist decided to make a lefty political statement. — But she never expected it would hang on the official Christmas tree.
CNN:
Limbaugh calls Obama's selection of Clinton ‘a brilliant stroke’ — (CNN) — Rush Limbaugh seems to have given Hillary Clinton his stamp of approval for the second time this year. — The conservative talk show host — who urged supporters during the primary season to back Clinton in an effort …
Tim Fernholz / American Prospect:
INSULTS. — One of the clever things about the Catholic church has been it's ablity to maintain its status as a political force and a tiny state, and have some effect as a kind of diplomatic go-between and agenda setter.Think of the Vatican as the internationl equivalent of D.C. “Congresswoman” Eleanor Holmes Norton, say.
Robert Horn / Yahoo! News:
Thai Government Dissolved: Airports to Reopen? — Thailand's already turbulent political landscape was thrown into further turmoil Tuesday when the Constitutional Court dissolved the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and two of its coalition partners for electoral fraud.
Discussion:
Wizbang
Joby Warrick / Washington Post:
Report Sounds Alarm on Threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction — The odds that terrorists will soon strike a major city with weapons of mass destruction are now better than even, a bipartisan congressionally mandated task force concludes in a draft study that warns of growing threats from rogue states …
Greg Mankiw / Greg Mankiw's Blog:
Fiscal Policy Puzzles — As a student of Alan Blinder, Larry Summers, and Stanley Fischer, I was trained to view the short-run effects of fiscal policy through the lens of Keynesian macroeconomic theory. I am sure that many of the economists in the new Obama administration share that intellectual framework.
Yeas and Nays:
Reid: We won't smell the tourists anymore — The Capitol Visitors Center, which opened this morning, may have tripled its original budget and fallen years behind schedule, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid found a silver lining for members of Congress: tourists won't offend them with their B.O. anymore.
David G. Savage / Los Angeles Times:
Broader medical refusal rule may go far beyond abortion — The Bush administration plans a new ‘right of conscience’ rule that would allow more workers to refuse more procedures. Critics say it could apply to artificial insemination and birth control. — Reporting from Washington …
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Biden Makes the Case for Rail — Joe Biden is best known for his experience in foreign policy issues, but I've long been most excited by the possibility that his strong pro-rail views may have influence in an administration certain to be dominated (like all administrations) by people who don't care about transportation policy.
Discussion:
The Bellows
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Lieberman now praising Obama — Sen. Joe Lieberman, the maverick lawmaker from Connecticut, has praised President-elect Barack Obama's national security team after criticizing Obama's ability to lead during wartime earlier this year. — Lieberman, the Democrat-turned-independent …