From NBC's Mark Murray and Domenico Montanaro
Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) has filed an exploratory committee to "begin the process of organizing a campaign for Governor of Texas."

It could be a fun GOP primary if incumbent Republican Gov. Rick Perry seeks reelection.

Perry won reelection in 2006 with 39% of the vote, in a contest that saw independent candidates garner double digits -- Carole Keeton Strayhorn, Scott McClellan's mother, got 18% and longshot singer Kinky Friedman got 12%. Democrat Chris Bell finished second with 30%.

Full statement after the jump:

"Today, I am filing an exploratory committee so I can begin the process of organizing a campaign for Governor of Texas. I am not yet a candidate, but Texas law requires this first, important step before an announcement can be made.

"I am transferring $1 million from my Federal account to this new state exploratory committee and will take further steps as they become appropriate.

"Right now, there are a lot of Texans - friends, community and business leaders, Republicans, Democrats, Independents and people who've never been in politics -- that I want to talk to before becoming a formal candidate.

"While Texas is faring somewhat better economically than many other states, a positive future is not guaranteed. It will take leaders who look ahead to meet the economic and budgetary challenges that are coming.

"Texans deserve a Governor who, in the context of sound budgetary policies and low taxes, works for quality schools and universities, access to health care for our families, communities safe from crime and drugs, and a government that listens and responds to them.

"There's too much bitterness, too much anger, too little trust, too little consensus and too much infighting. And the tone comes from the top. Texans are looking for leadership and results.

"I am humbled by the number of hard working Texans who have asked me to run for Governor in our state that I love so dearly. And I am honored to serve Texas in the United State Senate, protecting our state's interests and standing for our values and vision. Texans understand I put Texas first and I will continue to do so while I explore and prepare for a race for Governor of Texas."

From NBC's Ken Strickland

Earlier in the hearing, between questions, Chairman Chris Dodd jokingly made the point, "I'd like to stress the point that three of our witnesses DROVE a long way" to testify today. Ranking member Shelby asked, "I wonder if they'll drive back?"  (laughter)

Dodd replied something like, "I guess that depends on how things go during this hearing." 

The auto CEOs were not testifying at the time, so maybe Shelby will ask them during the CEO Q&A period later.

From NBC's Andrea Mitchell

Democratic sources say California Rep. Xavier Becerra (D) is in Chicago today to meet with President-elect Obama.

We have confirmed that they are meeting to discuss a possible appointment as US Trade representative.

Becerra voted for NAFTA in 1993, a vote he later said he regretted because of the lack of labor protections.

He also supported China's World Trade Organization membership in 2000, and last year he pushed for passage of the trade deal with Peru, after labor protections were added. 

In the past, he also has opposed trade deals -- like the Central American Free Trade Pact.

A member of the House Ways and Means Committee (which oversees trade), Becerra is the son of immigrants and holds undergraduate and law degreed from Stanford University.

If nominated, he would be the second high-ranking Hispanic appointment by Obama -- after yesterday's nomination of Bill Richardson to be Commerce secretary.

From NBC's Carrie Dann
In the television age, there's only one antidote to a high-profile public relations disaster that jeopardizes an industry's very survival.
 
Photo-op.
 
At least 19 video cameras, seven branch-like boom microphones, and a dozen still photographers waited outside of the Dirksen Senate Office Building this morning to capture the much-publicized arrival of America's most uneasy cross-country road-trippers. After the revelation that pricey private jets had carried them to Washington last month for a hat-in-hand request for federal aid, executives of the "Big Three" American automakers endured a PR body-slam.  Today, in the effort to patch up their image, the CEOs each arrived for today's Senate Banking hearing in their respective companies' newest hybrid models – including a white Ford Escape hybrid and a Chevrolet Volt.  The execs had traveled to the Capitol Hill hearings in the fuel-efficient vehicles from hometown Detroit.
 
(Well, sorta. The Volt, a prototype of a plug-in electric car that will hit markets in 2010, isn't quite ready for a 520-mile, 10-hour road trip.  GM chief Rick Wagoner drove a hybrid Chevy Malibu (32 MPG/highway) across the Rust Belt yesterday, but hopped into the Volt for the morning commute from his hotel to the Hill.)

After arriving near the hearing room, Wagoner addressed throngs of jostling reporters on Delaware Avenue to make the case that America needs a "home team" in the global transportation industry.  "It would be a shame for the U.S. to fall out of that race," he said.
 
The fuel-efficient road trip was meant to underscore the urgency of as much as $38 billion in loans to the ailing carmakers. But perhaps the best illustration of the pavement-hitting pressure that supporters are under came in the form of one of its top backers. Michigan senator Carl Levin, known as a quarterback of the bailout legislation but not famed as an athlete, was spotted in an all-out gallop between the two locations where cameras were staked out in anticipation of the visual penance of the CEOs.

From NBC's Mark Murray
Last night, Jerry Zandstra, a Michigan Republican who unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2006, emailed Republican National Committee members urging them oppose Michigan GOP chair Saul Anuzis' bid for RNC chairman. (Almost every political reporter we know also received the email, which raises this question: Just whose press list was Zandstra using?)

"If you believe the future of the GOP is in building a grassroots organization and utilizing volunteers, then Saul Anuzis will not be your choice for the RNC chair," Zandstra wrote. "I am from Michigan and ran in the US Senate primary in 2006. Saul's interference into that race was the stuff of legends. [The emphasis was Zandstra's.]

He went on to write, "Since Saul Anuzis became chairman, Michigan Republicans have lost 17 Republican-held State House seats, two incumbent Republican members of Congress... He put the party in $250,000 in debt in an off-election year... The McCain campaign pulled out of Michigan because they did not believe they could win the state. It was not a secret that they were unable to work with the Michigan Republican Party and that is one reason why Michigan did not end up a targeted state." (But wasn't the bigger reason why the McCain camp pulled out of Michigan because it didn't have to money to continue competing there?)

Anuzis, South Carolina GOP chairman Katon Dawson, current RNC chair Mike Duncan, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, and former Huckabee campaign manager Chip Saltsman are the declared or likely candidates for RNC chair, who will be chosen by the party's 168 members in late January.

And Zandstra's email is further evidence that the race for RNC chairman has become much more contentious -- at least publicly -- than the DNC chair contest four years ago, which Howard Dean ended up winning. Already, we've seen oppo passed on Dawson's past membership in a whites-only country club, and there's been scrutiny about Steele's views on abortion. 

Meanwhile, a Keep Mike Duncan blog -- operated by an anonymous Republican -- has emerged, which has touted Duncan's successes at the RNC, including all the money the committee raised in the 2008 cycle.

From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Carrie Dann
*** Labor's concession: At 10:00 am ET this morning, the heads of the Big Three auto companies will testify before the Senate Banking Committee on the auto bailout. Also testifying will be the leader of the United Auto Workers, who yesterday said the union would make concessions in its contracts with the three car companies. From the New York Times: "At a news conference in Detroit, the U.A.W.'s president, Ron Gettelfinger, said that his members were willing to sacrifice job security provisions and financing for retiree health care to keep the two most troubled car companies of the Big Three, General Motors and Chrysler, out of bankruptcy." (Ford's financial situation is a bit healthier than the other two.) This is a VERY BIG deal, and could very well help smooth things over to get a bailout through Congress. No doubt, the rest of the labor movement is happy to have the UAW looking like a team player in all this as the big fight comes up next year on the battle to toss out the secret ballot for unionization.

Video: Former GE Chairman Jack Welch makes a case against a potential auto bailout, explaining that the only way to save the beleaguered industry is through bankruptcy.

*** The GOP tax man cometh? The Wall Street Journal today has a very good piece on how the budget shortfalls in the states are forcing some GOP governors to contemplate raising taxes. "Among the states led by Republicans, Florida may have the biggest headache. Gov. Crist faces a $1.7 billion mid-fiscal-year shortfall, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities… Seeking to balance the budget, Gov. Crist has said he would consider a cigarette-tax increase of 50 cents a pack. A similar situation is playing out in Mississippi, where Gov. Haley Barbour, widely viewed as a star among Republicans, proposed a 24-cent-a-pack cigarette-tax increase and a host of other tobacco-related fees. The combined fees, if implemented, are projected to create $80 million in revenue for a state with a roughly $24 million midyear shortfall." Watching these GOP governors, some of whom have aspirations to run for president in 2012, navigate their base on tax hikes will be interesting. The Club for Growth and anti-tax activist Grover Norquist have been kingmakers on the tax issue in GOP primaries for the last decade. How aggressive will these groups get against GOP governors who turn to some tax increases like the one Barbour agreed to in Mississippi?

*** Can Rangel survive? Charlie Rangel's political career may be in more jeopardy than folks realize. He's aggressively trying to beat back allegations that he got special real estate deals over the years, as well as special tax breaks. He's invited a congressional ethics probe. Rangel's also tearing a page out of the crisis management playbook by trying to blame the media for their coverage of the story. But in this case, the New York Times is fighting back. Democrats usually have a harder time playing the media bias card than Republicans. But Rangel's real problem may be with how aggressively he's trying to save himself. After a private meeting with Speaker Pelosi earlier this week, he came out and said she pledged to back him in his bid to keep his gavel at the Ways and Means Committee. But, apparently, he was too definitive about it, and House leadership folks are now making it clear she didn't totally pledge to keep him in his post. Instead, they said she expected him to be cleared of these charges. Republicans have been trying to ratchet up attention on this Rangel scandal by tagging incoming freshman Dems and asking them to return any money from Rangel. Ways and Means is NOT a minor committee chairmanship. If Rangel doesn't have this issue resolved by the start of the next Congress, don't be surprised if some Democrats push the leadership to at least ask him to step aside temporarily.

*** Tapping Obama's grassroots army: Is this a sign of things to come? The Washington Post reports that, in the Obama team's first attempt to use its grassroots network to shape public policy, likely HHS Secretary/Obama health-care czar Tom Daschle yesterday held a conference call with 1,000 supporters to solicit ideas on health-care reform. "The health-care mobilization taking shape before Obama even takes office will include online videos, blogs and e-mail alerts as well as traditional public forums. Already, several thousand people have posted comments on health on the Obama transition Web site."

Video: With Democrats winning back the White House and taking a majority in both houses of Congress, Republicans are starting to think ahead to 2012. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

*** G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S: Just when Palin's last-day campaigning for the victorious Saxby Chambliss got her some positive coverage, now comes news -- first reported by National Journal, and confirmed by First Read -- that the RNC will be filing a report with the Federal Election Commission today disclosing that it spent thousands of more dollars (less than $30,000) on clothes/accessories for the Alaska governor. So that amount is IN ADDITION to the $150,000 that was previously reported. The clothing/accessories, a GOP source says, will be donated to local and national charities.

*** Hey, big spender: Speaking of big spenders, some experts are now calling for a stimulus plan that's as big as $1 trillion. Wasn't there a time when we were kids where a "trillion" sounded like a made-up money word -- you know, "like kajillion"? And what does come next after a trillion? Is it quadrillion? And will we get to that number in something in the U.S. budget, say, by the end of the next decade?

*** The latest in Minnesota: The Minneapolis Star Tribune's count now has Norm Coleman leading Al Franken by 316 votes, with 98% of the recount completed. There are about 6,000 challenged ballots. The Franken camp's internal count now has him leading by 22 votes. The difference here, as one of us pointed out a couple of days ago, is that the Franken camp is counting the challenged ballots (the way it thinks the independent analysts are counting them). But the Coleman campaign disputes the Franken numbers. The recount will be completed by the end of the week, and the state's Canvassing Board will make the final call on the challenged ballots on Dec. 16.

Countdown to Electoral Vote Count: 35 days
Countdown to Inauguration Day 2009: 47 days

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The United Auto Workers announced the union would make major concessions in its contract with US automakers in order to help the Big Three lobby Congress for bailout money. "The surprising move by the U.A.W. could be a critical factor in the automakers' bid not only to get government assistance, but also to become competitive with the cost structure of nonunion plants operated by foreign automakers in the United States."

Video: GM's CEO Rick Wagoner answers questions as he arrives at a hearing on Capitol Hill on an autos industry bailout.

More: "Labor experts said the ground given by the union underscored the precarious condition of the Detroit companies, as the U.A.W.'s own prospects for survival are also in doubt. 'It is an historic and awfully difficult moment for the U.A.W.,' said Harley Shaiken, professor of labor studies at the University of California, Berkeley."

The UAW made the white-collar-vs.-blue-collar bailout argument. "Gettelfinger complained that, after workers agreed to major concessions in 2005 and 2007, the union and the companies were being asked to make significant new sacrifices in order to secure federal aid, while big financial institutions such as Citigroup gave up relatively little to secure much larger amounts of taxpayer money. 'Are we going to blame the autoworkers, who are by the way 10% of the cost of an automobile . . . or are we going to take a look at what's happened to our economy, to the housing crunch, to the Wall Street bailout and the failures on Wall Street,' Gettelfinger said during a televised Detroit news conference as union members cheered."

The good news for the automakers: There's a consensus between congressional Dems and President Bush to bail them out. The sticking point, per Bloomberg: Congressional Dems want to use TARP, while "Bush and congressional Republicans are pushing to use instead some of the $25 billion for the development of fuel-efficient vehicles approved in a 2007 energy bill."

"Adding to their disappointment of failing to secure a filibuster-proof majority in the 111th Congress, Senate Democrats have most likely said goodbye to any hope of holding a three-seat majority on committees as well."

A new kind of Palin effect? Florida GOP Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen hung up on both Obama and Rahm Emanuel yesterday because she thought the calls were hoaxes.

"The prospect of Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) leaving Congress to become U.S. trade representative has reopened jockeying for a leadership position that had been settled quietly last month," The Hill reports.

It looks like Nancy Pelosi's office is pushing back a bit on Charlie Rangel's public proclamation that Pelosi pledged to support him in keeping his Ways and Means Committee chairmanship. "Rangel on Tuesday boasted to reporters that Pelosi had pledged to support him as chairman despite an ongoing ethics probe and various media articles that have negatively portrayed the New York lawmaker." More: "But one House Democratic leadership aide said Rangel 'went too far at interpreting what she said' publicly."

"The staffer referred to comments Pelosi made at a forum at Hunter College in New York on Monday. 'As you know, the particulars of Chairman Rangel's case are before the ethics committee now,' she said. 'We had been assured early on that they would have their work finished by the end of this Congress, which is just a few more weeks. And I think Mr. Rangel, who is a Korean War hero, who has been a great public servant in our country, deserves the opportunity to have his case heard and resolved by the ethics committee. And that, as I say, is not a long way off. It's just a matter of weeks.'"

"Asked if Rangel would lose his gavel after the ethics panel report is released, Pelosi said she would have to review what the committee finds."

Meanwhile, the New York Times isn't taking the Rangel complaints about its coverage lying down. The New York Times decides to refute Rangel's angry letter.

The New York Times delves into the few years incoming White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel was in the private sector. Emanuel "went on to make more than $18 million in just two-and-a-half years, turning many of his contacts in his substantial political Rolodex into paying clients and directing his negotiating prowess and trademark intensity to mergers and acquisitions. He also benefited from the opportune sale of Wasserstein Perella to a German bank, helping him to an unusually large payout."

"The period before he was elected to a House seat from Illinois is a little-known episode of Mr. Emanuel's biography. Former colleagues said the insight it afforded him on the financial services sector is invaluable especially now. But Mr. Emanuel built up strong ties with an industry now at the heart of the economic crisis, one that will be girding for a pitched lobbying battle next year as the incoming Democratic administration considers a potentially sweeping regulatory overhaul."

The Senate is preparing a legal remedy so that Hillary Clinton's appointment becomes constitutional.

The Boston Globe front-pages, "The comeback of Lawrence Summers." From the story: "The former Harvard University president, cast into exile just two years earlier after several public and embarrassing tiffs with the faculty, was back. He was not only advising Obama about how to handle the financial meltdown, according to one senior Obama aide, but he had worked his way into Obama's inner circle of economic gurus. And with the candidate's victory came a presidential appointment for Summers: director of the National Economic Council, a vital White House post at a dire economic time."
 
How about this Boston Globe lead? "Senator John Kerry's fate illustrates the new political order under President-elect Barack Obama: Reward your enemies, not necessarily your friends."

"The California congressman in discussions with President-elect Barack Obama to become U.S. trade representative played a role in President Bill Clinton's commuting the prison sentence of a cocaine dealer," the AP writes. "The cocaine dealer's family had made $15,000 in political donations to the congressman and hired Clinton's brother-in-law for $200,000 to help free Carlos Vignali. The case involving Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., marks the second time the 7-year-old controversy over Clinton's final actions has surfaced as Obama organizes his new administration."

OUR OBAMA CABINET SPECULATION LIST:
President's office/staff:
-- Chief of Staff: Rahm Emanuel NAMED (Deputies: Jim Messina NAMED, Mona Sutphen NAMED)
-- Senior Advisers: Valerie Jarrett NAMED, Peter Rouse NAMED, David Axelrod NAMED
-- Political Director: Patrick Gaspard NAMED
-- Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs: Phil Schiliro NAMED
-- White House Counsel: Greg Craig NAMED
-- Press Secretary: Robert Gibbs NAMED
-- Communications Director: Ellen Moran NAMED (Deputy: Dan Pfeiffer NAMED)
-- Director of Scheduling and Advance: Alyssa Mastromonaco NAMED
-- Staff Secretary: Lisa Brown NAMED
-- Cabinet Secretary: Chris Lu NAMED
-- Special Assistant to the President and White House Social Secretary: Desirée Rogers NAMED
-- Director, White House Military Office: Louis Caldera NAMED
 
Vice President's office:
-- Biden's Chief of staff: Ron Klain NAMED
-- Counselor to the Vice President: Mike Donilon NAMED
-- Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice President: Terrell McSweeny NAMED
-- Assistant to the Vice President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison: Evan Ryan NAMED
 
First Lady's office:
-- Michelle Obama's Chief of Staff: Jackie Norris NAMED (Deputy: Melissa Winter NAMED)
 
POTENTIAL CABINET MEMBERS:
-- Agriculture: Tom Vilsack, Tom Buis (Natl Farmers Union), Charlie Stenholm, Jim Leach, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, Marshall Matz, John Boyd Jr. (pres, Natl Black Farmers Assn)
-- Commerce: Bill Richardson NAMED, Penny Pritzker (reportedly turned down the position), Kathleen Sebelius, John Thompson (Symantec), Ron Kirk (former Dallas mayor), Scott Harris (Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis fndr)
-- Defense: Robert Gates NAMED, (Deputy: Richard Danzig / Michelle Flournoy No. 3), Chuck Hagel, Sam Nunn, Jack Reed, Colin Powell, John Hamre, Tim Roemer, Thomas Pickering, Anthony Zinni, Max Cleland, Michele Flounoy, Gen. James Jones
-- Education: Joel Klein (NYC), Linda Darling-Hammond, Kathleen Sebelius, Colin Powell, Jim Hunt, Arne Duncan, Inez Tenenbaum, Michael Bennett, George Miller, Gaston Caperton (fmr WV gov), Bambi Cardenas (pres, U TX-Pan Am, Susan Castillo (OR supt), Michael Cohen (pres, Achieve), Christopher Edley (dean, UC-Berkeley), Michael Johnston (dir, Mapleton Expeditionary Schl of the Arts), VA Gov. Tim Kaine, Michelle Rhee (DC), Sharon Robinson (pres, Assn of Colls for Tchr Ed), Andrew Rotherman/Jonahtan Schnur (fmr Clinton advisers), Diane Shust (dir, NEA govt rels), Paul Vallas (supt, New Orleans Recovery Schl Dist), Bob Wise (fmr WV gov), Ray Mabus (fmr MS gov), Graham Spainer (pres, Penn St.), John Deasy (supt, Prince George's Cnty schools), Ronnie Musgrove (fmr MS gov)
-- Energy: Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris, Kathleen Sebelius, Philip Sharp, Ed Rendell, Arnold Schwarzenegger (has said no), Al Gore, Jeff Bingaman, Jennifer Granholm, Steve Westly, Frederico Pena, Dan Reicher, Jason Grumet, Ray Mabus (fmr MS gov)
-- HHS: Tom Daschle CONFIRMED BY NBC NEWS, Howard Dean (reportedly ruled out), Eric Whitaker, John Kitzhaber, Kathleen Sebelius
-- Homeland Security: Janet Napolitano NAMED, Ray Kelly (NY), William Bratton (L.A.), Tim Roemer, James Lee Witt, Tom Kean Sr, Jane Harman, Artur Davis, Richard Clarke, Manny Diaz, Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Lee Hamilton (though he said he's too old), Jamie Gorelick
-- HUD: Manny Diaz (Miami mayor), Shirley Franklin (Atlanta mayor), Saul Ramirez, Jim Clyburn (reportedly not interested)
-- Interior: Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ), Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA), Jay Inslee, John Kitzhaber, Tony Knowles, Ken Salazar, Jamie Rappoport Clark, Brian Schweitzer, Bill Richardson
-- Justice (AG): Eric Holder NAMED, Janet Napolitano, Charles Ogletree, Deval Patrick, James Comey, Patrick Fitzgerald, Artur Davis, Tim Kaine, Jamie Gorelick (but was vice chair of Fannie), Ken Feinberg, Cass Sunstein, Kathleen Sullivan (Stanford Law prof, possible Solicitor General. Also possible SGs: Beth Brinkmann-DC Atty; Preeta Bansal-Skadden, Arps; Elena Kagan-Harvard law dean; Pamela Karlan-Stanford; Teresa Wynn Roseborough-MetLife litigation counsel)
-- Labor: Kathleen Sebelius, Andy Stern (SEIU) (said not interested), Jennifer Granholm, Richard Gephardt, George Miller, David Bonior (said he's not interested, suggested: American Rights at Work Executive Director Mary Beth Maxwell), Xavier Becerra, Linda Chavez-Thompson, Antonio Villaraigosa
-- State: Hillary Clinton NAMED, Jim Steinberg (deputy) CONFIRMED BY NBC NEWS, John Kerry, Bill Richardson, Richard Lugar, Chuck Hagel, Richard Holbrooke, Chris Dodd, Thomas Pickering, Al Gore, Colin Kahl (CNAS fellow), Tom Daschle
-- Transportation: Ed Rendell, Jane Garvey, Mortimer Downey, Earl Blumenauer, Steve Heminger, James Oberstar, Peter DeFazio, Federico Pena, Jeanette Sadik-Khan, Tim Kaine,  John Hickenlooper (Denver mayor), Ron Sims (King County (WA) Executive), Doug Foy (Fmr pres, Convservation Law Fndtn), Parris Glendening (Fmr Gov MD)
-- Treasury: Tim Geithner NAMED, Paul Volcker, Robert Rubin, Jon Corzine, Warren Buffett, Michael Bloomberg, Laura Tyson, Jamie Dimon (JP MorganChase), Jacob "Jack" Lew, Sheila Bair, Indira Nooyi, John Thain (Merrill Lynch)
-- Veterans Affairs: Max Cleland, Tammy Duckworth, Chet Edwards, Arnold Fisher (fmr Fisher House Fndtn chair), James Peake, William Bratton, Anthony G. Brown (MD Lt Gov)
 
OTHER POSITIONS:
-- National Economic Council Director: Larry Summers NAMED
-- Council of Economic Advisers: Christina Romer (chair), NAMED, Dan Tarullo, Jacob "Jack" Lew, Jason Furman, Austan Goolsbee, Laura Tyson
-- Economic Recovery Advisory Board: Paul Volcker NAMED, Austan Goolsbee (staff director, chief economist) NAMED, Eric E. Schmidt (Google chairman, CEO)
-- Natl Sec Adviser: Gen. James L. Jones NAMED, (Deputy: Tom Donilon) , Jim Steinberg, Rand Beers, Susan Rice, Greg Craig
-- NSC: Dennis Ross, Greg Craig, Susan Rice, Tony Lake
-- OMB: Peter Orszag NAMED (Deputy: Rob Nabors NAMED), John Spratt Jr, Gene Sperling, Jason Furman
-- White House Domestic Policy Council Director: Melody Barnes NAMED (Domestic Policy Council Deputy Director: Heather A. Higginbottom NAMED)
-- CIA: Tony Lake, John Brennan (wrote a letter to Obama asking that his name be withdrawn), Chuck Hagel, Michael Hayden, Jami Miscik (fmr CIA dep dir for Intel)
-- DNI: Ret. Adm. Dennis Blair, Tony Lake, John Brennan, Tim Roemer, Rand Beers, Jane Harman, John Abizaid, Evan Bayh
-- FEMA: James Lee Witt
-- EPA: Howard Learner (Pres, Exec. Dir, Environmental Law and Policy Center), Ian Bowles (MA), RFK Jr, Kathleen Sebelius, Kathleen McGinty (former secretary of Pennsylvania's Department of Env Protection), Mary Nichols (chair of California's Air Resources Board), Robert Sussman, Dan Esty, Lisa Jackson (NJ environ commission)
-- FBI: Robert Mueller (term expires 2011)
-- Fed Chair: Ben Bernanke (at least for first year)
-- FDA: Steven Nissen (Cleveland Clinic), Joshua Sharfstein (Baltimore health commissioner), Janet Woodcock (Big Pharma's choice), Susan Wood (GWU occupational and environmental health professor), Diana Zuckerman (president, National Research Center for Women & Families) Joint Chiefs: Michael Mullen (term ends in late 2009, can expect to be appointed for second term, per tradition)
-- Peace Corps: Chris Shays
-- UN Ambassador: Susan Rice NAMED, Caroline Kennedy, Ray Mabus (fmr MS gov)
-- USTR: Cal Dooley (American Chemistry Council president), Daniel K. Tarullo (Georgetown University law professor), Lael Brainard (Brookings Institution vice president), Thomas F. "Mack" McLarty (fmr Clinton White House chief of staff)
-- Climate: Terry Tamminen (climate change, adviser to Schwarzenegger), Al Gore, Carol Browner (Audobon Society), Jonathan Lash (World Resources Inst), Kathleen McGinty, Janet Napolitano, Mary Nichols, Kathleen Sebelius
-- Auto Czar: Jennifer Granholm
-- Secretary of the Army: Mortimer Downey
-- Chief Technology Officer: Julius Genachowski, Shane Robison (HP), Edward Felten (Princeton)
-- FCC: Jonathan Adelstein (FCC commissioner), Antoinette Bush (Skadden), Karen Kornbluh (Obama's former Senate policy director), Blair Levin (fmr chief of staff to then-FCC Commissioner Reid Hunt)

The Washington Post reports on the Obama Administration's attempts to use some of their political tools to help push key agenda items, including health care. "Former senator Thomas A. Daschle, Obama's point person on health care, launched an effort to create political momentum yesterday in a conference call with 1,000 invited supporters culled from 10,000 who had expressed interest in health issues, promising it would be the first of many opportunities for Americans to weigh in. The health-care mobilization taking shape before Obama even takes office will include online videos, blogs and e-mail alerts as well as traditional public forums. Already, several thousand people have posted comments on health on the Obama transition Web site."

"'We'll have some exciting news about town halls, we'll have some outreach efforts in December,' Daschle said during the call. And tomorrow, when he appears at a health-care summit with Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) in Denver, Daschle said, 'we'll be making some announcements there.'"

For what it's worth, Microsoft's Bill Gates is calling on Obama to do more deficit spending.

The New York Times has some details on the green component of the Obama stimulus plan. "The details and cost of the so-called green-jobs program are still unclear, but a senior Obama aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a work in progress, said it would probably include the weatherizing of hundreds of thousands of homes, the installation of  'smart meters' to monitor and reduce home energy use, and billions of dollars in grants to state and local governments for mass transit and infrastructure projects. The green component of the much larger stimulus plan would cost at least $15 billion a year, and perhaps considerably more, depending on how the projects were defined, aides working on the package said."

Bloomberg News reports on something that could be one of Obama's first sticky issues: Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner "is seeking to push Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair out of office. Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, has argued Bair isn't a team player and is too focused on protecting her agency rather than the financial system as a whole, according to two congressional officials and a person familiar with his thinking. Bair has battled with Geithner and fellow regulators over aid to Citigroup Inc. and other emergency actions, making her enemies in the Bush administration."

The Wall Street Journal reports on how Obama's team has resisted overtures from the Bush Treasury Department to get involved in some TARP decisions. "Since his election exactly one month ago, Mr. Obama has maintained a campaign-like approach to the economy, speaking in broad terms about the need for intervention, while refusing to engage in specifics. Introducing New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson as his nominee for Commerce secretary on Wednesday, Mr. Obama declared: 'With each passing day, the work our team has begun, developing plans to revive our economy, becomes more urgent.'"

"Some Bush officials feel those plans may not be able to wait until the Jan. 20 transfer of power. As early as next week, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will decide whether to seek the second tranche of $350 billion in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to help rescue the nation's financial sector. To access that money, Mr. Paulson must present to Congress not only his plan for the money, but also detailed plans from the next administration, which would spend the bulk of it."

CALIFORNIA: The race in the state's 4th Congressional District has been one of the House contests that had remained in doubt. But the Democrat, Charlie Brown, has conceded and Republicans have held on to the seat.

FLORIDA: CQ offers this primer on potential candidates for that newly open Florida Senate seat.

GEORGIA: The ideological divide continues in the GOP, with Saxby Chambliss, in victory, calling for the party to return to its Reagan roots.  
 
Does Chambliss have his sights aimed higher already? "Chambliss acknowledged at a news conference Wednesday that the runoff has boosted his national stature. That, combined with his rising seniority in the Senate's depleted GOP ranks, will give him a louder voice." He also professed to be "a self-proclaimed firewall against President-elect Barack Obama and his Democratic agenda."

LOUISIANA: "Obama recorded a radio ad to help Democrat Paul Carmouche, while Cheney helped with fundraising and GOP up-and-comer Gov. Bobby Jindal helped with a television ad for Republican candidate John Fleming," the AP writes. "Saturday's election in Louisiana's 4th Congressional District will determine who replaces U.S. Rep. Jim McCrery, a 10-term Republican who's retiring from Congress. The election was pushed back to December after Hurricane Gustav delayed party primaries that had been set for early September."

MINNESOTA: The latest dispute in the Minnesota recount, per the Star Tribune: "An uproar Wednesday over 133 mystery ballots that may or may not have disappeared in Minneapolis became the newest controversy to roil the U.S. Senate recount. At issue was a discrepancy between Election Day and recount totals in one of the city's precincts. DFLer Al Franken's campaign lodged a protest over 133 votes that it said could not be accounted for during the recount, at a possible cost to him of as many as 46 net votes in his race against Republican Sen. Norm Coleman."

More: "The twist came a day after Franken made a net gain of 37 votes in Ramsey County, when the recount there found that 171 votes from a Maplewood precinct hadn't been tallied on Election Day. Wednesday evening, a Star Tribune tally showed Coleman with a 316-vote lead, with 98 percent of the vote recounted. At the start of the recount, Coleman had a 215-vote lead."

The AP: "Democrat Al Franken withdrew 633 challenges to ballots Wednesday in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race in what could be a first step toward a quicker conclusion to the recount. Franken's attorney, Marc Elias, said many more withdrawals are likely. An attorney for Republican Norm Coleman said he may follow suit soon. Any reduction in the pile of challenged ballots -- more than 6,000 so far -- will alleviate work for the canvassing board that meets Dec. 16 to begin examining those ballots. Coleman defeated Franken in the election by 215 votes, a margin so small that it triggered an automatic recount."

There isn't a wide pool to pull from of successful Democratic elected officials who survived bruising recounts. But Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire is in it, and she has some advice for candidate Al Franken.

From NBC's Pete Williams
The FBI is hoping to enlist the parents, especially mothers, of young Somali men who live in Minneapolis, because agents believe the men are being recruited to conduct suicide bomb attacks in Somalia. 

Successful recruitment in the U.S. of suicide bombers obviously concerns U.S. officials, even though, for now, there's no indication that the interest among this group is focused on anything but conducting attacks overseas.

Law enforcement officials say a young man from Minneapolis, Shirwa Ahmed, a naturalized U.S. citizen, returned to Somalia in October and killed himself in a suicide bombing. He had attended high school in Minneapolis after coming to the U.S. 12 years ago.   

Investigators believe as many as a dozen young men from the Twin Cities have been recruited to conduct similar attacks in Somalia. An investigation is now underway to find out who is recruiting them. 

"There's clearly a recruiting cell there," one U.S. official said.

A Homeland Security official said similar initiatives, to enlist community cooperation in countering potential recruitment propaganda, have been undertaken in other U.S. cities.

From NBC's Lauren Appelbaum
During a news conference on budget reductions today, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) apologized for a hot mic statement he made yesterday, saying Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) is perfect for the position of Homeland Security Secretary, in part, because she "has no family."
 
"What I meant is that Janet is a person who works 24/7, just like me," Rendell said in an explanation today.
 
Here is what Rendell said yesterday: "Janet's perfect for that job. Because for that job, you have to have no life. Janet has no family. Perfect. She can devote, literally, 19-20 hours a day to it."
 
Some critics have called Rendell's comments sexist and pointed to Michael Chertoff and Tom Ridge, Napolitano's predecessors, who both have families.

Today, Rendell used Ridge as an example, recalling a story by the former Pennsylvania governor and cabinet member about him having to give up golf, a passion of his. He used this to help illustrate his point that the job is a demanding position -- for a person of either gender. 
 
"She works literally 24/7 as governor," Rendell said. "She'll do a great job. You have to live that job every minute."
 
After being pressed with a follow-up question on the insensitivity of the comment for a working mother balancing career and family, Rendell joked that was "fractured logic," from "Rocky and Bullwinkle."
 
"I guess, if you stretch it, it could be taken by some people the wrong way," Rendell said. "I certainly didn't mean it the wrong way. Janet is a friend of mine. She's a great, great governor, and she'll be a great Director of Homeland Security. And if anyone out there was offended, I apologize."

Rendell's press secretary, Chuck Ardo, expounded on Rendell's comments.

"He believes that a government official at that level of government, to do the job well, should not have much of a life outside of the office," Ardo told First Read.
 
Where does that leave Obama, who has two young children and will have the highest office in government? 
 
"The governor believes that President-elect Obama will have to sacrifice some of his family time," Ardo responded. "And it is a credit to him that he is willing to do so on behalf of the nation."

From NBC's Donna Inserra
New Carrollton, Md. -- Before a large gaggle of cameras and considerable foreign media, Chrysler President Jim Press continued his "whistle-stop" tour to drum up support for the auto bailout, or as they prefer to call it, help with financing and bridge loans.

A forceful Press spoke to dealers, workers and local businesspeople at an auto dealership here. On display were two prototypes of electric cars. Chrysler plans to have an electric car on the market in 2010.

Press said Chrysler was doing OK until the crisis in confidence and credit of the past 90 days. He suggested the loss of auto industry jobs could trigger a depression. 

"Nobody's here because they want to be," Press said. "This is a necessity."

"This isn't a business of a couple of people flying around in jets," he added. "By gosh, we're gonna win this."

From NBC's Savannah Guthrie

Vice President-elect Biden wasn't in Washington today just to meet with the bipartisan commission on weapons of mass destruction.

He also met with Microsoft founder Bill Gates at the transition offices here. (We'll update with details as we get them.)

*** UPDATE *** A transition source says Biden and Gates met to "discuss a wide-range of issues, including global health and development, as well the need to improve resources for secondary education, particularly for community colleges."

So, there you go.

From NBC's Athena Jones and Domenico Montanaro
In his comments at the news conference naming him President-elect Obama's choice for Commerce Secretary, Richardson made remarks in both English and Spanish.

For those wondering, here is a translation of his remarks in Spanish:

"To our Latino community, thank you for your support and your confidence. Thank you for your votes for our candidate, who is now our president-elect. As he told us 'Yes we can.' Our vote has been our voice. This election has demonstrated our strength and our unity. We have to continue fighting for our rights, while we pursue the American Dream for everyone. To the millions of people of America, Latin America and the Caribbean, we must strengthen our ties and remember the importance of a united hemisphere.

From NBC's Mike Viqueira and Domenico Montanaro
The following is a portion of a letter from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to the Obama transition team, in which the CHC puts forward its wish list of potential Latinos in an Obama administration.

"After a careful review of those individuals seeking positions with the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) is formally endorsing the following persons:

· Agriculture Secretary: John Salazar
· Education Secretary: Rubén Hinojosa, Janet Murguia
· EPA Secretary: Hilda Solis
· HUD Secretary: Saul Ramirez, Adolfo Carrión
· Interior Secretary: Raúl Grijalva, Patricia Madrid
· DOJ/Civil Rights Division: Thomas Saenz, John Trasviña
· Labor Secretary: Linda T. Sánchez
· Transportation Secretary: Adolfo Carrión, Maria Contreras Sweet
· Veterans Affairs Secretary: Rick Noriega
· Education Undersecretary: Cha Guzman

"We understand that the incoming administration will have a vast pool of talent from which to choose. The individuals we have endorsed constitute the best talent while reflecting the diversity that is so valued by President-elect Obama.

"The CHC is committed to promoting Hispanic leadership and will continue to strive to be a valuable ally and resource to you. Thank you and please contact us immediately if you should have any questions."

Worth pointing out: Grijalva and Sanchez backed Obama in the Democratic primary contest, but Hinojosa and Solis were early Hillary Clinton supporters.

From NBC's Athena Jones

CHICAGO -- Obama said today that New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, the only Latino so far who has been named to a cabinet post in the emerging Obama Administration, would be an "unyielding advocate" for American business and American jobs as Commerce secretary.

Video: New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is announced as President-elect Barack Obama's pick for commerce secretary.

The president-elect said Richardson -- who was UN ambassador and Energy secretary during the Clinton Administration before being twice elected governor -- was uniquely suited to be a leading economic diplomat for America. In response to a question about whether Commerce secretary was a consolation prize for Latino supporters, Obama said the notion that the position was not going to be important in his administration was mistaken.

"Commerce secretary is a pretty good job," he said to some laughter from the assembled reporters. "It's a member of my key economic team that is going to be dealing with the most significant issue that America faces right now, and that is: How do we put people back to work and rejuvenate the economy?"

Obama said Richardson was the best person for that job, and noted that he had only appointed about half of his cabinet. "I think that when people look back and see the entire slate, what they will say is -- not only in terms of my cabinet, but in terms of ... my White House staff, I think people are going to say, this is one of the most diverse cabinets and White House staffs of all time," he said. "But more importantly, they're going to say these are all people of outstanding qualifications and excellence."

In his brief remarks, Richardson -- the third former presidential candidate from the 2008 campaign to join Obama's close circle -- took issue with the idea that the president-elect was assembling a "team of rivals," saying the word "rival" was "harder edged and less forgiving" than necessary.

"In the worlds of diplomacy and commerce, you open markets and minds not with rivalry, but instead with partnership and innovation and hard work," he said. "The unique strengths of the department and its talented public servants make it that natural agency to serve as a programmatic nerve center in America's struggle to rejuvenate our economy. The catch phrases of your economic plan -- investment, public-private partnerships, green jobs, technology, broad-band, climate change and research -- that is the Department of Commerce."

The governor spoke briefly in Spanish. He directed his remarks to the Latino community, saying in part "Our vote has been our voice. This election has demonstrated our strength and our unity."

During a roughly nine-minute Q&A with reporters after the announcement, Obama also said his economic team was closely monitoring the use of the $700 billion in TARP funds Congress approved. "My team has been reviewing very carefully how the TARP program has proceeded," he said. "The GAO report has now come out; we're seeing some areas where we can be doing better in making sure that this money is not going to CEO compensation; that it's protecting tax payers and that the taxpayers are going to get their money back; that it's effective in shoring up our financial markets."

When a reporter asked the clean-shaven Richardson what had become of his beard, Obama stepped in to answer, displaying a bit of mischievous humor as he joked that there was deep disappointment at the loss of a beard that had given Richardson "whole western rugged look" he thought "was really working for him."

From NBC's Pete Williams

Attorney General Michael Mukasey, meeting with reporters for the first time since he collapsed while delivering a speech two weeks ago, said, "I got down to the last paragraph of my speech, and the lights went out."

The lights in the room remained on, but that's how he described the sensation of fainting.

"I was hauled off to the hospital against my will, and I spent the rest of the evening arguing with my doctors about getting released," Mukasey said.

He said he still does not know what caused him to faint.

On the terror attack in Mumbai, the attorney general said FBI agents are there to gather evidence and help in the investigation. He said the U.S. has jurisdiction over violence against Americans as the result of a terrorist attack, meaning the U.S. could bring criminal charges against surviving terrorists found to be responsible for the death of Americans.

Asked about potential threats during the transition or inaugural period, Mukasey said, "The threat is what it's been," and said terrorists attack when they are ready, not according to the calendar or schedule of events.

And as for closing down the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Mukasey said he strongly believes that no detainee should be released into the U.S., acknowledging that such a policy complicates the task of finding other countries willing to take the detainees.

And he said if a military commission imposes a short sentence on a detainee considered to be a dangerous terrorist, it would be suicidal to release such a person even after the detainee had served his sentence.

Is that justice, he was asked?

And he answered yes.

From NBC's Libby Leist

Speaking at Harvard University last night, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell implicated  the group Lashkar-e-Taiba for carrying out the  terrorist  attacks in Mumbai last week  which killed at least 172 people, including six Americans.

McConnell did not name Lashkar-e-Taiba  specifically, but he said that the U.S. believes the terrorists responsible for Mumbai were also responsible for the attack on a train in India in 2006 that killed nearly 200 people  and an attack on the Indian parliament in 2001.

Indian intelligence has blamed Lashkar  for both attacks.

McConnell also drew links between Lashkar and Al Qaeda. 

"If you examine the groups that we think are responsible," he said, "the philosophical underpinnings are very similar to what al Qaeda currently puts about as their view of how the world should be."

After meeting with Indian officials in New Delhi today, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice echoed McConnell's remarks saying "Whether there is a direct al Qaeda hand or not, this is clearly the kind of terror in which al Qaeda participates."

From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Carrie Dann 
*** Examining Obama's coattails: How much did Obama's name on the ballot benefit Jim Martin (D) a month ago? Consider that during the general election, he trailed Saxby Chambliss (R) by just three percentage points, 49.8%-46.8%, with a third-party candidate garnering more than 3%. But in yesterday's run-off, with 97% of precincts reporting, Chambliss won by 14 points, 57%-43%, preventing Democrats from obtaining a filibuster-proof 60 seats. How many House or Senate Democrats who believe they won because of Obama coattails -- especially in states like Alabama, North Carolina, and Virginia -- saw the run-off result and said, "Uh, oh. 2010 is going to be tough"?  

Video: NBC Deputy Political Director Mark Murray offers his first read on how rough confirmation might be for Bill Richardson as commerce secretary and looks at other cabinet possibilities.

*** Bill Richardson's day: At 11:40 am ET today, Obama will hold yet another press conference, where he will announce Bill Richardson as his Commerce secretary. Although Richardson didn't get the coveted job at State, Commerce could end up being a good fit for the New Mexico governor. While message discipline isn't one of Richardson's strong suits -- remember when he initially said at a gay-rights forum during the Democratic primary season that he thought being gay was a choice? -- he has proven to be a talented negotiator, and business was a fan of his tenure as New Mexico governor. The Commerce position can be seen as a business cheerleading post, and Richardson is certainly an optimistic cheerleading guy. Also, the next Commerce secretary, especially given the nation's economic woes, is going to have to work with foreign governments to smooth out trade deals and disputes. But there is some baggage. Take this Politico article, which reports that "Richardson traded on the prominence and expertise he accrued as Bill Clinton's ambassador to the United Nations and as energy secretary to land more than 20 paying gigs, yielding hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of directors' fees and stock options -- much of which came from entities dealing in areas directly related to his work in the administration."

*** Cornyn's challenge: Yesterday, we mentioned that candidate recruitment matters in politics. Well, so do retirements. Florida GOP Sen. Mel Martinez's announcement on Tuesday that he won't seek a second term in 2010 not only increases Democrats' chances of winning that open Senate seat, but it also serves as a reminder that incoming NRSC Chair John Cornyn will have to convince several of his colleagues not to follow in Martinez's footsteps. Possible GOP retirements include Sam Brownback (Kansas), Jim Bunning (Kentucky), Chuck Grassley (Iowa), George Voinovich (Ohio), David Vitter of Louisiana (he may WANT to retire), and even John McCain (who has said he intends to run for another term in 2010). As we've said before, it's only natural for members of the minority party to consider retirement. But if they end up leaving, it makes it more difficult for the minority to later win back the majority. This job is doubly tough for NRCC Chair Pete Sessions. If Cornyn and Sessions can limit retirements, then they both can play more offense in 2010. One other thing about Martinez's upcoming departure: It marks the loss the GOP's most well-known minority elected official.

*** Jeb to jump back in? The Atlantic and Politico are reporting that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the current president's younger brother, is considering a bid for Martinez's Senate seat. Jeb himself responds to the Politico by email, and confirms he's considering it. "A source close to Bush said he'll be thoughtful and methodical about the decision-making process. He will consider the impact a race would have on his family and his business and whether or not the U.S. Senate is the best forum from which to continue his advocacy for the issues on which he's focused, such as education, immigration, and GOP solutions to health care reform." If Jeb jumps in, it would be very similar to Hillary Clinton's 2000 Senate bid, and would propel the Florida Senate contest to the premiere race of 2010. A Bush hasn't served in the Senate since Prescott's tenure in Connecticut. Jeb's father failed to win bids for Texas Senate.

Video: President-elect Barack Obama promises federal economic relief for the states at the National Governors Association meeting in Philadelphia. NBC's Savannah Guthrie reports.

*** Obama loves the govs? Obama won plenty of praise yesterday from the nation's governors -- Democrats and Republicans alike -- for his commitment to make the states full partners in trying to solve the country's economic troubles. In fact, some Democratic governors who spoke with First Read yesterday said that it was a noticeable break from the way in which the Bush Administration has dealt with the states. "I felt there were a lot of situations where we were not being listened to," Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D) said of the Bush team. Some notable examples: No Child Left Behind, funding for state health insurance programs for children, and a lack of direct aid to the states during the past economic slowdown. What's ironic here is that Bush was the two-term governor of Texas before becoming president. Obama isn't a former governor, although he did serve in the state legislature prior to winning his US Senate seat. 

Countdown to Electoral Vote Count: 36 days
Countdown to Inauguration Day 2009: 48 days

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The Washington Post writes up today's expected announcement of Bill Richardson as Commerce secretary. "The job will add to an already lengthy Washington résumé for Richardson that includes stints as secretary of energy and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during President Bill Clinton's administration, as well as nearly two decades as a congressman representing New Mexico. He left the nation's capital in 2002 to run for governor of New Mexico and was reelected with 69 percent of the vote four years later… He is the first Hispanic to be selected for Obama's Cabinet. Should Richardson be confirmed as commerce secretary, New Mexico Lt. Gov. Diane Denish (D) would take over as the state's chief executive until Richardson's term runs out in two years."

Video: Countdown's Keith Olbermann talks about Barack Obama expecting to name Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., as head of the Commerce Department in his Cabinet on Wednesday.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates held a press conference yesterday, and he displayed the reasons why Obama kept him at his post. "Saying that his tenure would be 'open-ended,' Gates promised during a Pentagon news conference that he would not be merely a caretaker as secretary. He hinted that he planned to put some muscle behind his rhetorical critique of Pentagon spending priorities and to overhaul the way the military buys weapons. He also said that closing the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, would be a high priority, but could require new legislation, such as a measure preventing former detainees from seeking asylum in the United States."

The New York Times adds, "Mr. Gates said he supported the broad outlines of Mr. Obama's Iraq strategy and gave indications that he and the president-elect could reach common ground on troop withdrawals over the next year. At the least, Mr. Gates suggested that he and Mr. Obama were in closer alignment on Iraq policy than the heated language of the presidential campaign suggested. Reacting to Mr. Obama's comments on Monday that signaled flexibility in the president-elect's troop withdrawal plans -- Mr. Obama said he still wanted combat troops out within 16 months but would listen to the recommendations of his commanders -- Mr. Gates said, 'I think that's an agreeable approach.'"

The New York Times also looks at Obama's search for a CIA director. "Last week, John O. Brennan, a C.I.A. veteran who was widely seen as Mr. Obama's likeliest choice to head the intelligence agency, withdrew his name from consideration after liberal critics attacked his alleged role in the agency's detention and interrogation program. Mr. Brennan protested that he had been a 'strong opponent' within the agency of harsh interrogation tactics, yet Mr. Obama evidently decided that nominating Mr. Brennan was not worth a battle with some of his most ardent supporters on the left. Mr. Obama's search for someone else and his future relationship with the agency are complicated by the tension between his apparent desire to make a clean break with Bush administration policies he has condemned and concern about alienating an agency with a central role in the campaign against Al Qaeda."

"Mark M. Lowenthal, an intelligence veteran who left a senior post at the C.I.A. in 2005, said Mr. Obama's decision to exclude Mr. Brennan from contention for the top job had sent a message that 'if you worked in the C.I.A. during the war on terror, you are now tainted,' and had created anxiety in the ranks of the agency's clandestine service."

The Washington Post examines how the Obama transition teams are scrutinizing various agencies. "With pointed questions and clear ground rules, they are dissecting agency initiatives, poring over budgets and unearthing documents that may prove crucial as a new Democratic president assumes control. Their job is to minimize the natural tension between incoming and outgoing administrations, but their work also is creating anxiety among some Bush administration officials as the teams rigorously examine programs and policies."

"Former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber says it's 'extremely doubtful' he'll be picked to be interior secretary in the Obama administration," per the AP.

OUR OBAMA CABINET SPECULATION LIST:
President's office/staff:
-- Chief of Staff: Rahm Emanuel NAMED (Deputies: Jim Messina NAMED, Mona Sutphen NAMED)
-- Senior Advisers: Valerie Jarrett NAMED, Peter Rouse NAMED, David Axelrod NAMED
-- Political Director: Patrick Gaspard NAMED
-- Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs: Phil Schiliro NAMED
-- White House Counsel: Greg Craig NAMED
-- Press Secretary: Robert Gibbs NAMED
-- Communications Director: Ellen Moran NAMED (Deputy: Dan Pfeiffer NAMED)
-- Director of Scheduling and Advance: Alyssa Mastromonaco NAMED
-- Staff Secretary: Lisa Brown NAMED
-- Cabinet Secretary: Chris Lu NAMED
-- Special Assistant to the President and White House Social Secretary: Desirée Rogers NAMED
-- Director, White House Military Office: Louis Caldera NAMED

Vice President's office:
-- Biden's Chief of staff: Ron Klain NAMED
-- Counselor to the Vice President: Mike Donilon NAMED
-- Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice President: Terrell McSweeny NAMED
-- Assistant to the Vice President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison: Evan Ryan NAMED
 
First Lady's office:
-- Michelle Obama's Chief of Staff: Jackie Norris NAMED (Deputy: Melissa Winter NAMED)
 
POTENTIAL CABINET MEMBERS:
-- Agriculture: Tom Vilsack, Tom Buis (Natl Farmers Union), Charlie Stenholm, Jim Leach, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, Marshall Matz, John Boyd Jr. (pres, Natl Black Farmers Assn)
-- Commerce: Bill Richardson TO BE NAMED THIS MORNING, Penny Pritzker (reportedly turned down the position), Kathleen Sebelius, John Thompson (Symantec), Ron Kirk (former Dallas mayor), Scott Harris (Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis fndr)
-- Defense: Robert Gates NAMED, (Deputy: Richard Danzig / Michelle Flournoy No. 3), Chuck Hagel, Sam Nunn, Jack Reed, Colin Powell, John Hamre, Tim Roemer, Thomas Pickering, Anthony Zinni, Max Cleland, Michele Flounoy, Gen. James Jones
-- Education: Joel Klein (NYC), Linda Darling-Hammond, Kathleen Sebelius, Colin Powell, Jim Hunt, Arne Duncan, Inez Tenenbaum, Michael Bennett, George Miller, Gaston Caperton (fmr WV gov), Bambi Cardenas (pres, U TX-Pan Am, Susan Castillo (OR supt), Michael Cohen (pres, Achieve), Christopher Edley (dean, UC-Berkeley), Michael Johnston (dir, Mapleton Expeditionary Schl of the Arts), VA Gov. Tim Kaine, Michelle Rhee (DC), Sharon Robinson (pres, Assn of Colls for Tchr Ed), Andrew Rotherman/Jonahtan Schnur (fmr Clinton advisers), Diane Shust (dir, NEA govt rels), Paul Vallas (supt, New Orleans Recovery Schl Dist), Bob Wise (fmr WV gov), Ray Mabus (fmr MS gov), Graham Spainer (pres, Penn St.), John Deasy (supt, Prince George's Cnty schools), Ronnie Musgrove (fmr MS gov)
-- Energy: Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris, Kathleen Sebelius, Philip Sharp, Ed Rendell, Arnold Schwarzenegger (has said no), Al Gore, Jeff Bingaman, Jennifer Granholm, Steve Westly, Frederico Pena, Dan Reicher, Jason Grumet, Ray Mabus (fmr MS gov)
-- HHS: Tom Daschle CONFIRMED BY NBC NEWS, Howard Dean (reportedly ruled out), Eric Whitaker, John Kitzhaber, Kathleen Sebelius
-- Homeland Security: Janet Napolitano NAMED, Ray Kelly (NY), William Bratton (L.A.), Tim Roemer, James Lee Witt, Tom Kean Sr, Jane Harman, Artur Davis, Richard Clarke, Manny Diaz, Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Lee Hamilton (though he said he's too old), Jamie Gorelick
-- HUD: Manny Diaz (Miami mayor), Shirley Franklin (Atlanta mayor), Saul Ramirez, Jim Clyburn (reportedly not interested)
-- Interior: Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ), Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA), Jay Inslee, John Kitzhaber, Tony Knowles, Ken Salazar, Jamie Rappoport Clark, Brian Schweitzer, Bill Richardson
-- Justice (AG): Eric Holder NAMED, Janet Napolitano, Charles Ogletree, Deval Patrick, James Comey, Patrick Fitzgerald, Artur Davis, Tim Kaine, Jamie Gorelick (but was vice chair of Fannie), Ken Feinberg, Cass Sunstein, Kathleen Sullivan (Stanford Law prof, possible Solicitor General. Also possible SGs: Beth Brinkmann-DC Atty; Preeta Bansal-Skadden, Arps; Elena Kagan-Harvard law dean; Pamela Karlan-Stanford; Teresa Wynn Roseborough-MetLife litigation counsel)
-- Labor: Kathleen Sebelius, Andy Stern (SEIU) (said not interested), Jennifer Granholm, Richard Gephardt, George Miller, David Bonior (said he's not interested, suggested: American Rights at Work Executive Director Mary Beth Maxwell), Xavier Becerra, Linda Chavez-Thompson, Antonio Villaraigosa
-- State: Hillary Clinton NAMED, Jim Steinberg (deputy) CONFIRMED BY NBC NEWS, John Kerry, Bill Richardson, Richard Lugar, Chuck Hagel, Richard Holbrooke, Chris Dodd, Thomas Pickering, Al Gore, Colin Kahl (CNAS fellow), Tom Daschle
-- Transportation: Ed Rendell, Jane Garvey, Mortimer Downey, Earl Blumenauer, Steve Heminger, James Oberstar, Peter DeFazio, Federico Pena, Jeanette Sadik-Khan, Tim Kaine,  John Hickenlooper (Denver mayor), Ron Sims (King County (WA) Executive), Doug Foy (Fmr pres, Convservation Law Fndtn), Parris Glendening (Fmr Gov MD)
-- Treasury: Tim Geithner NAMED, Paul Volcker, Robert Rubin, Jon Corzine, Warren Buffett, Michael Bloomberg, Laura Tyson, Jamie Dimon (JP MorganChase), Jacob "Jack" Lew, Sheila Bair, Indira Nooyi, John Thain (Merrill Lynch)
-- Veterans Affairs: Max Cleland, Tammy Duckworth, Chet Edwards, Arnold Fisher (fmr Fisher House Fndtn chair), James Peake, William Bratton, Anthony G. Brown (MD Lt Gov)
 
OTHER POSITIONS:
-- National Economic Council Director: Larry Summers NAMED
-- Council of Economic Advisers: Christina Romer (chair), NAMED, Dan Tarullo, Jacob "Jack" Lew, Jason Furman, Austan Goolsbee, Laura Tyson
-- Economic Recovery Advisory Board: Paul Volcker NAMED, Austan Goolsbee (staff director, chief economist) NAMED, Eric E. Schmidt (Google chairman, CEO)
-- Natl Sec Adviser: Gen. James L. Jones NAMED, (Deputy: Tom Donilon) , Jim Steinberg, Rand Beers, Susan Rice, Greg Craig
-- NSC: Dennis Ross, Greg Craig, Susan Rice, Tony Lake
-- OMB: Peter Orszag NAMED (Deputy: Rob Nabors NAMED), John Spratt Jr, Gene Sperling, Jason Furman
-- White House Domestic Policy Council Director: Melody Barnes NAMED (Domestic Policy Council Deputy Director: Heather A. Higginbottom NAMED)
-- CIA: Tony Lake, John Brennan (wrote a letter to Obama asking that his name be withdrawn), Chuck Hagel, Michael Hayden, Jami Miscik (fmr CIA dep dir for Intel)
-- DNI: Ret. Adm. Dennis Blair, Tony Lake, John Brennan, Tim Roemer, Rand Beers, Jane Harman, John Abizaid, Evan Bayh
-- FEMA: James Lee Witt
-- EPA: Howard Learner (Pres, Exec. Dir, Environmental Law and Policy Center), Ian Bowles (MA), RFK Jr, Kathleen Sebelius, Kathleen McGinty (former secretary of Pennsylvania's Department of Env Protection), Mary Nichols (chair of California's Air Resources Board), Robert Sussman, Dan Esty, Lisa Jackson (NJ environ commission)
-- FBI: Robert Mueller (term expires 2011)
-- Fed Chair: Ben Bernanke (at least for first year)
-- FDA: Steven Nissen (Cleveland Clinic), Joshua Sharfstein (Baltimore health commissioner), Janet Woodcock (Big Pharma's choice), Susan Wood (GWU occupational and environmental health professor), Diana Zuckerman (president, National Research Center for Women & Families) Joint Chiefs: Michael Mullen (term ends in late 2009, can expect to be appointed for second term, per tradition)
-- Peace Corps: Chris Shays
-- UN Ambassador: Susan Rice NAMED, Caroline Kennedy, Ray Mabus (fmr MS gov)
-- USTR: Cal Dooley (American Chemistry Council president), Daniel K. Tarullo (Georgetown University law professor), Lael Brainard (Brookings Institution vice president), Thomas F. "Mack" McLarty (fmr Clinton White House chief of staff)
-- Climate: Terry Tamminen (climate change, adviser to Schwarzenegger), Al Gore, Carol Browner (Audobon Society), Jonathan Lash (World Resources Inst), Kathleen McGinty, Janet Napolitano, Mary Nichols, Kathleen Sebelius
-- Auto Czar: Jennifer Granholm
-- Secretary of the Army: Mortimer Downey
-- Chief Technology Officer: Julius Genachowski, Shane Robison (HP), Edward Felten (Princeton)
-- FCC: Jonathan Adelstein (FCC commissioner), Antoinette Bush (Skadden), Karen Kornbluh (Obama's former Senate policy director), Blair Levin (fmr chief of staff to then-FCC Commissioner Reid Hunt)

Per the Obama transition office, Biden will be in DC today for a briefing by the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, which is led by former Sens. Bob Graham of Florida and Jim Talent of Missouri. Biden will be joined at the meeting by Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, who is Obama's choice to head the Department of Homeland Security. 

Obama "plans to appoint a new White House official to coordinate efforts to prevent terrorists from obtaining nuclear or biological weapons, advisers say, giving the highest priority to thwarting a catastrophic attack that a bipartisan panel warns could come in the next five years," the Boston Globe reports. "Naming a top deputy whose sole mission is to oversee the government's wide-ranging programs to stop such an attack would mark a significant break with the Bush administration, which in resisting such a post has maintained that US efforts to reduce nuclear stockpiles and safeguard deadly pathogens are adequate."

Per the Los Angeles Times, "After convening almost a complete set of state chief executives Tuesday, Obama pledged "action, and action now" to address the budget shortfalls expected in no less than 41 states in the coming year. 'As president, I will not simply ask our nation's governors to help implement our economic recovery plan,' Obama told an assembly of 48 governors gathered in historic Congress Hall. 'I will ask you to help design that plan. Because, if we're listening to our governors, we'll not only be doing what's right for our states, we'll be doing what's right for our country.' The pledge is easier said than done. Twenty states have together cut $7.6 billion from their fiscal 2009 budgets, the National Governors Assn. reports. Thirty states say they are expecting additional shortfalls totaling more than $30 billion."   

But the Washington Post adds that "some state officials are warning that public works projects will fail to effectively lift the country out of recession unless they are chosen carefully and implemented rapidly… a recession that lasts only a few months, economists say spending on infrastructure would do little to revive the economy; public works projects typically take years to get underway. Even with projects that are ready to go -- meaning they have been designed, engineered and have cleared environmental and other bureaucratic hurdles -- only about a quarter of the overall cost is spent within the first year, according to the Transportation Department." 

Tax and budget experts are saying Obama will have to scale back some of his popular -- and pricey -- policy promises from the campaign in light of the nation's shaky financial situation.

"Powerful special interest groups that helped torpedo healthcare reform 16 years ago are now advocating significant changes in the nation's health insurance and delivery system. They are participating in regular discussions about how to expand health coverage and lower costs, key commitments that President-elect Barack Obama made in his campaign."

CONGRESS: Desperately seeking a bailout
"General Motors, increasingly desperate for a federal bailout to stave off financial collapse, told Congress on Tuesday that it was willing to drastically shrink every aspect of its operations to ensure its long-term survival," the New York Times says. "On the same day that the industry reported its worst sales month in 26 years, the three Detroit automakers delivered new business plans to lawmakers in the hope of winning support for $34 billion in federal loans. While the timing was coincidental, the dismal November sales report underscored the perilous financial condition of G.M., the Ford Motor Company and Chrysler." 

Video: As auto executives prepare to appear again in front of Congress to ask for a multi-billion-dollar bailout, NBC's Lisa Myers takes a look at where their money has been going in recent years.

GM indicated it could fail in a matter of weeks, not months, if they don't get the federal bailout. "'There is no Plan B,' said Fritz Henderson, GM's president and chief operating officer, who faces a 30% pay cut himself. 'Frankly, the shortage of liquidity does focus the mind.'"

A day after Nancy Pelosi predicted that House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel would not lose his post after the conclusion of an ethics investigation, a GOP tax lobbyist involved in the controversial case jumped to Rangel's defense, calling last week's damning New York Times story about Rangel's donor conflict-of-interest "completely false." 
 
More Hill strife between the new and old guards? Roll Call reports, "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is having a tough time selling a plan to parcel out subcommittee chairmanships to incoming freshmen while taking them away from the more established rank and file." 

GEORGIA: Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R) won reelection after defeating Jim Martin (D) in a run-off last night, 57%-43% (with 97% of precincts reporting). Turnout was just slightly more than half of what it was during the general election a month ago. "Chambliss's double-digit victory dashed Democrats' dreams of securing a filibuster-proof, 60-vote 'super majority' in the Senate and buoyed a Republican Party battered by staggering losses in the Nov. 4 general election," the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. "… Republicans now will have at least 41 votes in the upper chamber, enough to stop major legislative initiatives by the Democratic majority in the U.S. Congress. Only the senate race in Minnesota, where a recount is ongoing, still must be decided."

Video: MSNBC's Rachel Maddow reports that Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., has won the Senate runoff race defeating Democrat Jim Martin.

The Washington Post says that "Martin appeared to suffer from a lower turnout among African Americans. Fewer than a quarter of people who cast ballots early in the runoff were black, compared with more than a third in the November vote. Black voters overwhelmingly favored Obama and Martin." 

Adds the New York Times: "A little more than two million people voted in the runoff, compared with 3.7 million on Nov. 4. In heavily black Clayton County, just south of Atlanta, Mr. Martin's vote was less than half what it was in the earlier election. Only 9.2 percent of registered Georgians cast early votes in the runoff, compared with 36 percent in the general election."

Politico: "GOP turnout in the party's metropolitan Atlanta suburban strongholds surged for Chambliss, while African-American turnout dropped off significantly from the levels attained in the November election."

MINNESOTA: Al Franken got some very good news yesterday, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. "Franken unexpectedly picked up 37 votes due to a combined machine malfunction and human error on Election Day that left 171 Maplewood ballots safe, secure but uncounted until Tuesday's final day of recounting in Ramsey County. Secretary of State Mark Ritchie's office immediately asked county officials to explain what had happened, and U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman's campaign said it sent its own experts to Ramsey County to review the situation and said it was 'skeptical about [the ballots'] sudden appearance.'"

"By the end of Tuesday, with 93 percent of the total vote recounted, the Republican's lead stood at 303 votes with the state Canvassing Board set to finalize results Dec. 16. More than 6,000 ballots have been challenged by the two campaigns, with Coleman challenging 183 more than Franken. Two large metro counties, Scott and Wright, are among four counties scheduled to begin their recounts today."

"The day's other news -- which Franken's campaign quickly described as a 'breakthrough' -- came when Ritchie's office asked local election officials to examine an estimated 12,000 rejected absentee ballots and determine whether their rejection fell under one of four reasons for rejection defined in state law. The Secretary of State's office asked that ballots that were rejected for something other than the four legal reasons be placed into a so-called 'fifth category.' The fifth category, Ritchie's office said, could also include absentee ballots rejected for reasons that were 'not based on factual information.' Ritchie's office, while stressing that the ballots be examined but not counted, asked that the task be completed by Dec. 18. The move appeared to give at least some new life to the Franken campaign's longstanding effort to add to the recount what it estimates are as many as 1,000 improperly rejected absentee ballots."

"Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush -- the younger brother of the president -- is weighing a run for the Senate seat currently held by Republican Mel Martinez. Martinez announced Tuesday that he will not seek reelection in 2010. Asked whether he was interested in running for the seat then, Bush told Politico by email Tuesday night: 'I am considering it.'"

"A source close to Bush said he'll be thoughtful and methodical about the decision-making process. He will consider the impact a race would have on his family and his business and whether or not the U.S. Senate is the best forum from which to continue his advocacy for the issues on which he's focused, such as education, immigration, and GOP solutions to health care reform."