From various NBC News producers/writers

NBC News has obtained an advanced copy of Sarah Palin's new book, "Going Rogue: An American Life" Below are some of the fascinating excerpts, thanks to the tireless efforts of the fine folks working the late shift. The excerpts are presented in order as they appear in the book.

-- On Carter and Reagan: "I had followed the Iran hostage crisis and remember wondering why President Jimmy Carter didn't act more decisively.  From my high schooler's perspective, I thought the question was, Why did he allow America to be humiliated and pushed around?  The new president being sworn in radiated confidence and optimism.  The enemies of freedom took notice.  In years to come people would ask, What did he have that Carter didn't?  To me the answer was obvious.  He had a steel spine.

-- On giving birth for the first time: "I was quite a cocky young mom-to-be.  I'd gone through the requisite childbirth class (we were going to use the Lamaze method), and, being an athlete used to pain, I figured, How tough could giving birth be?   Oh. My. Gosh.  I thought I was going to die.  In fact, I began to pray that I would die. . . . I gritted my teeth and willed myself not to scream."

-- On the political environment in Juneau (Alaska's capital): "Politically, Juneau always had a reputation for being a lot like Animal House:  drinking and bowling, drunken brawls, countless affairs, and garden-variety lunchtime trysts.  It's been known at times to be like a frat house filled with freshmen away from their parents for the very first time.  At other times, the capital city's underside was even darker:  clandestine political liaisons and secret meetings, unethical deeds and downright illegal acts.  . . . In short, it was a lot like Washington, D.C."

-- On learning their baby had Down's Syndrome: 'Todd said, "It's going to be okay."
I asked if he had the same question I had:  "Why us?" He looked genuinely surprised by my question and responded calmly, "Why not us?"

-- On learning of Bristol's pregnancy: "The month after Trig was born, Bristol came to Todd and me and told us the shocking news that she was pregnant. Truthfully, I was devastated for my daughter.  It wasn't the morality of the situation--what was done was done. It was that I saw her future change in an instant."

-- On how the Bristol news was handled by the campaign: "We were not giddy-happy that our unwed teenage daughter was pregnant, as the press release suggested.  Todd and I were proud of Bristol's selfless decision to have her baby and her determination to deal with difficult circumstances by taking responsibility for her actions.  But in no way did I want to send the message that teenage pregnancy was something to endorse, much less glamorize."

And now some campaign related excerpts:

-- On getting the call from McCain: "For some reason, when the call came at the State Fair, it didn't come as a huge shock. ... I certainly didn't think, Well, of course this would happen. But neither did I think, What an astonishing idea."

-- On her belief in creationism and how she debated McCain manager Steve Schmidt about it: "But your dad's a science teacher," Schmidt objected. "Yes."  "Then you know that science proves evolution," added Schmidt.  "Parts of evolution," I said.  "But I believe that God created us and also that He can create an evolutionary process that allows species to change and adapt."  Schmidt winced and raised his eyebrows.  In the dim light, his sunglasses shifted atop his hear. I had just dared to mention the C-word:  creationism.  But I felt I was on solid factual ground.

-- On Hillary Clinton: "Should Secretary Clinton and I ever sit down over a cup of coffee, I know that we will fundamentally disagree on may issues, but my hat is off to her hard work on the 2008 campaign trail. Compared to the guys she squared off against, a lot of her supporters think she proved what Margaret Thatcher proclaimed: "If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman."

-- On meeting Tina Fey at "SNL": "The campaign's "Fey Fears" turned out to be overblown. Instead, when I met her, she was friendly and gracious. ... Without managers and handles swarming around ... it was just a nice mom moment. "Believe it or not, I've got Republicans in my family," Tina said, smiling. "Believe it or not," I said, 'I've got Democrats in mine."

-- On the reports of her lavish clothes spending, courtesy of the RNC: "My family was made to look like a herd of hillbillies who had come to the big city and started living high on the hog, and that hurt me for them."

From NBC's Chuck Todd
SINGAPORE -- It's rare that anything unannounced happens at one of these summits. That's why so many folks are buzzing about the unplanned Sunday morning breakfast meeting on the upcoming Copenhagen Climate Summit between 19 of the 21 world leaders attending this weekend's APEC conference.

The leaders of Australia and Mexico, both members of APEC, hastily organized the breakfast and encouraged Denmark's Prime Minister, Lars Rasmussen, to fly to Singapore to give the APEC leaders a briefing on the progress (or lack thereof) being made in advance of the December climate summit in Copenhagen.

In short, it appears expectations for something concrete have been dramatically ratcheted back.

According to deputy Nat'l Security advisor Mike Froman, Rasmussen told the leaders that in Copenhagen, there would be "one agreement, two steps," where "Copenhagen would be the first step in a process towards a internationally legally binding agreement; that in Copenhagen he would seek to achieve a politically binding agreement that covered all the major elements of the negotiations, including mitigation, adaptation, technology, and finance."

Translation: Copenhagen will be an agreement to form an agreement. (And you thought the health care was difficult to follow... but I digress.)

Froman went on to say that the expectation now is that something more concrete in terms of an int'l binding agreement on capping carbon emissions and cutting emissions etc. would happen NEXT YEAR at a conference that's expected to be in Mexico City.

Froman said Pres. Obama endorsed the "two step" strategy laid out by Rasmussen but did NOT make a pledge to attend the December Copenhagen conference.

From NBC's Chuck Todd
SINGAPORE -- The president is not having an easy time connecting his travels in Asia with the current domestic economic angst gripping the nation. But that doesn't mean he isn't trying. According to prepared remarks the president was to deliver to the Asaign Pacific Economic Conference Sunday morning in Singapore, the president touched on the growing deficit as well as the jobs issue.

(BTW, the reason I have to cite "prepared remarks" is no U.S. editorial presence was allowed into this meeting so we all have to rely on the White House speech transcript).

On the deficit, he was to tell Asian leaders he plans to "reign in our government's debt."

"Like many of you, we passed a measure to stimulate demand that has temporarily enlarged our deficit.  And this was on top of the trillion dollar deficit we faced upon taking office.  But as the economy recovers, I intend to take serious steps to reduce America's long-term deficit – because debt-driven growth cannot fuel America's long-term prosperity."

The deficit continues to be a growing issue of concern according to recent polls so it should be no surprise the president is rhetorically tackling it. The question is what does he do beyond talk? One can see some sort of deficit "summit" coming or special commission. But can he truly start tackling the debt problem without tackling Social Security or defense spending or, well, taxes? The deficit for both parties is an easy issue to rhetorically show concern on, but actually reducing it means doing something that will be unpopular with at least half the country.

Meanwhile, the president, in this APEC speech, also intended to touch on trade and what many believe is too big of an imbalance. Specifically, he laid out some principles regarding the Doha agreement.

"What can fuel that prosperity is a strategy where the United States consumes less and exports more.  This won't just lead to more balanced growth – it has the potential to create millions of new, well-paying jobs.  For example, if we can increase our exports to APEC countries by just 5%, we can increase the number of U.S. jobs supported by exports by hundreds of thousands.
...
Today, the United States is ready and willing to compete more extensively in APEC markets.  We've increased our exports to Asia at a healthy rate over the last decade, but not as much as other regions have – and we intend to change that.  We also know that to stand still is to lose ground, because other nations are already pursuing agreements with this region that will give their exports preferred access; agreements that will put our workers and our businesses at a competitive disadvantage. 

 To that end, we are working toward an ambitious and balanced Doha agreement – not any agreement, but an agreement that will open up markets and increase exports around the world.  We are ready to work with our Asian partners to see if we can achieve that objective in a timely fashion – and we invite our regional trading partners to join us at the table."

The president announced that the U.S. would host the 2011 APEC conference in the president's home state of Hawaii. The 2010 meeting is set for Japan.

THE WEEK AHEAD: The Week Ahead: Obama in Asia, Palin's seven-day, 13-city book tour kicks off, The Republican governors get together, Joe Biden's birthday. Secretary Clinton to Meet the Press

From NBC's Ken Strickland
If you read somewhere that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could start the healthcare debate on Tuesday, here's the real deal: it's technically possible, but highly unlikely.

Reid says he'll bring the bill to the floor next week. But with the bill not even written and with no cost estimate for it from the Congressional Budget Office, that may seem like an overly optimistic view.

Just as important as CBO estimate and the bill language is the still-unresolved issue of whether Reid can muster the 60 votes he'll need to bring the bill to the floor.

But it's worth noting that Reid has taken a significant step that COULD start the debate on Tuesday if all the stars in the sky align.

On Tuesday of last week, before the Veterans Day recess, Reid started the procedural process to get the bill on the floor. (Avert your gaze here if you don't have the stomach for process.)

Since Reid's bill isn't ready, he's using the House-passed healthcare bill as a placeholder of sorts. To make it available for him to bring to the floor, the Senate clerk has to read the title of the bill two times.

But it can only be read one time per day. (It almost sounds like the tag line of a cheap horror flick: "Say his name three times, and he appears.")

Last week, the House bill got its first reading, when Reid said to the clerk, "It is my understanding that HR 3962 (the House healthcare bill) has been received from the House and is now at the desk."

Then the clerk read the title of the bill -- JUST the title -- for the first time. That's enough to count as the "first reading" on the boards.

Reid is expected to call for a second reading on Monday. So on Tuesday, if he so chose, Reid could ask for "the motion to proceed" to the House healthcare bill.

This is the much-discussed first vote for which Reid currently lacks the votes to break an expected filibuster before debate can begin.

There is really no serious expectation that Reid would move to the House bill without first having his Senate bill ready to go. The Senate bill (with the public option/opt-out) would likely be the first amendment offered "in the form of a substitute," essentially throwing out the House version.

What does it all mean? Not too much.

Simply, Reid is greasing the skids to bring the bill to the floor. Once Reid's bill is ready to go -- anytime after Tuesday -- Reid could attempt to start the debate in earnest. But Democratic aides say that's likely to be later next week.

From MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell
Sen. John McCain's longtime friend and former chief of staff, Mark Salter, has just issued a statement about Palin's accusations.

Salter, who co-authored McCain's books, defends Nicolle Wallace's actions throughout the campaign. Palin suggests in the book that Wallace was a double-agent for Couric because Wallace had worked at CBS News prior to the campaign.

From Salter:

"After we had been criticized in the press for a lack of disciplined messaging earlier in the campaign when we provided frequent and unscheduled access to the candidate, we felt it necessary to adopt the same deliberativeness and discipline employed by our opponents and rely less on impromptu press conferences with our traveling press, and more on interviews arranged in advance so our candidates would have the same opportunity our opponents enjoyed to discuss and prepare for the interview.

"Approximately one week elapsed from Governor Palin's nomination to her first major press interview, the first in a series of major interviews Governor Palin did. Those interviews were discussed and agreed to by senior members of the campaign staff in consultation with the candidates. Nicolle Wallace, along with others, was tasked with helping the Governor prepare for some of her interviews. She did not decide which interview requests the candidates would accept. Nor was she tasked with securing the candidates' agreement. Those decisions were made by campaign management in consultation with the candidates. Campaign management and the candidates agreed to multi segment interviews so the Governor would maintain a presence in the media while she was in debate prep. And to the best of my knowledge, any interviews the Governor had with the individuals she referred to were approved and arranged by the campaign management with her agreement."

From NBC's Michelle Perry
According to a spokesman for "Playgirl" magazine, Levi Johnston said Sarah Palin was "full of it" to "Playgirl" editor-in-chief Nicole Caldwell in an interview in the upcoming magazine. He said, "You could tell by her laugh she was full of it" and that her invite on Oprah to Thanksgiving dinner was "a nice gesture but she didn't mean it" and if he went it'd be "awkward."

From NBC's Andrea Mitchell
According to our producer in Kingman, Ariz., John McCain told a news conference that he just got the Palin book, but hasnt had a chance to read it.

He was, however, aware of her criticism of some of the McCain campaign staff. He said that in every losing campaign, there are always going to be some people critical of what occured.

At both the news conference and a town hall, McCain came out firing on the decision to bring Khalid Sheik Muhammed to New York.

"I strongly, strongly vigorously disagree with the decision to try him in court," McCain said. "These are war criminals and should be tried in a military court."

He also referred to Major Hasan as "an insane terrorist" and said the shooting was "an act of terrorism."

"We must not allow political correctness to interfere with the lives and safety of our men and women in the military," said McCain, who is up for re-election next year.

It was a spirited town hall -- with 300 to 350 people jammed into a county adminstrative auditorium -- and some challenging McCain for his vote on the TARP funds.

From NBC's Sue Kroll
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said today in Manila, if she could change any decision in the past it would be on healthcare.

Speaking to university students at town hall style event Clinton said, " I wish that we had taken a different approach or been more successful back in 1993 and 1994. Hindsight is 20/20."

Clinton has returned to Singapore, where she will meet with the Foreign Minister tomorrow and join President Obama for the meeting of APEC leaders

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Harry Reid (D), the Senate majority leader, frames up the argument he'll make as Election Day 2010 nears -- (1) That he's "America's Most Powerful Senator", and (2) As a result, he has gotten lots done for the state.

An ad like this shows one  aspect of the difficulty in running against Reid -- that he'll spend LOTS of money and do whatever it takes. He's going to need to with his poll numbers being what they are.

The Nevada Senate race ranks as First Read's No. 2 Senate race to watch next year.

From NBC's Mark Murray and Mike Viqueira
Not surprisingly, Republicans are pouncing on the news that the Justice Department plans to bring accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other 9/11 detainees from Guantanamo Bay to stand trial in federal court in New York.

"These terrorists planned and executed the mass murder of thousands of innocent Americans. Treating them like common criminals is unconscionable," said GOP Sen. John Cornyn. "The attacks of September 11th were an act of war. Reverting to a pre-9/11 approach to fighting terrorism and bringing these dangerous individuals onto U.S. soil needlessly compromises the safety of all Americans."

House Minority Leader John Boehner adds: "The possibility that Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his co-conspirators could be found 'not guilty' due to some legal technicality just blocks from Ground Zero should give every American pause."

And here's Rep. Buck McKeon, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee: "By choosing to prosecute these terrorists in our domestic criminal system, the President has revealed that he views the terrorist attacks on New York City and the nation's capital as a crime-not as an act of war. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his cohorts violated the law of war and should be prosecuted in a war tribunal."

*** UPDATE *** The guys at the National Campaign to Close Guantanamo counter, "195 terrorists have been convicted in U.S. federal courts since 2001. The terrorists who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993 were tried and convicted in U.S. courts and are now locked away in a federal supermax prison. Yet Republicans in Congress will no doubt attack the transfer of these detainees as a threat to Americans."

*** UPDATE 2 *** NBC's Ken Strickland adds that McCain and Jeff Sessions hit Obama:

McCain says he's "extremely disappointed"; Sessions calls the decision "dangerous and misguided."

Statement from Senator John McCain, ranking Republican on Armed Services Committee:  

"I am extremely disappointed with the Obama Administration's decision to try in U.S. civilian courts the Al-Qaeda terrorists who planned, supported, and conducted the September 11th attacks. These terrorists are not common criminals. They are war criminals, who committed acts of war against our citizens and those of dozens of other nations."

"Terrorists who have declared war against our country should be treated as war criminals and tried for their crimes through military tribunals. In a letter sent to Congress just last week, hundreds of families of victims of the September 11th attacks urged the Administration to try these terrorists in military tribunals, and I fully respect and agree with their position. I have worked tirelessly with my colleagues in Congress and with the Obama Administration to make our military tribunals system better able to dispense justice efficiently and fairly while protecting secure information. If military tribunals are suitable for the terrorists who attacked our sailors aboard the U.S.S. Cole, as the Obama Administration has decided, then military tribunals are certainly the right venue to try the Al-Qaeda terrorists, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who murdered thousands of innocent civilians on September 11, 2001.

"Today's decision sends a mixed message about America's resolve in the fight against terrorism. We are at war, and we must bring terrorists to justice in a manner consistent with the horrific acts of war they have committed."

Statement from Jeff Sessions, ranking Republican on Judiciary Committee:

"The Obama administration's decision to relocate five of the most dangerous terrorists from Guantanamo Bay to lower Manhattan for civilian trials is dangerous and misguided. These individuals are terrorists, not common criminals-and they should be treated as such. Historically, our policy has been that these kinds of cases should be treated under the well-established rules of war, not under the Federal Rules of Evidence. Today's announcement marks a continued departure from that longstanding policy.

"Our court system was never designed for this purpose. These trials will turn lawyers, juries, and judges into targets, and will needlessly endanger Americans living nearby. They will give men like 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed an international stage to mock America and advance his own celebrity and jihad. Also, civilian trials imperil the secrecy of sensitive government information and-because of different rules in evidence and sentencing-may result in Bin Laden's soldiers being turned loose to resume their jihad against America.

"As unlawful enemy combatants, these terrorist should face a military tribunal, not civilian justice. Why should we extend to these terrorists the same constitutional rights and privileges as those enjoyed by the Americans they helped massacre on September 11th?"

From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg
*** Here comes Sarah Palin: It took advanced excerpts of her upcoming interview with Oprah, plus the AP and now Drudge getting their hands on her new book, to move Palin-palooza from next week's story to today's. According to the AP, Palin criticizes CBS' Katie Couric over the infamous Couric-Palin interview; she takes issue with ABC's Charlie Gibson; and she settles old scores with the McCain campaign. Yet the last thing the Republican Party needs right now is a look back at the tumult and drama of 2008. Just when the party is enjoying its first good news in five years, here comes Sarah Palin. The next week is going to be about her and how she views the world. And it's not the image some in the Republican Party would like to broadcast, especially now when it appears they have an opportunity to slowly win back the trust of swing voters. At a minimum, Palin is a distraction for the GOP as it attempts to build on Election 2009 success. Worst case, she sets back efforts the party is making to appeal to swing voters again.

*** And here comes Khalid Sheikh Mohammed: At 11:00 am ET at the Justice Department, Attorney General Eric Holder will announce that accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other 9/11 detainees now in Guantanamo Bay will be brought to the U.S. to stand trial in federal court in New York, NBC's Pete Williams reports. None of the detainees covered by today's announcement can be brought to the U.S. for at least 45 days. (A recently passed federal law requires the administration to give Congress at least that much notice before bringing any GITMO detainees to the US for trial.) Williams adds that Holder faced a court-imposed deadline of next Monday to decide what to do with these five detainees and four others, all of whom had already been charged and scheduled for trial before military commissions at GITMO.

*** Obama's day in Japan: Meanwhile, in his joint press conference with the Japanese Prime Minister, President Obama said he didn't want to "preempt" Holder's announcement later today on the trial of KSM, but said he was "absolutely convinced Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be subject to the most exacting demands of justice," per NBC's Scott Foster. The president added, "The American people insist on it, and my administration insists on it." Obama also was asked about his Afghanistan strategy decision, and he explained the timing is "not a measure of data or information missing," but instead on making sure a coordinate and effective strategy is in place. Obama said he recognizes there are critics of his deliberation, but he argued "they tend not to be folks who I think are directly involved in what's happening in Afghanistan." He said the decision would be made "soon" in a transparent way that leaves the Afghan people "to be in a position to provide their own security." Obama has already ended his day in Japan. Later tonight (Eastern Time in the U.S.), Obama meets with U.S. embassy personnel, meets the emperor and empress at the Imperial Palace, and has lunch with them.

*** Craig out, Bauer in: As it turns out, the White House official who had been responsible for the administration's GITMO policies is now leaving. As NBC first reported last night, the long-rumored departure of White House Counsel Greg Craig has become official today with a statement from President Obama. Craig will be replaced by veteran Democratic Party campaign attorney Bob Bauer. This is the highest-level departure in the Obama White House this year. In 2008, Bauer served as lead counsel for Obama's campaign, and he is married to outgoing White House communications director Anita Dunn. Among the reasons for Dunn's decision to leave was so that both of them weren't working in the administration at the same time for their own family situation. Craig had a rocky tenure, beginning with the politically charged decision to shut down GITMO. It is not yet known when this change will become official, but it's likely to occur before the end of the year.

*** Ouch: It's not quite as devastating as the '07 oppo-research hit on John Edwards' $400 haircut (which the Obama camp uncovered, per David Plouffe's new book). But it's pretty close: Politico reports that the Republican National Committee's insurance plan covers elective abortions. "Federal Election Commission Records show the RNC purchases its insurance from Cigna. Two sales agents for the company said that the RNC's policy covers elective abortion." Late last night, the RNC sent out a statement saying that Chairman Michael Steele had instructed the party's director of administration to opt out of any coverage for elective abortions. "Money from our loyal donors should not be used for this purpose," Steele said. "I don't know why this policy existed in the past, but it will not exist under my administration. Consider this issue settled."

*** Ouch, Part II: While the RNC had to deal with that abortion hit, the Obama White House and Democrats had to deal with their own bad news yesterday. "The US government deficit hit a record for October as the new budget year began where the old one ended: with the government awash in red ink," the AP reported. "The Treasury Department said yesterday that the deficit for October totaled $176.4 billion, the fifth-largest monthly deficit ever and the 13th straight month to show a deficit - another record."

*** Jobs, Jobs, Jobs: Yesterday, before departing for Alaska and then Tokyo, President Obama announced that he would be convening a jobs summit next month at the White House. "We all know that there are limits to what government can and should do, even during such difficult times," he said. "But we have an obligation to consider every additional, responsible step that we can [take] to encourage and accelerate job creation in this country. And that's why, in December, we'll be holding a forum at the White House on jobs and economic growth. We'll gather CEOs and small business owners, economists and financial experts, as well as representatives from labor unions and nonprofit groups, to talk about how we can work together to create jobs and get this economy moving again." Clearly, there's a concern that the president isn't focused enough on the jobs issue.

*** Sanford vs. Graham: Politico has this interesting nugget: Some South Carolina Republicans say they prefer Mark Sanford -- even with all his woes and warts -- to Lindsey Graham. "County Republican Party Chairman Phillip Bowers agreed that among South Carolina Republicans, Graham has less fans than Sanford—despite the fact that the governor faces the threat of impeachment. 'Most people are still on board with Mark Sanford. From a fiscal standpoint, Mark is still in the game,' Bowers said. 'There is a lot of frustration with Lindsey right now.'" More: "One high ranking state Republican official said despite Sanford's personal indiscretions, activists continue to view him as ideologically in sync with the party. 'They still understand what Mark Sanford is about, they are just disappointed by the girl,' the official said. 'Lindsey just continues to anger the base. He could calm them down, but Lindsey doesn't have the patience or lack of ego to make the effort.'"  
 
*** And if it's Sunday…: "Meet the Press" this Sunday has Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, plus a discussion on education with Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Newt Gingrich, and Al Sharpton.

Countdown to MA Special Primary: 25 days
Countdown to MA Special Election: 67 days
Countdown to Election Day 2010: 354 days

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The Washington Post on Obama's day in Japan: "Obama appeared for a short news conference in with newly elected Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama, a few hours after arriving in Tokyo for the start of a week-long trip to Asia. The trip will span four countries and is Obama's first to the region as president. During a 90-minute meeting with Hatoyama at the Kantei, the Japanese equivalent of the White House, the two world leaders discussed climate change, Afghanistan and nuclear proliferation. Both leaders exchanged warm praise for one another, embracing the close relationship of the two countries. They minimized their differences, such as the location of a Marine Corps airfield on Okinawa, emphasizing instead their hopes for peace and stability in the region."

The New York Times: "President Obama, seeking to mend fences with America's most important Asian ally, agreed on Friday to reopen talks on the contentious issue of the relocation of an American Marine base in Okinawa. The decision to establish what Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama described as a high-level working group represents a concession for the Obama administration, less than a month after Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates appeared to have shut the door on reopening the issue, which was agreed to in 2006."

More: "American relations with Japan are at their most contentious since the trade wars of the 1990s. Japan's newly elected Democratic Party has been blunt about seeking a more "equal" relationship with the United States, and Japanese officials say they now intend to focus more on cementing their relationships with other Asian nations."

Turning to domestic politics… "President Barack Obama plans to announce in next year's State of the Union address that he wants to focus extensively on cutting the federal deficit in 2010 – and will downplay other new domestic spending beyond jobs programs, according to top aides involved in the planning," Politico writes. "The president's plan, which the officials said was under discussion before this month's Democratic election setbacks, represents both a practical and a political calculation by this White House."

"President Barack Obama's announcement Thursday of a White House jobs summit is the latest evidence the economy will drive the 2010 agenda," The Hill writes. "Democrats at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue are digging in to take down the unemployment rate in time for the 2010 midterm elections."

The Washington Post on Palin's new book: "The rollout for former Alaska governor Sarah Palin's highly anticipated and score-settling memoir began Thursday with all the orchestrated stagecraft, wild accusations, inconvenient leaks and media fascination that characterized her campaign as Sen. John McCain's running mate during the 2008 presidential race."

Sarah Palin blamed the McCain campaign for her poor interview with CBS's Katie Couric, the New York Daily News writes. "A CBS source close to Couric responded last night, 'The interviews speak for themselves.'" She even blames the McCain campaign for what she says was their incorrect perception that it was a good interview. "I'm thinking, if you thought that was a good interview, I don't know what a bad interview is," Palin told Oprah Winfrey.
 
"One ex-[McCain] campaign official predicted the book will kill off whatever presidential dreams she may harbor for 2012. 'This will reinforce the fact that 25% of the country loves her and everybody else thinks she's not up to it,' the source said."

Don't' miss this quote in the Washington Post: "'John McCain offered her the opportunity of a lifetime, and during the campaign it seems that, for all of her mistakes, she is searching for people to blame,' said one former senior official in the McCain campaign. 'We don't need to go through this again.'"

The New York Times profiles the three right-hand men -- Ted Kaufman, Paul Kirk, and George LeMieux – who are serving in their boss's old Senate seat (Kaufman, Kirk) or who were appointed by their boss (LeMieux) to serve in the Senate. "[T]he three have the makings of a new caucus. All made clear they would not seek election to their new Senate seat — though Mr. LeMieux, at age 40, is keeping his options beyond 2010 open. None have ever held elected public office on their own. And all have had to contend with the impression they are seat warmers, with Mr. LeMieux holding down the fort for Mr. Crist, the man who appointed him, while Mr. Kaufman was seen as a stand-in until Mr. Biden's son Beau was ready to run next year." 

First Afghanistan, now climate change. "After a quarter century in Washington, [John] Kerry is emerging as a critical environmental dealmaker. He is leading the US Senate delegation that will try to broker a worldwide climate change agreement and is chief sponsor of a massive global warming bill in the Senate, a measure that was all but buried until Kerry forged an unlikely partnership with Republican Lindsey O. Graham of South Carolina last month."

"The healthcare battle appears to be helping Republicans running for the Senate," The Hill notes. "Two Quinnipiac polls released Thursday show the leading GOP candidates in Connecticut and Ohio growing their leads. Former Rep. Rob Simmons (R-Conn.) leads Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), 49-38, and former Rep. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) has opened his first leads over two potential Democratic opponents." 
 
"Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen (Md.) said Thursday that House Democrats should brace for challenging races in 2010, but he dismissed the idea that next year's mid-term elections would be an all-out sweep for Republicans," Roll Call notes. Van Hollen said at the Bloomberg Washington Summit: "People who think this is a redux of 1994 are totally misreading the current situation."
 
"[Recent polling shows that just 20 percent of Americans identify themselves as Republicans, a drop of 8 percentage points from the 2008 elections, according to Van Hollen. 'To suggest that the Republicans are going to run to the rescue of the American people who think they're the answer, at least as we sit here a year out, is very wrong,' he said."

COLORADO: State Rep. Scott Tipton threw his hat into the race for Colorado's 3rd Congressional District seat, currently held by Democrat John Salazar. Tipton said "he decided to get in for certain after Saturday's U.S. House vote on the health-reform bill, which he called 'the straw that broke the camel's back' and which Salazar supported."

FLORIDA: Just over a week after Gov. Charlie Crist's chief of staff resigned to start work on Crist's Senate run, his longtime communications director Erin Isaacs is stepping down in pursuit of "other opportunities," according to Crist's new chief of staff Shane Strum. Just a few days ago, Crist had announced that former Orrin Hatch spokeswoman Andrea Saul, who also worked for the McCain campaign, would be his Senate campaign communications director. In what the Miami Herald suggests was a "hint at Isaac's exit," the governor "lately has been acting as his own press secretary, instructing reporters to call his cellphone directly rather than use a 'go-between' in the press office." 
 
St. Petersburg Times political Editor Adam C. Smith bemoans the lack of cohesion among Florida Republicans, writing that they could not have "looked less disciplined if they were Democrats." The latest example, he writes, is State Sen. Paula Dockery, who on Tuesday "became the latest to thumb her nose at the party establishment" by announcing her gubernatorial campaign, five months after party leaders rallied behind Attorney General Bill McCollum.

MASSACHUSETTS: "In their feistiest face-off of the race, the four Democrats vying for the US Senate clashed in a radio debate yesterday over health care, congressional earmarks, charter schools, and free speech, repeatedly shouting over one another as they aired significant distinctions on policy," the Boston Globe writes. "One notable moment came when Stephen G. Pagliuca, a co-owner of the Boston Celtics, voiced support for reinstituting a military draft, a striking comment for a Democratic primary candidate and one that he sought to clarify shortly after the morning debate, hosted and broadcast by WTKK-FM."

More: "Attorney General Martha Coakley, the perceived front-runner in the Dec. 8 primary, spent the hour fending off attacks from her rivals, including criticism that she should have sought higher settlements and individual fraud charges as part of Big Dig legal charges. But she avoided making any comments that stood out and at times sidestepped queries about her views." 
 
Coakley also failed to report her husband's financial holdings, the Globe reports.

OHIO: The "Tea Party" candidate for Ohio Senate went "on the air" yesterday "with a 60-second biographical spot, hoping to draw an advantage against Rob Portman, the former congressman from Cincinnati and Bush administration official who already has been endorsed by the state Republican Party." Millionaire car-dealer Tom Ganley's campaign manager Jeff Longstreth "said that he sees the impending GOP primary between Ganley and Portman as similar" to the NY-23 election. Because Portman already has the party's backing,"we have to get our message out in other ways," Longstreth said.

From NBC's Chuck Todd
NBC News has learned the long-rumored departure of White House Counsel Greg Craig will likely be made official tomorrow. Craig will be replaced by veteran Democratic Party campaign attorney Bob Bauer. This is the highest-level departure in the Obama White House this year.

In 2008, Bauer served as lead counsel for Obama's campaign.

Bauer is married to outgoing White House communications director Anita Dunn. Among the reasons for Dunn's decision to leave was so that both of them weren't working in the administration at the same time for their own family situation.

Craig has had a rocky tenure, beginning with the politically charged decision to shut down GITMO.

It is not yet known when this change will become official, but it likely will be before the end of the year.

From NBC's Mark Murray
In her new book, according to the Associated Press, Sarah Palin alleges that the McCain campaign gave her a $500,000 bill to pay for the campaign vetting her for the VP nod. She also makes the charge that the McCain camp said they would have paid all the bills had they won, but since they lost, the bills were her responsibility.

A senior McCain campaign official tells First Read that Palin's charge isn't true. The $500,000 charge came from Palin attorney Thomas Van Flein, and much of it had to do with Van Flein's work on the infamous Troopergate investigation that began before McCain selected her as his VP.

This senior McCain campaign official says they considered the $500,000 bill from Palin's lawyer to be exorbitant -- plus, even if they wanted to, they couldn't use their general-election funds to pay for it (remember that McCain accepted some $84 million in federal funds for the general election).

"Everyone thought it was ridiculous," the senior McCain official tells First Read.

*** UPDATE *** The AP originally reported that the bill Palin said she received for the VP vetting was $500,000. But in a later write-through, the AP changed it to "one-tenth of the $500,000 was a bill she received to pay for the McCain campaign vetting her for the VP nod." So approximately $50,000...

Marc Ambinder has more. "The McCain campaign footed the bill for Art Culvahouse's investigation of Palin before she was elected. Palin was urged by campaign lawyers to set up a legal defense fund to pay for the investigations and ethics complaints that had nothing to do with her presidential bid. 'I can confirm that she was not billed for any vetting costs by the campaign,' said Trevor Potter, the campaign's general counsel. 'I do not know if she was billed by her own lawyer for his assistance to her in the vetting process, but from the excerpt that has been read to me by the AP, it sounds as if that is what she is describing.'"

From NBC's Mark Murray
The Associated Press is the first news organization out of the gate to read Sarah Palin's new book.

According to its write-up, Palin blasts Katie Couric over that infamous Couric-Palin interview.

She writes that Couric had a "partisan agenda" and a condescending manner. Couric was "badgering," biased and far easier on Couric's Democratic counterpart, Joe Biden.

She also criticizes Charlie Gibson.

She writes that ABC newsman Charles Gibson, who had an early interview with her, seemed bored by "substantive issues" stemming from her time as governor and that while speaking with her he "peered skeptically" at her over his glasses like a disapproving principal.

Palin settles scores with the McCain campaign, alleging that they gave her a legal bill for her vetting, and that they also kept her family members away from the stage on Election Night.

[S]he says that most of her legal bills were generated defending what she called frivolous ethics complaints, but she reveals that about $500,000 was a bill she received to pay for the McCain campaign vetting her for the VP nod. She said when she asked the McCain campaign if it would help her financially, she was told McCain's camp would have paid all the bills if he'd won; since he lost, the vetting legal bills were her responsibility...

Palin laments that she wasn't allowed to bring up loads of family members to the stage while McCain gave his election night concession speech, the vice presidential candidate having found out minutes earlier that she wouldn't be permitted to give her own speech.

And she lists the books she's read in her life and calls herself a voracious reader

She remembers being a voracious reader, favorites including John Steinbeck's "The Pearl" and George Orwell's "Animal Farm."

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed Rep. Mike Capuano in the Democratic Senate primary in Massachusetts.

"[Capuano] and Pelosi are to appear together in Boston Friday morning to formalize the endorsement," writes the Boston Globe. "While Pelosi is popular with Democrats, she is a target of Republicans and conservatives. So while her backing could help Capuano, particularly against Attorney General Martha Coakley, in the Dec. 8 Democratic primary, it could hurt him among Republicans and independents if he wins the nomination and moves to the Jan. 19 special election."

In a statement, Pelosi praised Capuano's health care vote as "courageous." Remember, Coakley said she would have voted against it, because of the Stupak Amendment. Capuano at first sharply criticized Coakley for that. But the next day, he backtracked.

Five of nine members of the Massachusetts delegation have endorsed Capuano, one of their own. Rep. Nikki Tsongas has endorsed Coakley.

But don't expect the endorsement to change the trajectory of this race. Coakley is the clear frontrunner. She leads in the most recent Suffolk poll 44%-16%-16% over both Capuano and Steve Pagliuca, a Celtics owner and former Bain Capital executive -- the company of... Mitt Romney.

EMILY's List is behind Coakley. "We are strongly supporting Martha Coakley," reiterated Matt Burgess, a spokesman for the group, when asked by First Read for a reaction to Pelosi's endorsement.

Don't expect this to be a strike two with women for Pelosi, however, after the Stupak Amendment was inserted into the House health bill. Pelosi's endorsement of Capuano was widely anticipated, as Pelosi and Capuano are close. He's considered one of her lieutenants.

From NBC's Sue Kroll
At today's State Department briefing, spokesman Ian Kelly was asked about the leaked cables from U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry -- which expressed concerns about sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan -- and if they were at odds with Secretary Clinton backing the increase of more troops.

Kelly replied, "Ambassador Eikenberry has been providing this kind of advice and analysis to the president and secretary since he arrived."

A senior State Department official told reporters that Eikenberry sends messages and memos to the president and Secretary Clinton on a daily basis.

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Former President George W. Bush, in his first open-to-the press appearance, said that as the world's economies recover, they should resist the temptation to replace free markets with government spending.

Bush said he acted to funnel billions to banks because of a crisis situation. His action, he said, prevented a worldwide Depression.

(Full quotes to come.)

*** UPDATE *** NBC's Andrew Gross adds Bush's quotes: "The decision last fall was one of the most difficult of my presidency," Bush said in a speech on his vision for his presidential institute at Southern Methodist University. "I went against my free-market instincts and approved a temporary government intervention to unfreeze the credit markets so that we could avoid a major global Depression.

"As the world recovers, we are going to face a temptation to replace the risk-and-reward model of the private sector with the blunt instruments of government spending and control. History shows that the greater threat to prosperity is not too little government involvement, but too much."

Bush has also agreed to a University of Virginia project that will examine his presidency over the next five years. Bush and other administration officials will be interviewed.

A spokesperson for the university tells NBC, "The project has started and will last five years. Bush will be interviewed."

According to a university release, which is copied below in full: "Scholars of the George W. Bush Oral History Project will conduct interviews with the key figures of the Bush White House and Cabinet, as well as with outside political advisers, members of Congress and foreign leaders. The Miller Center plans to do approximately 100 interviews during the expected five-year run of the project."

Full release:

President George W. Bush Selects U.Va.'s Miller Center
To Conduct His Official Oral History, Says It Will Offer Comprehensive Look at What It Was Like to Lead during Extraordinary Challenges

President George W. Bush has selected the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia to conduct a comprehensive oral history of his presidency, the Miller Center and the George W. Bush Foundation announced today.

President Bush said, "I am delighted that the Miller Center of Public Affairs will record for history detailed interviews with key members of my administration. This oral history project will offer future generations a comprehensive look at what it was like to lead the country during some extraordinary challenges."

Scholars of the George W. Bush Oral History Project will conduct interviews with the key figures of the Bush White House and Cabinet, as well as with outside political advisers, members of Congress and foreign leaders. The Miller Center plans to do approximately 100 interviews during the expected five-year run of the project.

The Bush Oral History is a continuation of the work the Miller Center began in 1981 with its acclaimed Presidential Oral History Program, which has conducted extensive interview projects on Presidents Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Clinton. Each of these projects has been undertaken with the endorsement of the president being studied.

"We are delighted that we'll be able to continue the important work of preserving for posterity the inside history of the contemporary presidency," said Professor Russell Riley, chair of the Miller Center's Presidential Oral History Program. "Our core mission is to work cooperatively with each group of presidential alumni, encouraging them to speak candidly to history about what they saw and experienced during the White House years, so that future generations will come to understand each presidency as it actually was."

"The 43rd presidency was, by any standard, among the most consequential of all in American history. We intend to hear directly from those who led the country during an exceptional time, to find out what the Bush presidency looked like from the inside-including both its successes and failures," Riley continued.

"This Oral History will provide future generations with a portrait of the Bush Presidency in the words of those who know it best, just as the Miller Center has done with four other presidents. I am immensely proud of our Oral History Program. The Miller Center is unparalleled in its study of the modern American presidency," said Gerald L. Baliles, director of the Miller Center.

The Miller Center is the only institution in the country now conducting presidential oral histories on a continuing basis. The program's interviews are tape-recorded but kept confidential, with interviews held for release until the conclusion of each project and they are cleared by each interviewee. Typically, Miller Center interviews are conducted by a panel of nonpartisan scholars and run for a full day or more.

"Oral histories are an especially valuable complement to the paper and electronic records of the modern presidency, because much of the most important work of every White House is conducted orally," said Professor Riley. "Our oral histories also fill an important void in knowledge about each presidency caused by the long delays in opening official presidential records."

The Oral History Program's cleared interviews on Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan have already been opened to the public. Its projects on Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton are still in progress.

The program also is conducting an extensive project on the life and public career of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, which included nearly thirty interviews with the senator before his death in August. Those interviews provided the framework for Kennedy's posthumously published memoir, True Compass.

The Miller Center of Public Affairs is a leading nonpartisan public policy institution aimed at bringing together engaged citizens, scholars, members of the media and government officials to focus on issues of national importance to the governance of the United States, with a special interest in the American presidency.

From NBC's Mark Murray
The 60 Plus Association, a conservative seniors group whose national spokesman is Pat Boone, is launching a $1.5 million ad campaign targeting 15 Democratic House members who voted for the health-care legislation that passed on Saturday. 

The TV ad argues that the bill cuts Medicare by $400 million, raises taxes on small businesses, and raises insurance premiums.

[Youtube:SN5NT5_O9Is]

The AFL-CIO, which supports the legislation, quickly responded to the ad with a fact-check. It contends that none of the Medicare savings and cuts comes from reducing seniors' benefits; that only the wealthiest of Americans will be taxed in the bill and that many small businesses are exempt from the mandate to insure workers; and that the bill would cut the deficit by $100 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Here are the eight Dem members the 60 Plus Association is targeting with TV ads: Snyder (AR), Donnelly (IN), Ellsworth (IN), Hill (IN), Pomeroy (ND), Titus (NV), Perriello (VA), and Connolly (VA).  

Here are the seven Dem members it's targeting with radio ads: Berry (AR), Klein (FL), Michaud (ME), Etheridge (NC), Hodes (NH), Dahlkemper (PA), and Carney (PA).

*** UPDATE *** Greg Sargent's blog notes that the president of the firm who created the TV ad above is Larry McCarthy, who created the infamous Willie Horton ad in the '88 presidential election. The blog also notes the 60 Plus group backed George W. Bush's Social Security privatization plans.

From NBC's Ken Strickland
The Congressional Budget Office score for the Senate health care bill won't come today and is likely next week.

From NBC's Libby Leist
Today in the Philippines, Hillary Clinton was asked about Ambassador Eikenberry's cables expressing concern about a troop buildup in Afghanistan before President Karzai addresses corruption issues.
 
The Secretary of State would not share what advice she has given the president about troop numbers, but she spoke about the need for Karzai to "take action" to address corruption.
 
"We're looking to President Karzai, as he forms a new government, to take action that will demonstrate, not to the international community, but first and foremost to his own people, that his second term will respond to the needs that are so manifest," Clinton said. "And I think that the corruption issue really goes to the heart of whether the people of Afghanistan feel that the government is on their side, is working for them."