Some final observations and thoughts after an afternoon at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Committee, in Washington today:

-- I've been coming to CPAC since 1987, and this was the largest crowd I've ever seen. It was mobbed. More attendees, more exhibits.

-- Wherever he went, a crowd and camera crew followed Mitt Romney, who -- as always -- looked tan, rested and ready. I've said this before, but had he run for president in 2008 boosting his business acumen -- rather than as a new-right convert -- he would have stood a better chance at getting the nomination. Especially when John McCain self-imploded toward the end on the economy. Maybe all will be forgiven if he runs again. I couldn't stay for Romney's speech today, but I was told by more than one person that it hit all the right notes.

Continue reading "Fear And Loathing (And Buttons) At CPAC" >

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at a fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Wayne Gilchrest on Jan. 10, 2008, in Annapolis, Md. Rob Carr/AP

 

I've watched Newt Gingrich for quite a long time now. I've seen him up close when he was the noisy backbencher in the House (where he helped bring down a Democratic speaker), when he moved into the GOP congressional leadership, when he became speaker. When he overreached and was forced out.

And today, at CPAC -- the Conservative Political Action Conference -- in Washington, where he gave the noontime speech to a capacity crowd.

I'll admit I had a closer view of him in his earlier days; that period coincided with my stint covering the House for ABC News. Back then, in the late '80s, many reporters made the mistake of limiting their contacts on the Hill to Democrats; I suspect that's one reason why so many were blindsided when the Republicans took control in 1994.

Continue reading "Newt Always Seems Happier In The Opposition" >

Was it a state of the union message or wasn't it? Will DC residents wind up to be as unfortunate as the rest of us who have congressmen? Did Durbin really tell Burris to quit? Will every Republican senator tell Bunning to quit? Find out more in this week's "It's All Politics" podcast:

Credits --
Nonstop talkers: Ron Elving and Ken Rudin
Producer: Evie Stone

Wanna subscribe to the podcast? You can do it through iTunes.

Wanna hear previous episodes? Click here.

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I admit it.

I lied at last month's Blagojevich impeachment trial.

I promised I would never use a Burris campaign item in a ScuttleButton puzzle. This week, I broke that promise.

It's too late for you to be a character witness for me. But it's not too late to enter this week's contest. Simply take one word (or concept) per button, add 'em up, and whaddaya get? (The solution does not necessarily have to be political, but it could be.)

A correct answer chosen at random gets his or her name in this column. You can't use the comments box at the bottom of the page for your answer. Send submission (plus your name and city/state -- you won't win without that) to politicaljunkie@npr.org.

Note: This will be an occasionally recurring feature on the Political Junkie blog. Here's the answer to last week's puzzle.

And, by adding your name to the Political Junkie mailing list, you will be the first on your block to receive notice when a new puzzle goes up on the blog. Sign up at politicaljunkie@npr.org. Or you can make sure to get an automatic RSS feed whenever a new Junkie post goes up by clicking here.

Good luck!

Feb. 27, 1989:

Speaker Jim Wright was already the target of House conservatives who disagreed with his opposition to funding Nicaraguan Contras.

The House ethics committee begins its review of allegations against Speaker Jim Wright (D-TX), who has been under investigation for eight months over his finances. Eventually the committee will rule that Wright violated House rules.

Speaker Wright will announce to the House on May 31 that he will resign, rather than continue to fight the charges. He blamed "mindless cannibalism" by "self-appointed vigilantes" for his fate.

House Majority Leader Tom Foley, a Washington Democrat, will become the new speaker.

Today in Campaign History is a daily feature on Political Junkie.

I'm well aware of the irony in the header. After all, it's only been 200-plus years that residents of the District of Columbia have been clamoring for the right to have a voting representative in Congress. But Tuesday's vote that cleared the way for the Senate to begin deliberating on the bill -- the District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act -- is only a first step. Or, maybe, a millionth step. Whatever, it's not the final step. (The Senate passed the measure today, 61-37. More on that below.)

Congressional passage may be the easy part.

 

First, how we got to where we are now. From the beginning, when Congress designed the District as the nation's capital, residents could not vote. They got the right to vote for president in 1964 and mayor in 1975, but their representative in Congress -- officially, a delegate -- cannot vote. (That was partially changed a few years ago when Congress voted to allow the delegate, since 1991 Eleanor Holmes Norton, to vote in committee, though still not on the House floor.)

Continue reading "D.C. Vote? Not So Fast" >

Feb. 26, 1987:

Donald Regan, President Reagan's embattled chief of staff, resigns and is replaced by former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker (R-TN).

Regan's standing began crumbling as the administration became more enmeshed in the Iran-Contra scandal, in which White House officials were part of a plot to sell arms to Iran and use the profits to illegally supply Contra rebels fighting the leftist government in Nicaragua.

Baker retired from the Senate after 1984 and had been thought of as a potential presidential candidate in 1988. When he accepted the chief of staff position, it ended any aspirations for elective office.

Today in Campaign History is a daily feature on Political Junkie.

Sign up for our weekly mailing list at politicaljunkie@npr.org.

One of the problems that led Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) to withdraw from consideration as President Obama's commerce secretary was a perceived tug of war that was going on over who -- the Commerce Department or the White House -- would have control over the 2010 census, which will determine the next round of redrawing congressional districts.

The politicization of the census is not a new thing. A lot is at stake. Republicans have long been accused of favoring an undercount, which would presumably help their cause; Democrats are thought to benefit from an overcount. Neither party is altruistic in its approach. And both sides are suspicious of the other.

But if we can take politics out of the equation for a second (wait, did I really say that?), here's a less loaded question from Christopher Stearns of Olympia, Wash.:

What do you foresee as the potential for the decennial redistricting to produce by 2012 elections in the makeup of the House?

One thing we pretty much know now is what the population is going to look like on April 1, 2010, the date when those numbers will be used to apportion the House. What we don't know is what will happen in the 2010 gubernatorial and legislative elections, and that's where the politics comes in. But here's an early guess -- and it's no more than that -- of which states will gain/lose in the next round of redistricting and the number of seats we are talking about:

GAIN

Texas (+4) -- currently has 32
Arizona (+2) -- currently has 8
Florida (+1) -- currently has 25
Georgia (+1) -- currently has 13
Nevada (+1) -- currently has 3
Oregon (+1) -- currently has 5
South Carolina (+1) -- currently has 6
Utah (+1) -- currently has 3; irrespective of whether the state is part of a "deal" by which D.C. gets a voting member of the House

LOSS

Ohio (-2) -- currently has 18; one possibility is the elimination of Tim Ryan's (D) seat if he leaves to run for higher office
Illinois (-1) -- currently has 19
Iowa (-1) -- currently has 5
Louisiana (-1) -- currently has 7
Massachusetts (-1) -- currently has 10
Michigan (-1) -- currently has 15
Minnesota (-1) -- currently has 8
Missouri (-1) -- currently has 9
New Jersey (-1) -- currently has 13
New York (-1) -- currently has 29; if the Republicans win the open Kirsten Gillibrand seat in the March 31 special election, you can bet this will be the seat the Democratic state Legislature decides to eliminate
Pennsylvania (-1) -- currently has 19

This would be a Twitter tweet if I could get it down to 140 characters. I failed. But I still think the entire concept is pretty interesting:

Last night, as the first African-American president was addressing a joint session of Congress, sitting behind him was the nation's first Catholic vice president and the first female speaker of the House.

The Republican response was given by the nation's first Indian-American governor.

Today, the first African-American president nominated as his commerce secretary the nation's first Chinese-American governor.

Just sayin'.

President Obama said it best last night:

"It's the worry you wake up with and the source of sleepless nights."

Clearly, he was talking about America's inability to figure out last week's ScuttleButton puzzle.

Personally, I don't know what the problem was. All you have to do is take one word or one concept per button, add 'em up, and you arrive at a saying or a name. And, don't forget, you can't win unless you send in both your name and your city/state.

Also: The answer does not necessarily have to be political. For instance, a few puzzles back the answer was "Minnesota Twins" -- not political at all, unless you're thinking Mondale and Humphrey instead of Killebrew and Oliva.

Last week's buttons, in case you forgot:

Edward Markey for Congress -- The Massachusetts Democrat was first elected in 1976 and still serves today.

"Du" Burns for Mayor -- Clarence "Du" Burns became Baltimore's first black mayor in 1987 following the resignation of William Donald Schaefer, who was elected governor of Maryland in '86. Later that year, Burns was defeated in the mayoral primary by Kurt Schmoke, another African-American.

Sad button -- well, that's what it is.

So, when you add Markey + Du + Sad, you get ...

The Marquis de Sade, who, I understand, gave rise to sadism, sadomasochism and, even worse, ScuttleButton.

The winner, selected at random among the correct responders, is (drum roll) ... Bunny Salter of Cumming, Ga. Of course, when you combine sadism and Bunny, you get ... Fatal Attraction. But I'm not going there.

Tom Morris of Maplewood, Minn., who submitted a correct answer, wrote, "Whether Marquis de Sade is right or not, I would suggest the reason this came to mind so quickly is only a masochist would listen to your jokes repeatedly on Political Junkie." That's so mean. Maybe Minnesotans deserve only one senator.

And Janet Pickel of Pittsburgh opined that the solution was "painfully" obvious, but she added it must be "torture" trying to come up with a new puzzle each week. I must "rack my brain" trying to come up with them. Note to Tom: Remember, it could be Janet who comes up with these jokes each week.

Wanna be alerted the moment a new ScuttleButton puzzle goes up on the site? Sign up on our mailing list at politicaljunkie@npr.org.

(And as for our contest to give a genuine 1968 Nixon for President button to the first person who correctly names the next HHS secretary ... we're still waiting for an announcement just as you are.)

NPR science reporter Nell Greenfieldboyce says that defenders of volcano monitoring are erupting -- her word, don't blame me -- with quiet indignation at the idea that it is wasteful to spend money to watch out for potential geologic disasters. Here's her report:

During his response to President Obama's address to Congress, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal singled out "$140 million for something called 'volcano monitoring' " as an example of out-of-control federal spending. "Instead of monitoring volcanoes, what Congress should be monitoring is the eruption of spending in Washington, D.C.," Jindal said.

But that $140 million figure isn't accurate for volcano watching, as several blogs have already pointed out in sharply worded challenges to the idea that volcano watching is worthless. The stimulus bill allocates that amount for repair and restoration of a variety of USGS science facilities and laboratories.

Only a fraction of that money would be spent on monitoring volcanoes, says Marianne Guffanti, senior vulcanologist at the U.S. Geological Survey. "I've heard that it's going to be $15.6 million," Guffanti says, although the exact amount has not yet been finalized.

Continue reading "Jindal Comment On Volcano Monitoring Causes Some To Erupt" >

Feb. 25, 1985:

Sen. Russell Long (D-LA), first elected to the Senate in 1948 and son of the legendary Huey Long, announced he would not seek an eighth term in 1986.

The former chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Long was considered to be one of Congress' leading experts on tax policy. He was named Senate majority whip in 1965 and held the post until 1969, when he was defeated by Massachusetts' Ted Kennedy.

Republicans hoped that Long's retirement would give them a chance to win his seat, but Democrats kept it in 1986 with Rep. John Breaux.

Long died on May 9, 2003.

Today in Campaign History is a daily feature on Political Junkie.

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Our guest today for the Political Junkie segment on TOTN.

Lots to talk about in today's Political Junkie segment on NPR's Talk of the Nation:

-- The president is grim but hopeful in his address to Congress, gets good marks. Less so for Bobby Jindal's GOP response.

-- A step closer to D.C. having a vote in Congress? (Our special guest this week is Del.Eleanor Holmes Norton (D).

-- Durbin suggests that Burris consider resigning. Prediction: Burris will leave ... in January of 2011.

-- Jim Bunning's prognosis for Justice Ginsburg. What's Bunning's prognosis for re-election?

-- A look ahead to this week's CPAC meeting in Washington.

Remember, the Political Junkie segment airs every Wednesday at 2 p.m. Eastern time on Talk of the Nation, NPR's call-in program, where you can often, but not always, find interesting conversation, useless trivia questions and sparkling jokes.

And, speaking of sparkling jokes, there's this recent note from Cory Springhorn of Shoreview, Minn.:

I just listened to today's TOTN show. Your joke that Henry Clay later changed his name to Henry Ali is absolutely THE worst joke I've ever heard in all the time I've listened to you. Shame on you. Shame! Shame, shame, shame, shame, shame.

Neal Conan is off again this week; Joe Palca fills in as host.

And remember, if your local NPR station doesn't carry TOTN, you can hear the program on the Web or on HD Radio. And if you are a subscriber to XM/Sirius radio, you can find the show there as well (siriusly).

You can listen to last week's show -- with special guest Bruce Dold, editorial page editor for the Chicago Tribune -- here.

Bill Richardson said yes, then no. Judd Gregg said yes, then no.

Gary Locke said yes.

Locke, the former two-term Democratic governor of Washington, was named this morning by President Obama to be the new secretary of commerce.

Locke, first elected in 1996, is the nation's only Chinese-American to serve as governor. He was popular with both Democrats and Republicans. As commerce secretary, he will be faced with handling the 2010 census and the conversion to digital television.

The AP's Liz Sidoti reminds us that Locke was "briefly linked to the scandal over foreign contributions to President Bill Clinton's 1996 campaign":

In July 1998, he gave a deposition to the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight about his relationships with questioned Clinton donors. But the committee later said the deposition produced no evidence that Locke knowingly accepted illegal campaign donations.

Locke denied any wrongdoing, and he subsequently returned some checks tied to people implicated in the fundraising scandal, including $750 from John Huang. Huang, a former Commerce Department official, was the Democratic Party's chief fundraiser for the Asian-American population in the 1996 elections, and he became one of the central figures in the national Democratic Party fundraising scandal.

In December 1997, Locke's political committee was fined a maximum $2,500 by state regulators after it admitted breaking campaign finance laws during two out-of-state fundraisers in 1996.

And in March 1998, state investigators cleared Locke of wrongdoing following complaints that he unlawfully took $10,000 in campaign contributions from members of a Buddhist church.

On Tuesday, the Senate, by an 80-17 vote, confirmed Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA) as labor secretary. Still to come: a choice to head up health and human services.

Here's what happens when you run President Obama's speech through Wordle:

 

A sampling of reaction to President Obama's address to Congress:

Continue reading "Some Early Reax To Obama Speech" >

By Tom Gjelten

In his speech, President Obama said: "To respond to an economic crisis that is global in scope, we are working with the nations of the G-20 to restore confidence in our financial system, avoid the possibility of escalating protectionism, and spur demand for American goods in markets across the globe."

During his run for the presidency, Obama's campaign distributed stickers saying, "Buy American -- Vote for Barack Obama." He criticized John McCain for opposing legislation that mandated "Buy American" policies. An early version of the stimulus bill included a provision requiring that U.S. steel and iron be used for all federal and state transportation projects. Obama, however, signaled his opposition to any provisions that "signal protectionism." The final version of the bill, which Obama signed into law, supported "Buy American" principles but specified that they be "applied in a manner consistent with United States obligations under international agreements." That compromise language was still insufficient to satisfy China, which said the "Buy American" provision in the stimulus package was "poison to the solution" of the global economic crisis.

By Larry Abramson

In his remarks on education, President Obama is careful to place equal emphasis on more spending and on more personal responsibility. By backing a call for community service, the president is clearly answering conservative critics, who feel that government cannot address all the problems contributing to the nation's education woes. He urges parents to "put away the video games" and applauds legislation in Congress that would help pay for public service programs. And he makes a personal appeal to students to go to college, a nod to the idea that money alone cannot solve the dropout problem.

By Richard Harris

President Obama struck hard on themes he has returned to repeatedly through his campaign and his young presidency: Renewable energy creates jobs and helps the environment. In the speech, he pledged to double the nation's supply of renewable energy in the next three years. Renewables currently supply about 7 percent of the nation's energy, so doubling that will still leave the United States largely dependent on fossil fuels. But it's an ambitious agenda even so.

To do that, Obama talked about stringing "thousands of miles of new power lines" to bring renewable solar energy from the sun-soaked Southwest and wind from places like the Dakotas. The problem with renewables is largely that the energy is far from people. And the problem with new power lines is that nobody wants them running through their own yards. So this is a promise easy to make, but challenging to reach.

Wind and solar energy are also more expensive than fossil fuels. So Obama is calling for "legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution." What the president is really asking Congress to do is to increase the cost of cheap coal, oil and natural gas. Stated that way, it's a tough sell. But one idea for reducing the sting is to find a way to return at least some of that money to energy users. The huge challenge there is to make sure that poor people, who are least able to afford higher gasoline and electric prices, can receive some of the money they pay out of one pocket back into another one.

By Tom Gjelten

In his speech, President Obama said: "With our friends and allies, we will forge a new and comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan to defeat al-Qaida and combat extremism. Because I will not allow terrorists to plot against the American people from safe havens halfway around the world."

For the past three years, al-Qaida has operated from safe havens in Pakistan, along the border with Afghanistan. During his presidential campaign, Obama said he would support strikes against al-Qaida in Pakistan even without the collaboration of the Pakistani government. "If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and [Pakistani] President Musharraf will not act," Obama said, "we will."

Shortly after taking office, President Obama authorized missile strikes against al-Qaida targets in Pakistan, using unmanned Reaper aircraft directed by the CIA. That action represented a continuation of the policy of President George W. Bush. The White House has not publicly acknowledged the strikes, but senior U.S. officials say Obama personally authorized them after intelligence officials told him earlier strikes had been effective in destroying al-Qaida leadership.

By Jackie Northam

President Obama said in the battle against extremism, it is important to show the United States upholds the values it is trying to extend throughout the world. To that end, as one of his first moves in office, he signed an executive order to shut the controversial military detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In his speech, he said the United States "will seek swift and certain justice for captured terrorists, because living our values doesn't make us weaker, it makes us safer and it makes us stronger."

But the decision to close Guantanamo has opened up a whole new set of problems. They include an increasingly public spat between the administration and many communities with military or maximum security prisons that are being considered to hold suspected terrorists who leave Guantanamo. The Obama administration will also have to decide if it wants to continue the policy of "preventive detention" -- holding suspected terrorists who the United States says are too dangerous to release but whom it doesn't have enough evidence to prosecute.

Obama says unequivocally that the United States does not torture. But even though the secret overseas CIA prisons where detainees were once held -- and allegedly tortured -- are now closed, they can be reopened temporarily if the president feels it is warranted.

For the most part, both Democrats and Republicans have given President Obama standing ovations for his goals.

But there was a noticeable bit of partisanship and gamesmanship at one point in his speech. After the president said we have a "responsibility to ensure that we do not pass on to them a debt they cannot pay," Mr. Obama began his next sentence with, "With the deficit we inherited ..."

At that point Democrats immediately jumped to their feet in approval.

By Jackie Northam

President Obama says the U.S. is showing the world that a new era of engagement has begun, one that will help with the global economic crisis and tackle serious foreign policy issues. He says, "We know that America cannot meet the threats of this century alone, but the world cannot meet them without America."

Certainly the administration has made clear that it is willing to listen more, rather than just dictate, to its allies and perhaps its enemies. The newly installed secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, quickly named and dispatched representatives to areas with the greatest foreign policy challenges. George Mitchell, as a special envoy to the Middle East, is already on his second visit to the region. And Richard Holbrooke just wrapped up a 10-day visit to Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. Dennis Ross was appointed special adviser on the Gulf states and southwest Asia, which includes Iran.

The administration understands the problems of these regions will not be solved quickly. But Obama is keen to show that his administration will undo the "go it alone" attitude of the past eight years.

By Julie Rovner

President Obama still has no one named to fill the top health care slots in his administration, but that didn't stop him from vowing to press ahead with what he called a "historic commitment to comprehensive health care reform" that will be included in the budget document due out Thursday. And he challenged Congress to move swiftly on the politically perilous issue that has defied solution for more than a century. "Health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year," he said.

As the president acknowledged in his speech, "I suffer no illusions that this will be an easy process." That is an understatement. In recent weeks, Obama has lost his leader in the health overhaul effort, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. Daschle was to have served as both secretary of health and human services and head of a new White House Office on Health Reform, but he was forced to withdraw in the wake of tax and conflict-of-interest issues. And one of the leaders of the effort in Congress, Edward Kennedy (D-MA)., the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has been slower to return to work than expected following treatment for a malignant brain tumor.

At the same time, House and Senate Republicans are feeling bruised by the way Democrats muscled through Congress both the economic stimulus and children's health insurance bills that the new administration counts as its major legislative achievements. Those measures may, as the president said in this speech, "have done more to advance the cause of health care reform in the last 30 days than we have in the last decade." But they did not help the cause of bipartisanship.

If there was any question that President Obama was going to focus on the teetering economy, his early comments erased that. But he gave an upbeat assessment:

You don't need to hear another list of statistics to know that our economy is in crisis, because you live it every day. It's the worry you wake up with and the source of sleepless nights. It's the job you thought you'd retire from but now have lost; the business you built your dreams upon that's now hanging by a thread; the college acceptance letter your child had to put back in the envelope. The impact of this recession is real, and it is everywhere.

But while our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken; though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this:

We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.

By Yuki Noguchi

President Obama's planned remarks talk a great deal about getting lending restarted. "Credit has stopped flowing the way it should," the president says. "Too many bad loans from the housing crisis have made their way onto the books of too many banks." He advocates a broad set of new regulations to make sure overzealous lending doesn't encourage living beyond one's means.

The president touts his foreclosure-relief program, which he says could help millions of "responsible" families facing mortgage foreclosure. In the prepared remarks, he also says allowing homeowners to refinance at lower rates, even if their property values have declined, could save an average family nearly $2,000 a year on the mortgage.

But experts say that determining who among these homeowners is "responsible" is a difficult task. There are many who borrowed just beyond their means and many who've fallen behind on payments. It's unclear where the government will draw the line on who can be helped by the program. Eligibility details will be released March 4.

First thing I noticed: President Obama has spent at least half of his trek to the podium shaking hands with Republicans. Earlier, when Transportation Ray LaHood (a former Republican House member) walked down that same path, he spent more time getting handshakes from Democrats.

And a long, heartfelt hug between the president and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who recently had cancer surgery.

By John Ydstie

In remarks prepared for his first appearance before a joint session of Congress, President Obama harshly criticizes the business and political culture that contributed to the nation's current economic woes. The president describes an era where "short-term gains were prized over long-term prosperity; where regulations were gutted for the sake of a quick profit at the expense of a healthy market."

The president says that it is now time "not only to revive this economy, but to build a new foundation for lasting prosperity." Obama says that the budget documents he will send to Congress over the next few days won't be just a laundry list of programs but "a vision for America -- a blueprint for our future." With high approval ratings in the polls and a populist backlash against the excesses of the past decade, the president appears to be in a strong position to take on the task of reform.

There is always one member of the Cabinet who is kept away from a president's speech to a joint session of Congress, in the event an untold disaster hits the House chamber.

For tonight's speech, it will be Attorney General Eric Holder.

By Mary Louise Kelly

President Obama wants to show he's making tough choices on the defense budget, even with two wars going on. He does not want to shortchange the troops in Iraq or Afghanistan. Instead, Obama is signaling that he'll slash expensive, high-tech weapons systems. As he puts it in his address to Congress, in excerpts released before the speech, we'll "reform our defense budget so that we're not paying for Cold War-era weapons systems we don't use."

Obama does not get into the specifics of which Cold War-era weapons programs might be scaled back. But within the Pentagon, the talk is that several big ticket items may be in trouble, among them the F-22 fighter jet, the Army's Future Combat System and the Virginia-class attack submarine. And then there's the new fleet of high-tech presidential helicopters that Obama has called an example of military procurement "gone amok."

Such talk is not popular, of course, with defense contractors. They argue that cutting weapons programs will mean cutting jobs across the country.

By John Ydstie

Saying that "the day of reckoning has arrived" and that it is time for Americans to "take charge" of their future, President Obama is offering more details on his pledge to cut federal deficits in half by the end of his four-year term. In excerpts released before the speech, he says his administration's review of the budget has already identified $2 trillion in savings over the next decade, including ending education programs that don't work and ending direct payments to large agribusinesses. Obama also pledges to eliminate "the no-bid contracts that have wasted billions in Iraq."

Cutting the deficit in half over the next four years will be a huge challenge, especially with the U.S. economy still sliding downward and prospects for a recovery unlikely until late this year. Many economists, and even the president himself, have suggested the recovery will be slow and happen over several years. That means incomes for workers may take time to recover and tax revenues will lag. Add to that shortfall the political difficulty of ending programs like farm subsidies, and the task of cutting deficits in half is daunting. Some economists are predicting that deficits in the range of the $1 trillion-plus predicted for this year will continue for the next decade.

Please, please, let's not do 2012 just yet.

I now know why tonight's Republican response by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is so important: It will help him with the GOP presidential nomination in 2012.

Am I the only one who thinks that's just nuts?

And yet, I've been hearing that constantly over the past couple of days. Bloggers are weighing how tonight could affect his chances for the nomination. Now, I understand the desire to write whatever comes into your head -- see Junkie, Political -- but seriously. Republicans not only need to recover not only from the 2006 and 2008 elections but need to regain the confidence of the American people. And it's not about 2012.

Continue reading "The Jindal Response: Republicans Need A Boost Now, Not For 2012" >

By Larry Abramson

Throughout the night, NPR reporters will offer analysis of President Obama's speech.

In excerpts made available before President Obama's address to Congress, the president promises: "In this budget, we will end education programs that don't work..."

If the president's stimulus package is any guide, the Obama administration is not rushing to change the way education money is spent. Much of the approximately $115 billion devoted to education will either prevent layoffs or funnel money through existing programs devoted to teaching low-income and disabled students. The stimulus bill does give the education secretary new power to dole out roughly $5 billion in "incentive grants" focused on education reform, but that is a small fraction of the overall budget for education in the U.S. That said, there's much more spending to come. Obama plans to unveil the broad parameters of his first annual budget on Thursday.

During Sunday night's Academy Awards, whenever Jennifer Anniston was speaking from the stage, cameras would invariably switch to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. A bit crass but hardly unexpected.

Now, another ceremony comes tonight to Washington, in the House chamber.

And it got me thinking: Who gets the most cutaways tonight during the president's address to Congress? Will it be Roland Burris, the embattled senator from Illinois? Judd Gregg, the New Hampshire Republican senator who changed his mind about joining the Cabinet? Congressman Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota, whom I'm mentioning here only because I don't believe I've ever typed his name since he was first elected in 1992?

A waste of time? Perhaps. But think of the alternative. You know we're going to once again be thrilled to hear about Eliot Engel, the New York Democratic congressman who gets to the chamber four days early to stake out a position on the aisle so he can be seen shaking the president's hand. Boy, I never tire of that story.

And did you know that Engel, who is from the Bronx, roots for the Mets over the Yankees? What's with this guy?? You don't see the MSM focusing on that!

You can vote! Predict who gets the most camera cutaways in the comments section below. C'mon, what else are you going to do between now and 9 p.m.?

Throughout the evening, there will be the obligatory television pictures directed at what is called the "First Lady's Box" -- those privileged to be sitting with Michelle Obama.

But who are they?

Here's the list:

Continue reading "Who Are Those People With The First Lady?" >

We will be updating this blog all evening for analysis of President Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress, plus offer a "truth squadding" by NPR correspondents.

The speech begins shortly after 9 pm ET and is expected to run about 45 minutes, 50 with applause.

This just in: Following a closed-door meeting with his fellow Illinois Democrat, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin told Roland Burris that if he were in his position, he would consider resigning. According to Durbin, he was rebuffed.

Burris has been in hot water since admitting he met with representatives of then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich and in fact attempted to raise money for him, as per the governor's request. This while Burris made it clear to the governor's people he wanted to be considered for the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama. Burris' belated admission came after assuring Durbin and other Democrats that his conversations with people associated with Blagojevich -- who was removed from office on Jan. 29 -- were far more limited than he later let on.

Unlike Burris, who has not been heard from since the meeting, Durbin came out late this afternoon and spoke to reporters, who were camped outside the meeting room on Capitol Hill. He talked about how disappointed he was when he learned about Burris' conversation with Blagojevich's brother about raising funds for the gov and his less-than-frank initial declaration about whom he spoke with.

If Durbin told Burris flat out that he should resign, I didn't hear it. Durbin did say, "If I were in his shoes, I would consider resigning." Which, politically, is just as damning.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D), two Democratic members of the Illinois congressional delegation and the editorial page of the Chicago Tribune, among others, have called on Burris to resign.

Feb. 24, 1981:

The House declared Maryland's 5th Congressional District vacant. The seat had been held since 1975 by Gladys Noon Spellman (D), who had been in a semiconscious state since suffering a heart attack the previous October. Nonetheless, she was re-elected to a fourth term in November with more than 80 percent of the vote.

The House took the action when it became apparent that Spellman would never recover. Steny Hoyer, a state legislator, won the seat in a special May election. He continues to hold the seat today.

Spellman was comatose for the rest of her life. She died on June 19, 1988.

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Host

David Gura, assistant editor of NPR's Talk of the Nation

 

 

 

Chat Participants

Ken Rudin, political editor

 

 

 

Scott Horsley, White House correspondent

 

 

 

Mike Memoli, blogger for Real Clear Politics' Politics Nation

 

 

At noon ET you can take part in the latest installment of our Tuesday Web chats on the latest news in politics. It comes just nine hours before President Obama gives an address to a joint session of Congress.

While the president's speech is likely to focus on the economy, and his plans to fix it, other issues, such as administration initiatives in health care, energy and climate change, could come up.

What do you want to hear from the president? What would you ask him if you could? What role should Republicans play in the opposition?

You can submit questions for the chat now in the comments section below. We'll also be taking your questions live during the chat.

Answer: Because he said so.

And that's good enough for us.

Lots of people have been asking that question about tomorrow night's speech by President Obama before a joint session of Congress.

First, here's what we know about a State of the Union address. The Constitution says that the president "shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." It doesn't say anything about giving it every year, or in the year of his inauguration. Nothing about the TV networks clearing their schedule.

Continue reading "Why Isn't Obama's Speech A State Of The Union Address?" >

Socks is dead.

The death of Socks, the White House first feline during the Clinton administration, was announced Friday night by Betty Currie, who was secretary to the 42nd president and who had kept the cat since the Clintons departed 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in 2001. He was thought to be around 18.

Last year Currie said that Socks had cancer. The cat had a famous dust-up with Buddy, the Clintons' dog, on the South Lawn in 1998. The two pets were the subject of Hillary Clinton's book of children's letters to the pair, titled Dear Socks, Dear Buddy.

Socks' death followed that of India, the White House cat during the Bush administration. India died on Jan. 4, also at 18.

In memory of the two cats, let us now paws and reflect.

Feb. 23, 1983:

Former Florida Gov. Reubin Askew declares his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination. Once considered a rising star in the party -- he was the keynote speaker at the 1972 Democratic convention and turned down George McGovern's offer to be his running mate that year -- Askew's White House bid comes after being out of electoral office since 1978, though he also served as U.S. trade representative in the Carter administration.

By the time Askew decided to run for president, most voters had no idea who he was. Opposed to abortion rights, he failed to make headway with conservative Democrats in Iowa. On March 1, after a disappointing last-place finish in the New Hampshire primary, Askew ended his bid.

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Back in 2006, in one of my more self-indulgent Political Junkie columns, I wrote about how I came to political journalism. It's 1982, I'm walking out of my apartment building in Fort Lee, N.J., I run into CBS' Charles Osgood (who is waiting for a cab), I tell him it's my dream to cover campaigns for CBS, he gives me a phone number of someone to call.

That someone was Warren Mitofsky, then the head of the CBS polling unit. He died in September of 2006, which prompted the trip down memory lane in my column.

Warren became a friend, and a big fan of Political Junkie, but he never hired me to work at CBS.

Not long after my interview with him, I was driving to a -- God, I hope you've filled up on caffeine before reading this entry -- political memorabilia show in Bordentown, N.J., with Ben Blank. Ben was a longtime collector friend of mine from Teaneck, N.J., who was graphics director for ABC News, and we often drove to those shows together. Ben said he had a lot of people I could talk to at ABC, and I followed up on those leads.

Ben Blank headed up the grahics dept. at CBS and then ABC News. These press badges were part of his operation. Ben died on Feb. 3 at 87.

 

The leads proved fruitful. I was hired as a political researcher for ABC News in New York in 1983 and was transferred to Washington in 1986 as the deputy political director. In 1991 I was hired by National Public Radio -- not only a premier news organization but, I should add, the answer to last week's ScuttleButton puzzle -- as its first political editor. I left in 1994 to run the Hotline and then returned to NPR in '98. And now you know everything about me.

But it began, in all seriousness, with that conversation on the New Jersey Turnpike in 1982 with my friend Ben Blank.

Ben died earlier this month at 87. Another collector friend sent me the obituary written by Jay Levin in the Bergen Record. I saw the headline, stopped in my tracks, and sat as my mind wandered back to all those times I visited him in his amazing office at ABC in New York, and how he, more than anyone else, was initially responsible for my entrance into political journalism. His life, as recounted by Jay Levin and later by Steven Heller in the New York Times, talked about his long career in television news graphics, first at CBS (1953-62), then at ABC from 1962 until his retirement 30 years later. Heller's obit ends with a fun story about Ben being asked about tabloid claims that the space program was all a hoax filmed on a movie lot. Ben's response: "You know, we could have done it all with graphics. All they had to do was ask."

The two obituaries had it all, except for how he facilitated my start in journalism.

A good guy with a wonderful sense of humor, Ben Blank will be missed. He will always have my gratitude for his help and his friendship.

At a press conference, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn calls for the resignation of Senator Roland Burris.Scott Olson/Getty Images

 

Add Pat Quinn to the list.

The Illinois governor is the latest to call for Sen. Roland Burris, his fellow Democrat, to resign. The growing chant comes in the wake of Burris' admission that he was in contact with emissaries of then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich about the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama, an appointment that Burris wanted. Burris also conceded that he was asked to raise money for Blagojevich and that he tried, though coming up empty-handed.

Blagojevich, arrested on corruption charges Dec. 9, appointed Burris to the seat on Dec. 30. The governor was impeached by the Illinois state House on Jan. 9 and convicted and removed from office by the state Senate 20 days later.

Quinn, who became governor upon Blagojevich's conviction, said today that Burris should resign "as quickly as possible for the best interest of Illinois. This should not be a matter that takes weeks." Quinn also asked state lawmakers to give him the power to appoint a temporary successor until a special election could be held, probably within 115 days. The temporary successor would be a placeholder only and not run for the seat.

Quinn's call follows that of the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune and two Democratic members of Congress from Illinois, Jan Schakowsky and Phil Hare.

Behind the scenes, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin is thought to be putting as much pressure on his fellow Illinois senator as possible. Durbin is also thought be backing state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias for the job.

Nobody seems to be happy with the new budget California lawmakers passed and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed. A lot of draconian budget cuts and tax increases.

They could have done what I did: make some recent ScuttleButton puzzles so easy that everyone would have come away feeling happy about themselves.

But if people in the Golden State are going to have to suffer with the new reality, then so should those who play the button puzzle. And so no easy stuff this week.

How to play: take one word (or concept) per button, add 'em up, and whaddaya get? The solution does not necessarily have to be political, but it could be.

A correct answer chosen at random gets his or her name in this column. You can't use the comments box at the bottom of the page for your answer. Send submission (plus your name and city/state -- you won't win without that) to politicaljunkie@npr.org.

Note: This will be an occasionally recurring feature on the Political Junkie blog. Here's the answer to last week's puzzle.

And, by adding your name to the Political Junkie mailing list, you will be the first on your block to receive notice when a new puzzle goes up on the blog. Sign up at politicaljunkie@npr.org.

Good luck!

Feb. 20, 1979:

Voters in Wisconsin's 6th Congressional District nominate two state senators -- Republican Tom Petri and Democrat Gary Goyke -- to run for the seat of Rep. William Steiger (R), who died last December.

Among the candidates Petri defeats in the GOP primary is state Rep. Tommy Thompson, who would later become a four-term governor and serve in President George W. Bush's Cabinet.

Petri will go on to defeat Goyke in the April 1979 general election by just 1,200 votes out of 142,000 cast. He was elected to his 15th full term last November with 64 percent of the vote.

(Seriously, what other blog can give you such dramatic moments in political history like this one?)

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Roland Burris changed his story. Judd Gregg changed his mind. And Roy Blunt wants a change in job. All that, and more, in this week's "It's All Politics" podcast:

Credits --
Nonstop talkers: Ron Elving and Ken Rudin
Producer: Evie Stone

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Wanna know why Alex Rodriguez is the only name to surface of those baseball players who failed a steroids test in 2003, when the list apparently includes 103 players? Me too.

Michael Louisell of Kalamazoo, Mich., asks a question that we'd all like to know the answer to:

When is the Minnesota Senate race likely to be decided?

Don't hold me to this, but I'm guessing sometime before 2010. A more serious answer is that, in the wake of some judicial decisions that went against Norm Coleman, the former Republican senator whose term expired Jan. 3, it may be just a matter of time before Al Franken, the Democratic candidate, joins Amy Klobuchar (D) as one of Minnesota's two senators. But every time we think we're close to a resolution, something else happens.

(For example: A Political Junkie post on Feb. 5 was titled "New Life for Norm Coleman in Minnesota?")

Earlier this week, a three-judge panel rejected Coleman's request to reconsider its earlier decision eliminating 13 of the Republican's 19 categories of previously rejected absentee ballots he felt merited a second look by the judges. But the panel still has to review about 3,300 to 3,500 ballots, more than enough to eat away at Franken's 225-vote lead. There's no telling, however, which candidate would win those votes, should they ultimately be counted.

Some speculate that the Coleman legal team (led by noted GOP lawyer Ben Ginsberg) is attempting to continue the process until everyone decides the only way out is for a do-over -- a new election. That's exactly what happened more than three decades ago in a New Hampshire Senate race. I still can't see that happening, but don't discount the possibility of Coleman taking his challenge all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

If there was any question of what's at stake here, it was erased during last Friday night's Senate vote on the economic stimulus package. Democrats kept the vote open for five hours, waiting for Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) to return from his mother's funeral to cast the deciding vote in favor of the measure. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), gravely ill with a brain tumor, could not make the vote. Every seat is extremely crucial, and both sides know it.

(And, on a peripheral matter, you can forget about the Senate mustering a two-thirds vote to expel Illinois' Roland Burris. First of all, no senator has been expelled since the Civil War. Second of all, proving he committed perjury is dicey at best. And finally, the Senate is not going to kick out its only African-American member.)

It's been over 3 1/2 months since the election. Before anyone wonders if this is the longest drawn-out Senate race in history, that previously mentioned 1974 New Hampshire race -- which came up in one of our posts yesterday -- went far longer. It wasn't until July 30, 1975 -- more than eight months after the election -- that the Senate voted to declare the seat vacant and call for a new election.

So, if you're looking for history, you've got a while yet. Let's see how long Minnesota voters stay patient.

Burris first ran for senator in 1984. His slogan back then does have some irony today.

Roland Burris, in the Senate all of 35 days (as of this writing), is under pressure to resign (see yesterday's post on the subject). And that has led to a bunch of questions from The Reader. Jerry Stephens of Oklahoma City sends in this one:

Would you comment on the brevity of some U.S. senatorial careers? It seems Sen. Burris may be on the way out. That would be, what, about five or six weeks. Would that be the shortest senatorial tenure in our political history?

Similarly, this question from Carl Malmstrom of Chicago:

With the possible demise of my state's junior senator after less than five weeks in office, I find myself wondering: What is the record for shortest-serving senator in U.S. history? By this, I ask what senator served the least amount of time after being sworn in? In other words, I'm not counting those, like Mel Carnahan, who won their elections posthumously. I also don't care whether he or she was elected or appointed and whether or not he or she ever cast a vote, just the shortest turnaround from (initial) swearing-in to leaving or being removed from office. My father is tremendously curious to know the answer to this as well.

As for Jerry's question, there have been many brief Senate careers in recent years. They arrived mostly by appointment following a vacancy, and for the most part did not run again when their term was up. Here's a list of some whose tenure was less than a year:

-- Nicholas Brady (R-NJ). Brady was appointed in April of 1982 following the resignation of Sen. Harrison Williams, a Democrat who was convicted in the Abscam affair. Brady served 8 1/2 months but didn't run for the job when his term expired later that year. In 1988 he was named Treasury secretary by President Reagan.

-- Sheila Frahm (R-KS). Frahm was appointed to fill the seat of Bob Dole, who decided it would help his presidential campaign to resign from the Senate. Frahm, appointed in June 1996, was defeated two months later in the GOP primary by Rep. Sam Brownback. Her term lasted 5 1/2 months.

-- Bob Krueger (D-TX). Krueger, a former Texas representative, was named to succeed Lloyd Bentsen, who became President Clinton's Treasury secretary. Krueger was defeated in the special 1993 election by Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison. His term lasted less than five months.

-- Elaine Edwards (D-LA). Edwards was appointed by her husband, Gov. Edwin Edwards, following the 1972 death of Sen. Allen Ellender (D). Serving 3 1/2 months, she never ran for office.

-- Jocelyn Burdick (D-ND). Burdick was appointed to replace her husband, Sen. Quentin Burdick, who died in 1992. She served less than three months and never ran for office.

-- Dean Barkley (I-MN). Barkley, a longtime member of Minnesota's Reform Party, was appointed by Gov. Jesse Ventura (I) following the death of Sen. Paul Wellstone (D) shortly before the 2002 elections. Barkley served 59 days. He was the answer to yesterday's trivia question on the Political Junkie segment on NPR's Talk of the Nation.

Carl's question is interesting. The Senate Historical Office, when queried about the shortest Senate tenure in history, lists Rebecca Felton of Georgia, who was appointed in October of 1922 following the death of Sen. Tom Watson. Felton, 87, was the oldest person ever appointed to the Senate, the first woman, and -- according to the Senate office -- served in the Senate for just one day. That is, President Warren Harding called the Senate into a special session in November. Felton gave a brief speech on Nov. 21, 1922 -- predicting, interestingly, that many more women would eventually come to the Senate -- and then gave up her seat to Walter George (D), who had been elected to the seat earlier in the month.

But while Felton only served in the Senate for a day, she was actually in office from Oct. 3 until Nov. 21-- seven weeks. Not the shortest tenure.

And that title might go to New Hampshire's Louis Wyman. As Alan Fox of East Lansing, Mich., reminds us, Wyman was the GOP candidate in the 1974 Senate race in New Hampshire for the seat being vacated by Republican Norris Cotton. That race, as many junkies might remember, was for the longest time too close to call. Cotton resigned the seat a few days early, on Dec. 31. Gov. Mel Thomson (R) then appointed Wyman to complete the term -- all two days of it (Jan. 1 and 2).

Eventually, the Senate threw up its hands on trying to decide who won between Wyman and Democrat John Durkin. They declared the seat vacant and called for a special election, for September 1975, which Durkin won.

Feb. 19, 1975:

The Senate Rules Committee votes to recount about 3,500 votes in the still-disputed 1974 Senate election between former Rep. Louis Wyman (R) and John Durkin (D). The ruling was not considered good news for Wyman, who wanted a complete recount of all 223,000 votes cast back in November.

Ultimately the Senate will declare the seat vacant and, in September, Durkin will win the seat in a special election.

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Allegations that Roland Burris failed to disclose that he received the answers to ScuttleButton puzzles in advance may ultimately end his Senate career. It's the kind of lapse that lawmakers are not known to condone.

But until they trace the leaks to us, we continue with the contest. And here's how to play: Just take one word or one concept per button, add 'em up, and you arrive at a saying or a name. And, don't forget, you can't win unless you send in both your name and your city/state.

Also: The answer does not necessarily have to be political. For instance, a few puzzles back the answer was "Minnesota Twins" -- not political at all, unless you're thinking Mondale and Humphrey instead of Killebrew and Oliva.

Last week's puzzle was neither political nor especially difficult to solve.

Those buttons, in case you forgot:

Nash for Secretary of State -- from California.

Annul Joe Kennedy -- A lot of reader queries on this one. Joe Kennedy, son of the late New York Sen. Robert Kennedy, was a Democratic congressman from Massachusetts. In 1991, Joe divorced his wife. She later learned that he had gotten the marriage annulled by the Vatican so he could have a church marriage with his second wife (whom he married in a civil ceremony in '91). Sheila Rauch, his ex-wife, was outraged that the church could decide that the marriage never happened even after 12 years and two children, and in 1997 she wrote a memoir detailing her side of the story. The "annul" button came out shortly after. Kennedy, who was thought to have eyes on the governorship, decided to retire from electoral politics after 1998.

No Public Financing for Politicians -- This button came from the New York Conservative Party in 1974.

Radio and T.V./Keating -- Kenneth Keating was a one-term Republican senator from New York who was defeated for re-election in 1964 by Bobby Kennedy.

So, when you add Nash + Annul + Public + Radio, you get ...

National Public Radio, that left-wing/right-wing/anti-Republican/Bush apologist (according to my e-mails) news organization that has employed me, for better or worse, since 1991.

The winner, selected at random among the correct responders, is (drum roll) ... Kathryn Nulk of Eleva, Wis. She becomes the first ScuttleButton winner in history to come from Eleva, Wis.

Wanna be alerted the moment a new ScuttleButton puzzle goes up on the site? Sign up on our mailing list at politicaljunkie@npr.org.

(And as for our contest to give a genuine 1968 Nixon for President button to the first person who correctly names the next HHS secretary ... we are expecting to announce that winner next week.)

As bad as the circus surrounding Rod Blagojevich got -- and, let's face it, it got pretty bad -- one thing was widely heard throughout all of it: At least Roland Burris is an honest guy.

Once Blagojevich, then the governor of Illinois, was arrested Dec. 9 on corruption charges -- one of them alleging that he wanted to sell a vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder -- Democratic leaders in Washington said that even if the governor were brazen enough to still go ahead and name someone to fill Barack Obama's seat, they still wouldn't accept the appointment.

Blagojevich went ahead anyway, naming Burris on Dec. 30. Senate Democrats -- led by Majority Leader Harry Reid and Whip Dick Durbin (and backed by the president-elect) -- tried to prevent it, coming up with what they claimed was a constitutional barrier. That went nowhere. Ultimately, they threw up their hands, said OK, Roland, you win. But first, you must testify at Blagojevich's impeachment trial in Springfield. Tell them all about your contacts with the governor or representatives of the governor.

On Jan. 5, Burris sent a sworn affidavit to the impeachment committee that "there was not any contact" between himself and anyone associated with the governor. Three days later, appearing before the committee in person, his story changed a bit. In answer to a question, Burris acknowledged that he'd had a conversation with a former chief of staff to the governor and his interest in the Senate seat did come up.

On Jan. 15, Burris was sworn in as a senator. Exactly two weeks later, the impeached Blagojevich was convicted by the state Senate and removed from office.

Fast forward to earlier this month. Burris sent a "supplemental affidavit" to the impeachment committee, saying that he spoke to many Blagojevich allies about the Senate seat, including Robert Blagojevich, the governor's brother and chief fundraiser. The brother even asked Burris if he could do some fundraising for the governor, but Burris said he couldn't.

As if that weren't damning enough, now we learn this week that Burris actually attempted to raise money for Blago. While he was hoping to be appointed to the Senate! He didn't raise any money. But still ...

Why Burris decided this week to reveal that bit of information is part of the mystery. Many feel that he must have figured that Robert Blagojevich's phone calls were probably monitored by the feds, though he denies this. No matter. The Senate Ethics Committee in Washington has opened a preliminary inquiry (which is perfunctory), and Sangamon County State's Attorney John Schmidt (with jurisdiction in Springfield) has begun a perjury investigation of his own.

Today the Chicago Tribune editorially called on Burris to resign:

The benefit of the doubt had already been stretched thin and taut by the time Roland Burris offered his third version of the events leading to his appointment to the U.S. Senate. It finally snapped like a rubber band, popping him on that long Pinocchio nose of his, when he came out with version four. ... The story gets worse with every telling.

Enough. Roland Burris must resign.

The Washington Post had a similar editorial today.

Not leaving. In a long-scheduled speech today at the Chicago City Club, Burris said everyone should "stop the rush to judgment." He took no questions. (My favorite Burris line from his speech: "A new wind is blowing across Washington." He clearly missed the irony.)

D.C. Dems. They're in wait-and-see mode, but neither Reid nor Durbin (who is in Greece) hid his disappointment. It's as if they knew from the beginning that anyone who was in any way connected to Blagojevich was tainted.

Opponents. Right now the one Democrat who looks most likely to jump into the 2010 race is state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, who interestingly is in Greece this week with Durbin. Two members of Congress, Reps. Jan Schakowsky and Danny Davis, clearly want to be senator, but would they take Burris on in the primary? Also mentioned is state Attorney General Lisa Madigan, but the feeling all along is that she wants to be governor. (And who knows if Pat Quinn, the Democrat who succeeded Blagojevich as governor, will run for the job ... though the guess is that he will.)

And what about Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.? His name once headed the list of those likely to succeed Obama in the Senate. But now his name may be more sullied than anyone else's in the wake of the Blagojevich seat-selling scandal (other than Burris', that is).

Waiting in the wings is likely to be Rep. Mark Kirk, a moderate Republican from Chicago's north suburbs. Given the farcical nature of Democratic politics in Illinois these past 10 weeks, Kirk could win the seat in November.

Primary colors. Adding to the mystery is the uncertainty over when the 2010 primary will take place. Held on the third Tuesday in March as long as I can remember, lawmakers moved it up to early February in 2007 in an effort to give Barack Obama a boost in his presidential bid. It is currently scheduled for Feb. 2, 2010. But now Gov. Quinn is hinting that he may want to move it back to September. He says the campaign season is too long with an early primary. Others say the reason he wants to move the date is to give him more of an opportunity to win over doubters in his own party that he's up for the job of governor.

Once upon a time, Durbin was among those who called for a special election to fill the Senate seat. Other Democrats, both in Washington and Springfield, fearing they could lose the seat that way, quickly shot it down. Is this any better?

Feb. 18, 1974:

In a special congressional election, Richard Vander Veen wins the House seat vacated by now-Vice President Gerald Ford in Michigan's 5th District.

Vander Veen is the first Democrat to win the seat since 1910, and the result is widely seen as a repudiation of President Nixon and his role in the Watergate scandal. It's also regarded as a sign of bad things to come for the GOP in 1974. And it was.

Vander Veen defeated state Senate Majority Leader Richard Vander Laan (R), 51 to 44 percent. The seat had been held by Ford for the past quarter-century.

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Lots to talk about in today's Political Junkie segment on NPR's Talk of the Nation:

-- The stimulus package wins, but whither bipartisanship?

-- And what was Judd Gregg thinking?

-- Discrepancies in Roland Burris' accounts lead to ethics investigations in Washington and Springfield.

Remember, the Political Junkie segment airs every Wednesday at 2 p.m. Eastern time on Talk of the Nation, NPR's call-in program, where you can often, but not always, find interesting conversation, useless trivia questions and sparkling jokes.

Neal Conan is off this week; Lynn Neary fills in as host. Today's special guest: Bruce Dold, editorial page editor of the Chicago Tribune, which today called for Burris' resignation.

And remember, if your local NPR station doesn't carry TOTN, you can hear the program on the Web or on HD Radio. And if you are a subscriber to XM/Sirius radio, you can find the show there as well (siriusly).

You can listen to last week's show -- with special guest John Dingell -- here.

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Or you can subscribe to Junkie via an RSS feed here.

Back in 2005, when things were much different from what they are now -- Republicans controlled both the White House and Congress and, even more dramatic, Political Junkie was a weekly column -- Nancy Pelosi had a favorite catchphrase: the ongoing "culture of corruption" in Congress.

Her rogues' gallery was not insignificant. Tom DeLay. Bob Ney. Duke Cunningham. Throw in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal and the later Mark Foley sex scandal, and what you have -- what Pelosi and the Democrats had -- was an argument to end GOP control of Congress. (See the Dec. 2, 2005, Political Junkie column.)

It was not just the corruption. The war in Iraq and the government's response to Hurricane Katrina were big factors as well. But Election Day 2006 brought Democrats to majorities in both houses of Congress, made Pelosi speaker of the House, and set the stage for Barack Obama's election as president two years later.

And what of the issue of corruption? I'll let you decide.

For the record, this isn't a game, or a contest, over which scandal was worse, or which party was or is more corrupt. The goal here is not to compare 2005 to 2009. We don't even know if what's going on now will reach the "scandal" level. But there are some troubling things worth discussing.

A lobbying firm with close ties to Murtha was raided in November.

Back in November, federal investigators raided the offices of the PMA Group, a major D.C. lobbying firm, as part of an investigation into alleged improper campaign contributions. PMA is known for helping clients receive multimillion-dollar earmarks from congressional legislation. The firm has close ties to Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), a powerful member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee who for more than three decades in Congress has helped direct projects and largess to his district in western Pennsylvania. PMA founder Paul Magliocchetti once worked for Murtha on the Appropriations Committee. According to Taxpayers for Common Sense, Murtha arranged $38 million in earmarks for PMA clients in the past fiscal year. The firm's executives and clients are among Murtha's biggest sources of campaign contributions.

Another firm, the defense contractor Kuchera Industries -- located in Murtha's hometown of Johnstown, Pa. -- was also raided, in January. Kuchera has received millions of dollars in defense contracts over the years. It too has close ties to Murtha.

The New York Times' David Kirkpatrick writes that federal prosecutors are looking to see if PMA "may have funneled bogus campaign contributions" to not only Murtha but two other Democratic House members, Jim Moran of Virginia and Peter Visclosky of Indiana. A Murtha spokesman has said the congressman is not a target of the investigation and the two raids do not involve him.

That may be so. But everyone is aware that both raids were on entities with close ties to Murtha, whose own ethics questions date back to the Abscam scandal of 1980, when he was approached by FBI agents posing as businessmen offering bribes and who said, on videotape, "I'm not interested -- at this point. If we do business for a while, maybe I'll be interested, maybe I won't." Unlike six other House members who were indicted and convicted in the scandal, Murtha escaped both.

Republicans of course would love to see Murtha fall. Once a strong supporter of the 2002 measure that authorized President Bush to wage war in Iraq, Murtha did an about-face on the war in 2005, which endeared him to Pelosi and earned him the enmity of conservatives. In 2006, after the Democrats won control of the House, Pelosi supported his bid for majority leader (in which he lost badly to Maryland's Steny Hoyer).

There is a childish political tit-for-tat element in the story, as reported by Roll Call's Paul Singer and Tory Newmyer:

Republicans hoping to seize the ethical high ground from Democrats are already salivating at the prospect that a key ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) may be in trouble.

"The signs that Rep. Murtha may be hiding serious ethical problems are clearer every day, but Speaker Pelosi continues [to] turn a blind eye to the news about her hand-picked choice for House Majority Leader," Michael Steel, spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), said in a statement. "Despite their campaign promises, the Democratic Leadership is still more interested in sweeping ethics problems under a rug than 'draining the swamp.' "

A senior House Democratic aide shot back: "Taking ethics advice from John Boehner with Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) and Don Young (R-Alaska) under federal investigation is like asking his advice about how to quit smoking."

But behind the scenes, Democrats are watching this closely, with apprehension.

Murtha is not the only name that has come up on the ethics front. There is an ongoing probe into the conduct of Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Among the allegations: his failure to pay taxes on income from a vacation home in the Dominican Republic. His use of four rent-controlled apartments in a Harlem apartment building. Charges that he helped a donor to City College's Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service get a tax loophole in exchange for a contribution.

Republicans, as expected, forced a vote to strip Rangel of his chairmanship, and, as expected, they lost. Speaker Pelosi has not backed away from her support of him one bit.

Did I mention the former Democratic governors of New York, who resigned because of a prostitution scandal, and Illinois, who was impeached and removed from office amid allegations he offered to sell a vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder? And that the administration of the current Democratic governor of New Mexico remains embroiled in a pay-to-play investigation? We would still be talking about the indictment of Louisiana's Bill Jefferson (D) if voters hadn't ended his career in last December's runoff. And what about Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) and the mortgage deal he got from Countrywide?

After the Democrats' big win in 2006, Pelosi promised she would "drain the swamp." She may come to realize, if she hasn't already, that neither party has a monopoly on integrity.

Feb. 17, 1980:

The Republican presidential primary season opens in Puerto Rico, where former Rep. George Bush (R-TX) -- victorious in the Iowa caucuses a month earlier -- wins a landslide victory. He gets 59 percent of the vote, 20 percentage points better than the runner-up, Sen. Howard Baker (R-TN).

Bush gets all 14 delegates in the winner-take-all contest, helped in large part by the efforts of his son Jeb, who speaks fluent Spanish and had been campaigning on behalf of his father on the island for months. No other GOP candidate, including former California Gov. Ronald Reagan, competes in Puerto Rico.

Today in Campaign History is a daily feature on Political Junkie.

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Ignore the header to this blog post.

NPR White House correspondent Don Gonyea and I just finished our Web chat, which appears every Tuesday at noon and is hosted by NPR's David Gura, and the Dow is down 265 points. Coincidence? Hardly.

This week's chat included conversations about the stimulus package, partisanship in Washington, the latest Roland Burris embarrassment and the Judd Gregg decision to withdraw from Cabinet consideration.

You can listen to it here.

And, in the wacky world of homonyns, you can hear last week's chat here.

Feb. 13, 1954:

Carmine DeSapio, the Democratic leader of Tammany Hall -- New York's Manhattan -- was elected Democratic National Committeeman from New York.

DeSapio would go on to become one of the most powerful party leaders in the country. He got his start by helping elect Robert F. Wagner Jr. as mayor of NYC in 1953 and Averell Harriman as governor the following year.

He was defeated as district leader by Ed Koch, later a congressman and mayor, in the early 1960s. In 1969 he was convicted of bribery charges, serving two years in prison. He died on July 27, 2004.

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The House of Representatives has passed President Obama's economic stimulus package. The compromise involves $787 billion in spending and tax cuts. The vote was 246 in favor, 183 opposed.

As with the first time the House took up the stimulus, no Republican voted for the package. This time seven Democrats voted against it, compared with 11 before.

The seven Democrats: Bobby Bright (AL), Parker Griffith (AL), Walt Minnick (ID), Collin Peterson (MN), Gene Taylor (MS), Heath Shuler (NC) and Peter DeFazio (OR). All but DeFazio were repeat "no" votes. DeFazio voted no this time because he objected to the concessions made to attract GOP votes in the Senate.

One Democrat, Dan Lipinski (IL), voted present. Three members did not vote: Jim Clyburn (D-SC), John Campbell (R-CA) and Chris Lee (R-NY).

The Senate takes up the measure tonight.

With Ken Rudin undergoing impacted wisdom tooth surgery on Thursday -- perhaps the only time a Nexus search will find "Rudin" and "wisdom" in the same sentence -- our crack political team recorded this week's "It's All Politics" podcast on Wednesday, a day early. Thus, we missed the Judd Gregg withdrawal.

But there's plenty to listen to, including everything you wanted to know about the political implications of the stimulus package. Plus: John Dingell breaks the House seniority record, Stormy Daniels tries to give Louisiana politics a cleaner image, and Meg Whitman moves toward a run for governor in California. All in this week's podcast:

Credits --
Nonstop talkers: Ron Elving and Ken Rudin
Producer: Evie Stone

Wanna subscribe to the podcast? You can do it through iTunes.

Wanna hear previous episodes? Click here.

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Wanna know why Alex Rodriguez is the only name to surface of those baseball players who failed a steroids test in 2003, when the list apparently includes 103 players? Me too.

Let's be honest here. There is no better Valentine's Day present -- not flowers, not chocolate, not a new commerce secretary -- than a new ScuttleButton puzzle. And even though we've only been dating a few months, I feel I know you well enough to give that to you this morning.

But that means you have to fulfill your end of the bargain. Thus, you need to solve the button rebus by taking one word (or concept) per button, adding 'em up, and coming up with the answer. The solution does not necessarily have to be political, but it could be. The solution could be easy or tricky, but that's up to you. (Hint: this week is not tricky.)

A correct answer chosen at random gets his or her name in this column. You can't use the comments box at the bottom of the page for your answer. Send submission (plus your name and city/state) to politicaljunkie@npr.org.

Note: This will be an occasionally recurring feature on the Political Junkie blog. Here's the answer to the last puzzle.

And, by adding your name to the Political Junkie mailing list, you will be the first on your block to receive notice when a new puzzle goes up on the blog. Sign up at politicaljunkie@npr.org.

Good luck -- and Happy Valentine's Day. (Hint: the answer to this week's puzzle is not "Happy Valentine's Day.")

Feb. 12, 1972:

Rep. Wilbur Mills (D-Ark.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, announces his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Although Mills will never make any headway in the primaries -- his best showings were a fourth-place finish in New Hampshire and Massachusetts -- he nonetheless will remain a candidate until the third day of the Democratic National Convention in July.

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I will be unavailable all day on Thursday and thus no postings ... well, except for the obligatory "this day in campaign history" in the morning. I expect to be back on Friday -- with, among other things, a new ScuttleButton puzzle.

But, before I leave you ...

-- New York Gov. David Paterson (D) has decided the special congressional election to replace now-Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) in the 20th CD will take place March 31. The race pits venture capitalist Scott Murphy (D) against state Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco (R). The race was profiled in a Monday posting.

-- With Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter one of only three Republican senators to support the Obama economic stimulus plan (and the only one of the three up for re-election next year), there is more speculation about him facing a formidable primary challenge in the 2010 May primary. The name of former Rep. Pat Toomey (R), who took on Specter in the 2004 primary, has come up again, even though he had earlier talked about running for governor. Six years ago, Toomey, the head of the conservative Club for Growth organization, came close to defeating Specter -- despite the support for Specter by a still-popular President Bush and Sen. Rick Santorum.

-- Hilda Solis is closer to becoming secretary of labor. Late this afternoon, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted to approve her nomination and send it to the Senate floor. Two Republicans voted against her: Pat Roberts of Kansas and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. Final vote is expected by the end of the week.

Feb. 11, 1973:

The National Women's Political Caucus holds its first convention and elects its first chair -- Frances "Sissy" Farenthold, a former state representative from Texas who sought that state's Democratic nomination for governor in 1972.

Farenthold finished second in that primary, ahead of the incumbent governor and lieutenant governor. But she tried again in 1974 and got clobbered by Dolph Briscoe, who was elected governor in '72 and cruised to another term two years later.

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Connecticut has been represented in the Senate by Chris Dodd, a Democrat, and Joe Lieberman, a Democrat turned independent, since 1989. Only three states have gone longer without Senate turnover: West Virginia (Byrd & Rockefeller), Massachusetts (Kennedy & Kerry) and Iowa (Grassley & Harkin), all with no Senate change since 1985.

But the Nutmeg State has not seemed especially enthralled with its senators as of late.

Lieberman's travails, of course, are well-known. The Democratic nominee for vice president in 2000, his support for the war in Iraq as well as for other parts of the Bush administration agenda have cost him dearly. He was defeated for renomination in the 2006 primary by an anti-war Democrat who ran against the senator's war/Bush positions. Lieberman promptly became an independent and won re-election in the fall in a three-way contest, mostly with Republican support.

His endorsement of John McCain last year -- and his pointed criticism of Barack Obama -- have helped sink his numbers back home even more. His term is not up until 2012, and while that is a long time from now, few people think he is going to run again.

But the standing of Dodd, who is up in 2010 -- not a long time from now -- is suddenly becoming more perilous. Back in June, allegations surfaced that Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, got a sweetheart mortgage deal from Countrywide Financial; Dodd and Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo were pals. Dodd said he didn't think his role in regulating the financial industry had anything to do with getting favorable treatment. Aside from a few dogged reporters and publications, the story never took off.

Now, with the housing market in tatters, the story is getting new legs. Earlier this week, Dodd said he would refinance his loans with another lender, but he didn't answer questions that have been nagging since June. (A New York Times editorial called his answers a "less than satisfactory account.") A new Quinnipiac University poll now shows Dodd with a net negative approval rating (41 percent approve, 48 disapprove). Last summer, it was 51/34. By 54-24 percent, Connecticut responders said they weren't satisfied with his answers about the loans; 51 percent said they would "definitely" or "probably" not vote for him next year.

But that's against a generic opponent. Come election time, parties usually come up with real people to run for office. And the GOP bench in Connecticut is not thought to be especially deep. The current guess is that Rob Simmons, the former Republican congressman who was unseated in 2006, will be the GOP nominee. Dodd has not had an especially close race since he succeeded Abe Ribicoff in the Senate in 1980. And aside from Dodd's father, Thomas Dodd, who lost his bid for a third term in 1970 when he ran as an independent, no Democratic senator from Connecticut has been beaten since 1952.

At least with Dodd, Democrats still love him. That's not the case with Lieberman.

First elected in 1955, Dingell today breaks the House seniority record.

 

This blog sometimes gets criticized for spending as much time in the past as we do the present, and for that we plead guilty. Or, better put, we try to put today's events in perspective by reminding folks about what came before. Just this week, for example, we reported on Rep. Artur Davis' bid to be the next governor of Alabama by listing every African-American gubernatorial nominee since Reconstruction.

And we especially plead guilty today.

John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat first elected in a 1955 special election, today becomes the longest-serving member in the 220-year history of the House of Representatives. After 19,420 days, Dingell breaks the record held by the late Jamie Whitten, a Mississippi Democrat who served from 1941 before deciding not to seek re-election in 1994.

(Third place is Carl Vinson, a Georgia Democrat, who served 50 years and two months, from 1914 to 1965. In the current Congress, the member with the second-most seniority is Michigan's John Conyers, who was first elected in 1964.)

Dingell is best known for his tireless championing of the Detroit auto industry. For that he has been criticized by environmentalists, even though his career is filled with major conservation victories, such as the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act. But his resistance to new fuel-economy standards in automobiles was partly behind his being dumped as chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee last year in the Democratic caucus by California's Henry Waxman (with the behind-the-scenes help of Speaker Nancy Pelosi).

He has also played a major role in civil rights legislation, including the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and health care legislation, including the creation of Medicare in 1965.

His father, John D. Dingell Sr., was elected to Congress in 1932 and became a champion of the New Deal. The younger Dingell served as a congressional page and was in the chamber when President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his "Day of Infamy" speech after which Congress then voted to declare war on Japan.

His father died in office unexpectedly on Sept. 19, 1955. John Jr., then 29 years old, won a special election in December and has served ever since. He has had but two electoral scares in his career, both in Democratic primaries. In 1964, redistricting merged his district with that of Rep. John Lesinski Jr. Both men were Democrats, but they split on the Civil Rights Act that passed that year -- Dingell voted for it, Lesinski against it. The primary was billed as a referendum on civil rights and a possible indicator of a "white backlash." Dingell won with 55 percent of the vote.

The other scare came in 2002, when reapportionment cost Michigan another House seat. Dingell was thrown into the same district as Rep. Lynn Rivers. In the primary, she won the support of feminists and liberals (and money from Pelosi); he had the backing of the NRA and the auto industry. And he won a larger-than-expected, 59 percent victory.

He has been slowed lately by knee surgery and a bad back, but he remains as sharp as ever. Once widely described as a bully, he has morphed into a revered figure in Congress. At a ceremony in Statuary Hall at the Capitol last night honoring Dingell, former President Bill Clinton said, "We are not here for the length of his service. We are here for the quality of his service."

In addition to all the honors he will receive today, Congressman Dingell will also be our special guest during the Political Junkie segment on NPR's Talk of the Nation, which starts at 2 p.m. ET.

It doesn't get better than that.

Lots to talk about in today's Political Junkie segment on NPR's Talk of the Nation:

-- The Senate passes the Obama economic stimulus. What's the political fallout?

-- New troubles for Sen. Chris Dodd?

-- Michigan's John Dingell (this week's special guest) is the new all-time House seniority leader.

Remember, the Political Junkie segment airs every Wednesday at 2 p.m. Eastern time on Talk of the Nation, NPR's call-in program, where you can often, but not always, find interesting conversation, useless trivia questions and sparkling jokes.

And remember, if your local NPR station doesn't carry TOTN, you can hear the program on the Web or on HD Radio. And if you are a subscriber to XM/Sirius radio, you can find the show there as well (siriusly).

You can listen to last week's show -- with special guests Lanny Davis and N.H. GOP powerhouse Tom Rath -- here.

Wanna be on the Junkie mailing list? Sign up at politicaljunkie@npr.org.

Or you can subscribe to Junkie via an RSS feed here

Feb. 10, 1962:

George Romney, the president of American Motors, announced his candidacy for governor of Michigan. Romney, a Republican, would defeat Gov. John Swainson (D) in November.

Romney went on to win easy re-elections in 1964 and 1966, the latter for a four-year term. He sought the GOP presidential nomination in 1968, but a remark about being "brainwashed" by the Pentagon over Vietnam policy would haunt him, and he would be out of the race by the end of February, a couple of weeks before the New Hampshire primary.

Richard Nixon, the Republican who would go on to win the presidency that year, picked Romney as secretary of housing and urban development. He stayed in that post until shortly after Nixon began his second term.

Romney died in 1995 at the age of 88. His son, Mitt, served one term as governor of Massachusetts and sought the GOP presidential nomination last year.

NOTE: We were unable to completely identify all the candidates on that Utah button we used in yesterday's "this day" feature. We knew about Sen. Reed Smoot and Rep. Elmer Leatherwood but couldn't identify "Hansen." We got this note from Ron Merlo of Glendale, Calif.:

Elias Hansen was a justice on the Utah Supreme Court from 1927 to 1937 (and chief justice the last two years). Assuming the office was elective in 1926 (when Smoot ran for senator and Leatherwood for representative), he could be your unknown.

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The benefits of the worsening economy are obvious: More people found time to participate in last week's ScuttleButton puzzle than ever before. The bad news: There can be only one winner.

And the way you become that winner is by sending in the answer to the rebus. Just take one word or one concept per button, add 'em up, and you arrive at a saying or a name. And, don't forget, you can't win unless you send in both your name and your city/state.

What I failed to tell people -- and this is my fault -- is that the answer does not necessarily have to be political. For instance, a few puzzles back the answer was "Minnesota Twins" -- not a political answer, unless you're thinking Mondale and Humphrey instead of Killebrew and Oliva.

And last week's puzzle wasn't political either.

The buttons from last week, in case you forgot:

Ben Cardin for Senate -- the Maryland Democrat defeated Michael Steele in the 2006 campaign to succeed retiring Sen. Paul Sarbanes.

Roth for Governor -- William Roth finished fourth in the 1974 Dem primary in California.

Liz for Chairman -- thought to be a button for someone running for chair of the California Democratic Party.

Whopper Beats Big Mac -- what can I say?

Anyway, when you add Ben + Roth + Liz + Berger, you get ...

Ben Roethlisberger, the quarterback of the Super Bowl-winning Pittsburgh Steelers! (Anu Devkota of Chesterfield, Mo., can't figure out why I have a Whopper/Big Mac button in my collection. Neither can I.)

Anyway, the winner, selected at random among the correct responders, is (drum roll) ... Ryan LaFountain of Athens, Ga. Ryan is now on the short list to be the next secretary of health and human services.

Wanna be alerted the moment a new ScuttleButton goes up on the site? Sign up on our mailing list at politicaljunkie@npr.org.

(And don't forget, the contest to name the next HHS secretary is still going on as well; click here for details and go to the bottom of the post.)

You missed a great NPR political chat that began at noon ET today about President Obama's evolving relationship with Congress. Congressional Correspondent Andrea Seabrook and I took your questions, hosted by NPR's David Gura. We are planning on having a Political Junkie web chat every Tuesday at noon. Hope you can join us next week!

You can re-live the glorious moments of today's chat below.

Republicans are not onboard, but -- for now at least -- a majority of the public appears to be.

 

It had not been the best couple of days for the 44th president.

Barack Obama had watched with embarrassment as his HHS secretary-to-be was not to be. In the House, not a single Republican (nor a married Republican either) voted for his economic stimulus package, despite his active courting of them. And while the measure nonetheless passed the House, the airwaves and blogosphere were filled with Republican critics of the plan: It was too big, too expensive, too filled with pork, and would not necessarily result in the jobs desperately needed to boost the economy.

Barack Obama had apparently had enough. If governing was not necessarily doing the trick, maybe the answer was campaigning. And so the president flew to the city of Elkhart, Ind., where the unemployment rate has surpassed 15 percent and where he argued that the country can't fall into the morass of politics while people are suffering. Then he came back to Washington to await the Senate vote.

Three Republicans -- Maine's Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, along with Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter -- were all he could get on yesterday's key vote to advance the stimulus bill in the Senate, but it was enough. And then he went before the nation last night, his first prime-time news conference since the inauguration, where he tried to make the case that even an imperfect bill was better than no bill at all.

There was skepticism from the reporters, but Obama would have none of it. "If there's anyone out there who still doesn't believe this constitutes a full-blown crisis, I suggest speaking to one of the millions of Americans whose lives have been turned upside down because they don't know where their next paycheck is coming from."

That Republicans by and large oppose this bill doesn't mean that they are wrong and the president is right (or vice versa). The GOP has real philosophical and ideological problems with the size and the scope of the bill. And no one can say with any certainty whether or not this will do the trick. But, as the president has argued, he inherited the economic mess and he was elected to deal with it. And he maintains high public approval. If, in the next year or so, nothing has changed in the lives of those affected by the economic downturn, it could be the Democrats who pay the political price.

The Senate is likely to pass the bill today. Because of the difference in the way the House and Senate operate -- whichever party has even a simple majority in the House can normally ram through what it wants, whereas in the Senate a lot of compromise and give-and-take are necessary -- the two bills are different. In the House, which didn't need GOP votes to pass it, there is more money for aid to state and local governments. More money for Medicaid payments to the unemployed and uninsured. In the Senate, which needed incentives to bring some Republicans along, there are more tax cuts. After today's Senate vote, the bill then goes to a House-Senate conference committee, where the differences need to be ironed out, and then it goes back to the respective chambers for a final vote.

And that leads to this morning's question from Rick Possee of Union, Maine:

Once the stimulus bill leaves the conference committee and returns to the Senate, does it need 60 votes or just a majority?

It will still need 60 to get past a filibuster, but there is no indication as of now that there will be any Republican attempt to hold up the bill when it comes back from conference. It will be interesting to see how insistent House leaders are about removing some of the sweeteners designed to attract GOP votes from the Senate bill.

President Obama once talked about getting 80 votes in the Senate. Now he'll be happy with a bill to sign.

Feb. 9, 1941:

This button is for Utah Republicans Reed Smoot for Senate and Elmer Leatherwood for Congress. Anyone know who Hansen was?

Former Sen. Reed Smoot, a five-term Republican from Utah, died at 79.

Smoot was the co-author of the Smoot-Hawley bill of 1929 that raised U.S. tariffs on thousands of imported goods to record levels. Many economists argue that the bill was one of the catalysts of the Great Depression.

Smoot was defeated in his bid for a sixth term in 1932 by a landslide.

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Part of the 2006 nightmare for the Republican Party, in which they lost 30 seats in the House, came in New York's 20th District. A wealthy first-time candidate, Democratic attorney Kirsten Gillibrand, proved to be a superb campaigner in a race that started out as a long shot, at best. But her Republican opponent, Rep. John Sweeney, was connected to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. He made an ill-advised visit to a college fraternity party. And then, one week before the election, the Albany Times Union reported that Sweeney's wife called the police in 2005 to report that the congressman had hit her. That combination, added to the sour GOP atmosphere, resulted in a 53-47 percent Gillibrand victory.

It was the first time in decades the district elected a Democrat.

Republicans made a determined, and expensive, bid to regain the seat in 2008, but their candidate, Sandy Treadwell, received only 38 percent of the vote. Part of the reason is that Gillibrand, with tons of money as well, had arrived at positions popular in this conservative, mostly rural district -- such as on guns and immigration.

Last month, Gillibrand was named to fill the Senate seat vacated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. That leaves her own House seat vacant, and Republicans desperately want to win it back.

Their nominee is Jim Tedisco, the minority leader in the state Assembly the past four years. He won over GOP leaders who were also looking at other candidates, such as Treadwell and John Faso, who got clobbered as the party's gubernatorial nominee in 2006. Republicans are very high on Tedisco's chances.

Democrats have come up with Scott Murphy, a venture capitalist who has never run for office before, has been involved in politics in his home state of Missouri -- and who, according to Politico's Josh Kraushaar, failed to pay "thousands of dollars in taxes on a start-up computer software company he owned more than a decade ago." In the wake of l'affaires Geithner and Daschle, not to mention allegations about House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel, Republicans feel they have a winning issue.

A Public Opinion Strategies poll conducted for Tedisco had him leading Murphy 50-29 percent. That may be an accurate snapshot of where the race stands now. But New York Gov. David Paterson (D) has yet to announce the date of a special election, and Republicans contend that the delay is deliberate, to give Murphy more time to build up some name identification. Many observers think the election will be in March or April.

Trivial pursuit. The last time the Republicans captured a Democratic House seat in New York was in 2000. Michael Forbes, first elected in 1994 as a Republican, had grown disenchanted with the GOP and switched to the Democratic Party. But Forbes, a conservative, never considered that Democrats were not madly in love with him either; he promptly lost the Dem primary in 2000, and Republican Felix Grucci won the seat -- which he held for all of one term. The last time a New York congressman elected as a Democrat was unseated by a Republican was in 1994, when Forbes ousted George Hochbrueckner. After the '94 elections, there were 14 Republicans in the New York House delegation. Today there are three.

Changing stripes? An interesting article in today's New York Times by David Halbfinger, talking to residents of the 20th CD, many of whom are unhappy with what they perceive as ideological shifts by Gillibrand since she was appointed to the Senate.

Many are taking it as an abandonment of the principles that persuaded them to support a Democrat in this predominantly Republican area.

"I don't think it's right when you say one thing and do something else," said Michelle Boyea, 44, as she sat in her car after running errands around town. If you have a position, and this is what you feel, why would you change it just because you got a new job?" ...

Ms. Gillibrand has softened some of her positions in the weeks since her appointment. She declared her support for gay marriage, not merely civil unions. She assured Latinos and Asians in New York City that she would work to enact a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. And she let Senator Charles E. Schumer, who had enthusiastically supported her selection, reassure downstate voters that she would "evolve" on gun control, too.

To which Ms. Boyea, one of many Republicans here who voted for Ms. Gillibrand in November, offered this rebuke: "I don't believe you should say things just to make yourself sound better. Don't follow. If you're going to be a leader, then lead."

NOTE: The Times article was preceded by five days by a similar piece by North County Public Radio's David Sommerstein on the "evolving" Gillibrand.

Daddy Warbucks. A question from reader Joe Ronan of Pleasanton, Calif.:

I noticed [in a Jan. 23 Junkie posting] the name of Joe Resnick in the N.Y. Democratic Senate primary in 1968. Isn't that Gillibrand's father?

No. Resnick was a Democratic congressman from Ellenville, N.Y., who was a staunch Johnson/Humphrey supporter and whose bid for the Democratic Senate nomination in '68 was best-known for its attacks on Sen. Robert Kennedy and his anti-Vietnam War pronouncements. Resnick, a multimillionaire, was not going to win the primary anyway, but once RFK was assassinated several weeks before the primary, Resnick was finished.

Gillibrand's father is Douglas Rutnik, a lobbyist who is close with Republicans, such as former Gov. George Pataki and former Sen. Al D'Amato. Gillibrand herself was once a college intern in D'Amato's office -- which explains why he was so visible at the event in which Gov. Paterson named her to the Senate seat. (For the record, D'Amato has been cozying up to Democrats in the state, notably Paterson himself. Hmm, I wonder if that's a coincidence. A potential Paterson opponent next year is former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a longtime D'Amato foe.)

The $829 billion economic stimulus bill has won a key hurdle this afternoon, with 61 senators voting to end debate -- more than the three-fifths necessary. Three Republicans joined the Democrats -- Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

Final passage on one of President Obama's most important priorities is expected tomorrow. Following that, the House and Senate -- which will have passed different versions of the bill -- will iron out their differences in a conference committee.

While Washington is in the midst of deciding whether the Obama honeymoon is over, we proudly present the latest installment of our "It's All Politics" podcast, recorded on Friday, which as you no doubt know has never enjoyed a honeymoon, let alone a wedding night.

A rough week for the new administration, culminated by the Tom Daschle withdrawal. A better week for Norm Coleman, at least for now. Sad news for Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Good news for Bonnie Newman. Interesting news for Artur Davis. All in the latest podcast:

Credits --
Nonstop talkers: Ron Elving and Ken Rudin
Producer: Evie Stone

Some praise from the Listener, Pete Crocker in Amsterdam, who writes:

A quick note to the two of you from an American who fled years ago across the pond. Your podcast serves as a lifeline so I can stay abreast on things that matter to me, while at the same time reminding me what I ran away from!

Wanna subscribe to the podcast? You can do it through iTunes.

Wanna hear previous episodes? Click here.

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Wanna know why Alex Rodriguez is the only name to surface of those baseball players who failed a steroids test in 2003, when the list apparently includes 103 players? Me too.

Only two blacks have been elected governor since Reconstruction. California's Tom Bradley came tantalizingly close in 1982.

If Barack Obama, why not Artur Davis?

The racial barrier, which fell in last year's presidential contest, is now being tested in Alabama, for the first time in the state's history. Rep. Artur Davis, a 41-year-old Democrat serving his fourth term, announced he will seek the governorship being vacated next year by term-limited Republican Bob Riley.

The announcement was not unexpected. Davis had been eyeing the post for a while, even before he won re-election -- without opposition -- last November. But unlike the easy time he's had keeping his House seat -- ever since he unseated Rep. Earl Hilliard, a fellow African-American, in the 2002 Dem primary -- it may be tougher in the June 2010 Democratic primary. His opponents may include Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom (who briefly served as governor in the early 1990s) and Ron Sparks, the state commissioner of agriculture and industry.

On the Republican side, Tim James, son of former Gov. Fob James, is already running. James finished a distant third in the 2002 GOP primary won by Riley. Another possible is state Treasurer Kay Ivey.

It's tough enough for a Democrat to win statewide in Alabama, and so the odds against a black Democrat are probably more daunting. The African-American share of the electorate in the state is about a quarter; Barack Obama won just 39 percent of the vote against John McCain last year. Republicans have won five of the past six gubernatorial elections. But in 2002, when Riley won his first term, he didn't even receive a majority of the vote. And in 1994, when Fob James won, he barely surpassed 50 percent.

Davis, the Obama campaign chairman in Alabama, is clearly aware of the obstacles. "Yes, this will be hard, but if we find our way, we can build a state like we have never known," he said when he announced his candidate. "Not at some distant point called 'one day,' but right now, in our season." Check out this wonderful profile done by NPR's Debbie Elliott that aired on Morning Edition on Feb. 6.

Once before has an African-American sought the Alabama governorship: Dr. John Cashin ran against George Wallace (D) in 1970 as the nominee of the National Democratic Party of Alabama (a third party), getting 15 percent of the vote.

Here's a list of black major-party candidates for governor since Reconstruction:

1982 -- Tom Bradley (D-CA) -- lost to George Deukmejian (R)
1986 -- Tom Bradley (D-CA) -- lost to George Deukmejian (R)
1986 -- William Lucas (R-MI) -- lost to Jim Blanchard (D)
1989 -- DOUG WILDER (D-VA) -- beat Marshall Coleman (R)
1990 -- Theo Mitchell (D-SC) -- lost to Carroll Campbell (R)
1995 -- Cleo Fields (D-LA) -- lost to Mike Foster (R)
1999 -- William Jefferson (D-LA) -- lost to Mike Foster (R)
2002 -- Joe Neal (D-NV) -- lost to Kenny Guinn (R)
2002 -- Carl McCall (D-NY) -- lost to George Pataki (R)
2006 -- DEVAL PATRICK (D-MA) -- beat Kerry Healy (R)
2006 -- Ken Blackwell (R-OH) -- lost to Ted Strickland (D)
2006 -- Lynn Swann (R-PA) -- lost to Ed Rendell (D)

In addition, David Paterson (D), who became governor of New York in 2008 when Eliot Spitzer (D) resigned in the wake of a prostitution scandal, is expected to seek a full term this year.

Here's what's coming up today in Political Junkie:

-- Can the Republicans win back the New York congressional seat Kirsten Gillibrand gave up to serve in the Senate? And will Gov. Paterson ever call for a special election?

-- The latest on the economic stimulus package.

-- Rep. Artur Davis (D) has announced his candidacy for governor of Alabama. A list of other African-Americans who were gubernatorial nominees of their party.

-- New "It's All Politics" podcast is up, for better or worse.

All this and (maybe) more, today in Political Junkie. Wanna be on our mailing list? Sign up at politicaljunkie@npr.org

Feb. 6, 1996:

How's Bayou? Not so good for Phil Gramm, who invested heavily in the Louisiana caucuses and lost.

Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), who has raised more money than any other Republican candidate, finishes second to commentator Pat Buchanan in the Louisiana GOP presidential caucuses. It was seen as a huge loss for Gramm, who decided to make a major effort in the state, hoping it would give him momentum in Iowa six days later.

By the time Iowa came, on Feb. 12, Gramm was already seen as damaged goods. He finished fifth in the GOP field, behind Bob Dole (26%), Buchanan (23%), Lamar Alexander (18%), and Steve Forbes (10%).

Gramm will end his campaign on Feb. 14.

Today in Campaign History is a daily feature on Political Junkie.

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Stimulus? You want stimulus?

You got it -- it's time for another ScuttleButton puzzle! And you don't have to have paid your taxes to win!

What you have to do, of course, to solve the button rebus is this: Take one word (or concept) per button, add 'em up, and what do you get?

A correct answer chosen at random gets his or her name in this column. You can't use the comments box at the bottom of the page for your answer. Send submission (plus your name and city/state) to politicaljunkie@npr.org.

Note: This will be an occasionally recurring feature on the Political Junkie blog. Here's the answer to the last puzzle. (Sorry, we would have had a contest last week, but I figured that it was better that you read my 4,834 posts during the battle for RNC chairman.)

Plus, you can add your name to the Political Junkie mailing list, a list from where President Obama will choose the next HHS secretary. Sign up at politicaljunkie@npr.org.

And speaking of which, it's not too late to join our contest to pick the next HHS secretary! Details are at the bottom of this Junkie post.

Good luck!

Feb. 5, 1988:

The Arizona state House votes to impeach Gov. Evan Mecham (R) on campaign finance, obstruction of justice and other charges. Mecham had been in office only 13 months.

The Arizona Senate will vote to convict him on April 4, ending his governorship.

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Bill Richardson, Timothy Geithner (almost), Nancy Killefer and Tom Daschle. Candidates for administration posts who (save Geithner) went down the tubes because of various ethics questions.

And now, Hilda Solis?

The California congresswoman, a fifth-term Democrat from Los Angeles, is President Obama's choice to be the next secretary of labor. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee postponed a scheduled vote on her nomination today. Republicans have raised questions about her role as treasurer of American Rights at Work, a pro-labor group that is advocating a bill that would make it easier for workers to form unions. For her part, Solis said nothing what she did for the group involved lobbying.

Committee Chairman Edward Kennedy and ranking Republican Mike Enzi released the following statement:

Today's executive session was postponed to allow members additional time to review the documentation submitted in support of Representative Solis' nomination to serve in the important position of Labor Secretary. There are no holds on her nomination and Members on both sides of the aisle remain committed to giving her nomination the fair and thorough consideration that she deserves. We will continue to work together to move this nomination forward as soon as possible.

But Matt Kelley of USA Today reports this afternoon that Solis' husband "paid about $6,400 Wednesday to settle tax liens that had been outstanding for as long as 16 years against his business." The disclosure came shortly before the above-mentioned Senate committee was about to vote on her nomination, and it ultimately may prove to be a bigger problem for Solis. According to Kelley:

Los Angeles County records showed 15 outstanding state and county tax liens against Sam Sayyad and his auto repair business, totaling $7,630. Two other liens worth $981 were released in 1999 after Sayyad repaid the taxes owed, according to county records.

Solis' financial disclosures list Sayyad's business, Sam's Foreign and Domestic Auto Center, as one of the couple's main assets, worth between $50,000 and $100,000. The disclosure form Solis filed after her nomination also lists bank accounts containing between $250,000 and $500,000.

Solis and Sayyad were unaware of the liens until USA TODAY asked about them Tuesday, White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said. He said Sayyad paid about $6,400 to Los Angeles County on Wednesday to settle the liens, but he plans to appeal.

Is it time to start singing?

Meanwhile, Judd Gregg (Commerce) and Leon Panetta (CIA director) still need to be confirmed in committee and by the full Senate. And Obama still needs to name a secretary for health and human services in the wake of Daschle's withdrawal.

CONTEST: Name the next HHS secretary. First correct prediction wins a genuine Nixon for President button from 1968! Send your predictions, along with your address, to politicaljunkie@npr.org.

The question, which we put to you on Tuesday (and repeated during yesterday's Political Junkie segment on NPR's Talk of the Nation), was this:

Judd Gregg is currently the senior senator from New Hampshire. Prior to that, he was a U.S. representative and a governor. And now, assuming he is confirmed (or bar mitzvahed), he will be joining President Obama's Cabinet.

Before Gregg, who was the last person to serve as U.S. representative, governor, senator and Cabinet official?

Lots of guesses, and good ones too, came via e-mail.

Kris Schultz of Concord, N.H., and Bruce MacNeil of Arlington, Va., guessed Tom Carper of Delaware. Carper, the state's senior senator, indeed did previously serve as governor and representative. But he never served in the Cabinet.

Taylor Kay of South Portland, Maine, thought it might be Tommy Thompson. But Thompson served only as governor and in the Cabinet, not senator or representative. Taylor did add one fun fact: Gregg is the first major lottery winner in the Cabinet. (Already a millionaire, Gregg won $850,000 in the Powerball lottery in 2005.)

Both John Reuter of Sandpoint, Idaho, and Julia Klern of Encino, Calif., suggested Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho. But while Kempthorne was governor, senator and a Cabinet member, he never served in the House.

There were other guesses. Maine's Ed Muskie, Missouri's John Ashcroft, Nebraska's Mike Johanns, Rhode Island's John Chafee and Tennessee's Lamar Alexander all got one vote each. But while all served as governor, senator and Cabinet official, none of them were in the House.

Virginia's George Allen, Vermont's Robert Stafford, Arkansas' David Pryor and Delaware's J. Caleb Boggs also were mentioned. And all served as governor, senator, and representative. But none were in the Cabinet.

Lloyd Bentsen of Texas was representative, senator and Cabinet official. But not governor.

Christian Herter of Massachusetts was representative, governor and Cabinet official. But not senator.

The answer -- which two people did come up with on yesterday's TOTN -- is Abe Ribicoff. The Connecticut Democrat was elected to the House in 1948 for the first of two terms. In 1954 he was elected governor. President Kennedy named him HEW secretary in 1961. In 1962 he left the Cabinet to win the first of three Senate terms.

There was only one other person I could think of who also filled all those positions -- and Jerry Skurnik of New York City came up with it: James Byrnes. Byrnes, a South Carolina Democrat, filled all of those posts as well. But Ribicoff was the last, before Gregg.

NPR's Nina Totenberg reports that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg underwent surgery today for removal of a cancerous tumor from her pancreas.

She is being treated at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan.

Ginsburg, 75, the court's only female justice, has served since 1993, when she was named by President Clinton.

Nina adds, "Ginsburg's pancreatic cancer was discovered early, in the course of a routine annual screening, but medical literature says even in this circumstance, a patient's five-year survival chances range from 10 to 30 percent."

Some updates on key Senate races:

FLORIDA

Crist ran for Senate once before and got creamed. Will he try again?

The story thus far in the race to succeed retiring Republican Mel Martinez is mostly about those who aren't running. On the GOP side, last month's decision by former Gov. Jeb Bush to take his name out of the mix was not really a surprise, even though his brother (Mr. 43) and father (Mr. 41) were already talking about him being in the Senate as a fait accompli. Despite Jeb's popularity, Bush Fatigue is real. And there was never any indication that he really wanted to serve in the Senate.

Last week, state Attorney General Bill McCollum, who twice sought a Senate seat -- he lost the 2000 general election to Democrat Bill Nelson and the 2004 GOP primary to Martinez -- said he wouldn't run. Unlike the Bush decision, McCollum's was a surprise, as was the one by Alex Sink, the state's chief financial officer. Sink was the first Democratic name to be mentioned when Martinez announced his retirement in December, but she says she will forgo the Senate race to seek re-election to her current post. Another potential candidate, Rep. Allen Boyd (D), from the Panhandle, also considered the race but ultimately said no.

There's no shortage of Democrats interested in the seat. Rep. Kendrick Meek, from Miami, is already in, as is state Sen. Dan Gelber from Miami Beach. Rep. Ron Klein, an excellent fundraiser who hails from Palm Beach, is also interested.

Jeb Bush had frozen the GOP field while he was considering the race. Now it's Charlie Crist's turn. The popular governor said he would sit down with his new wife and discuss it after the legislative session, which ends in May. Crist, like Bush, could probably have the nomination if he wants it. Many, however, expect him to seek re-election next year. Way back in 1998, Crist was the GOP Senate nominee against Democratic incumbent Bob Graham and got clobbered by nearly a million votes. But that was a long time ago.

And if Crist doesn't run? There are two former state House speakers, Marco Rubio and Allan Bense, who are ready to roll. Add two members of Congress as well: Connie Mack IV, whose father was a two-term senator, and Vern Buchanan. Both are from southwest Florida.

The latest news has former Sen. Bob Smith (R) thinking about running. That's former Sen. Bob Smith of New Hampshire. Smith, who moved to the Sunshine State to sell real estate since losing his seat to Sununu in the 2002 primary, has sent out an e-mail trying to gauge his support.

MINNESOTA

For those of you with long, long memories, you might remember that back in 2008, in November I think, Minnesota voters went to the polls to decide if Sen. Norm Coleman (R) should get a second term. It's 93 days later and we still don't have an answer. But we do know some stuff.

NOTE: The following information was updated Thursday afternoon with guidance from Rachel Stassen-Berger, political reporter for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, who -- as her reporting shows -- understands this story better than anyone else on the planet.

After a hand recount of 2.9 million voters, Al Franken, the Democratic challenger, has a lead of 225 votes. For the longest time, the assumption (here at least) was that it's just a matter of time before Franken is sworn in. But not so fast. On Tuesday, a panel of three district judges appointed by the state Supreme Court agreed to let Coleman bring evidence regarding no more than 4,797 absentee ballots that the Republican argues were improperly rejected. Coleman, in fact, actually wanted the judges to review about 11,000 votes. The Franken camp originally had its own list of 771 rejected ballots; they have since asked for permission to expand that list to some as of yet unknown number.

But there are a lot of "buts" here. Just because they are being looked at does not necessarily mean Coleman will prevail. In fact, there's no telling how many of the ballots the judicial panel will agree to review or how many will be reinstated, and it's quite possible that Franken could get a healthy portion of them. There's also the question of how Coleman will physically get those actual ballots to present them as evidence to the judges.

I think it's also fair to assume that if after this process Coleman moves into the lead, Franken will come up with his own list of ballots he wants reviewed.

We may not know who won the election until March. At the earliest. Sorry, Rachel.

MISSOURI

Democrats got exactly the candidate they want to fill the seat being vacated by four-term Republican Kit Bond. It's Robin Carnahan, the secretary of state, daughter of the late Gov. Mel and former Sen. Jean (and sister of Rep. Russ) Carnahan. The GOP field may include Rep. Roy Blunt, the former House majority whip; ex-Sen. Jim Talent, former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman and ex-Rep. Kenny Hulshof, the 2008 GOP gubernatorial nominee. Hulshof and Steelman faced each other in last year's gubernatorial primary. Blunt appears at this stage to be the establishment choice.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Commerce Secretary-designate Judd Gregg (R) has yet to depart from the Senate, and so of course Bonnie Newman has yet to be sworn in as his successor. But one candidate for the seat is already in the race: Rep. Paul Hodes (D). The Democratic field is not necessarily set; the state's other U.S. representative, Carol Shea-Porter, might also run. But the Republican field is far less focused. Newman, of course, has said she won't run. Most attention is on former Sen. John Sununu, who lost his seat to Jeanne Shaheen last year. Also under consideration: ex-Rep. Charlie Bass.

In addition to Gregg and the aforementioned Martinez and Bond, two other Republican incumbents are bowing out of a 2010 re-election contest: Sam Brownback of Kansas and George Voinovich of Ohio.

And speaking of Ohio, a new Quinnipiac University poll shows Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher (D) leading former Rep. Rob Portman (R) in a hypothetical Senate matchup, 42-27 percent. Other potential candidates: Rep. Tim Ryan (D), Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner (D) and state Auditor Mary Taylor (R).

Feb. 4, 2000:

Eleven days after a disappointing showing in the Iowa caucuses, Gary Bauer ends his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

Bauer, a conservative activist who ran on "family values" issues, finished fourth in Iowa on Jan. 24, with 8.5 percent of the vote. The top three finishers: George W. Bush (41 percent), Steve Forbes (30.5 percent), and Alan Keyes (14 percent). John McCain, who didn't participate in Iowa -- he focused on New Hampshire -- got under 5 percent. Orrin Hatch, the senator from Utah, received 1 percent.

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Lots to talk about in today's Political Junkie segment on NPR's Talk of the Nation:

-- Tom Daschle proves to be too taxing on the Obama administration.

-- Rod Blagojevich makes such a convincing closing argument that the state Senate vote to remove him from office was only 59-0. Say hello to Gov. Pat Quinn.

-- A Democratic governor names a Republican to fill a Senate seat in New Hampshire. Is this a new bipartisan era or what?

-- Michael Steele makes history: He's the first former lieutenant governor of Maryland to be elected Republican national chairman.

Remember, the Political Junkie segment airs every Wednesday at 2 p.m. Eastern time on Talk of the Nation, NPR's call-in program, where you can often, but not always, find interesting conversation, useless trivia questions and sparkling jokes.

And remember, if your local NPR station doesn't carry TOTN, you can hear the program on the Web or on HD Radio. And if you are a subscriber to XM/Sirius radio, you can find the show there as well (siriusly).

You can listen to last week's show -- with special guest Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold, talking about his proposed constitutional amendment that would end the gubernatorial power to fill Senate seats by appointment -- here.

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Or you can subscribe to Junkie via an RSS feed here

Gov. John Lynch kept his side of the bargain.

The New Hampshire Democrat named Bonnie Newman, a Republican, to fill the Senate seat that will be vacated by Judd Gregg, (R) once -- and assuming -- Gregg is confirmed as secretary of commerce.

Picking a Republican was not, shall we say, universally popular among state Democrats, but that was part of the deal. Gregg told the Obama administration, and apparently Lynch as well, that he would accept the Cabinet post only if the governor appointed a Republican to succeed him. He didn't want to be responsible for the Democrats' getting an additional Senate seat, especially as they approach the magical number of 60, which would be able to beat back GOP filibusters (assuming all the Dems voted together, which is not always a sure thing).

Newman was Gregg's chief of staff when he was in the House. She served in the Reagan and Bush 41 administrations. But she also headed up "Republicans for Lynch" in 2004, when Lynch first sought the governorship, and so that made her palatable to Lynch and other Dems. Newman will not run in 2010, when Gregg's term would have expired.

But apparently Paul Hodes will. The second-term Democratic congressman is ready to throw his hat in the ring, now that Gregg will be out of the picture. On the GOP side, speculation is on John Sununu, who lost his Senate seat to Democrat Jeanne Shaheen last year.

We wrote about Gregg trading his Senate seat for a Cabinet post yesterday. Many are still wondering why the three-term Republican would do it, and no one put it better than Slate's Mickey Kaus, in his kausfiles blog this morning:

What could Sen. Judd Gregg possibly do in a second-tier cabinet position -- Commerce -- to advance his conservative philosophy that would possibly make up for giving his ideological opponents a 60-seat majority in the Senate? Stop card check? Achieve a free trade agenda? ... Quick, name Bush's last Commerce secretary. ... Even if New Hampshire's Democratic governor angers his party by appointing a Republican to replace Gregg, will it be an anti-card-check Republican? ... Gregg could go down as the biggest sucker since Arthur Goldberg, who let Lyndon Johnson con him into giving up a lifetime Supreme Court seat to become Ambassador to the U.N.

New Hampshire is now the fourth state to have two women in the Senate, joining California (Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer), Washington (Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell), and Maine (Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins).

And, as Kris Schultz of Concord, N.H., points out, New Hampshire is now the second state -- along with Maine -- to have a majority female congressional delegation. In addition to its two senators, Carol Shea-Porter (D) represents one of the Granite State's two House seats (and in Maine, Democrat Chellie Pingree holds one of the state's two House seats).

TRIVIA QUESTION: Judd Gregg served as governor, representative and senator. Now he's headed to the Cabinet. Who was the last person to hold all of these positions? Send answers to politicaljunkie@npr.org

Feb. 3, 1998:

The House seat of Floyd Flake, leaving Congress to focus on his church, goes to Gregory Meeks in a special election.

State Assemblyman Gregory Meeks (D) wins a special election in New York's 6th Congressional District, in Queens, to fill the seat of Rep. Floyd Flake (D), who resigned to lead an African Methodist Episcopal church in the area.

Flake endorsed Meeks as his successor. Since the special election, which he won with 56 percent of the vote, Meeks has not faced any electoral opposition. He won a sixth full term last November. In 2004 he was a national co-chair of the Kerry-Edwards campaign. He was among those thought to be under consideration earlier this year to fill the Senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton.

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Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader who had been nominated by President Obama to be the next secretary of health and human services, has withdrawn his name from consideration.

Daschle had been under fire for his failure to pay taxes over the personal use of a car and driver provided to him by a firm for which he was consulting. He belatedly paid the taxes, calling the failure "completely inadvertent" but acknowledging, "that's no excuse."

Daschle said he withdrew because he did not want to be a distraction, which he had become. Obama accepted Daschle's decision with "sadness and regret."

Read here for more on the troubled nomination.

"I don't know anyone more honorable, more decent, more honest and more qualified for this position." -- Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), yesterday, on his fellow Democrat, Tom Daschle, whose nomination to be secretary of health and human services is in jeopardy over his failure to pay his share of taxes.

"Raymond Shaw is the kindest, warmest, bravest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life." -- A brainwashed Maj. Bennett Marco (as played by Frank Sinatra), on Lawrence Harvey, The Manchurian Candidate, 1962.

Barack Obama may indeed be the greatest president in history, but is this the position his administration should be in after two weeks? Granted, his lofty rhetoric about a "new era of responsibility" is the kind of stuff you always hear from a new president; witness Bill Clinton's promise of the "most ethical administration in history." And perhaps much of what we heard during the campaign and at the inauguration was a bit unrealistic. But there is something troubling about the disclosures of past tax lapses first by Timothy Geithner, who has been confirmed as Treasury secretary, and now by Daschle, who failed to pay taxes on $255,000 of income over the use of a luxury car and driver from 2005-07.

Yes, Daschle is contrite. Yes, he apologized over and over yesterday in a closed-door meeting with members of the Senate Finance Committee, which will hold hearings on his nomination. His failure was "completely inadvertent," he said, "but that's no excuse." No, it's not. And it's a helluva message to send out.

Or, as Vi Rajnes of Binghamton, N.Y., wrote,

Is anyone in Washington honest? Does Tom Daschle really think we really believe he just overlooked the car and driver? A man who has been in the Senate for so many years? And that goes for that other guy who didn't pay his taxes either, Geithner. Do they really think they are above it all?

And it's not just the tax issue. Since being defeated in his bid for a fourth Senate term in 2004, the South Dakota Democrat had made nearly $5 million from a law firm and consulting fees from a private equity firm. He has also received hundreds of thousands of dollars for consulting for and speeches given to health care and pharmaceutical companies -- the same groups he would oversee as HHS secretary.

Can anyone say potential "conflict of interest?" Democrats can't seem to.

Part of the problem -- or, more fairly put, one of the reasons why his confirmation is still seen as likely -- is that he is a member of the club. He was certainly a top GOP target when he served as Senate majority and minority leader, and his defeat (by John Thune) was heralded by Republicans everywhere. But he is very popular with his former colleagues -- certainly among Democrats, and certainly within the Obama administration, where many former Daschle aides now reside.

Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, was asked about whether the administration knew about Daschle. "In terms of the vetting," he said, "we're comfortable with the process."

That's even more troubling.

Meanwhile, the New York Times, in an editorial today, urged Daschle to "step aside and let the president choose a less-blemished successor":

Mr. Daschle's tax shortfall is particularly troubling because it comes on the heels of another nominee's failure to pay taxes due. We were not pleased when the president's Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, admitted that he had failed to pay tens of thousands of dollars in federal self-employment taxes while working for the International Monetary Fund despite having signed paperwork acknowledging the obligation.

Now we are confronted with an even larger lapse by Mr. Daschle, who failed to pay $128,000 in taxes, primarily for personal use of a car and driver provided to him by a private equity firm for which he consulted. Although the firm -- headed by a major Democratic donor -- had not issued a Form 1099 for the value of the car service, Mr. Daschle said he became concerned last June that he might owe taxes on it and instructed his accountant to investigate. Neither was concerned enough to actually pay the taxes.

Only after the Obama transition team flagged unrelated tax issues that would require filing amended returns did Mr. Daschle and his accountant address the need to report the personal-use value of the car service -- more than $255,000 over three years -- as income. Only after he had been chosen to be the health secretary did Mr. Daschle tell the transition team about the unpaid taxes. He paid some $140,000 in back taxes and interest on Jan. 2 to settle several tax problems -- and he acknowledges owing more.

In both the Geithner and Daschle cases, the failure to pay taxes is attributed to unintentional oversights. But Mr. Daschle is one oversight case too many. The American tax system depends heavily on voluntary compliance. It would send a terrible message to the public if we ignore the failure of yet another high-level nominee to comply with the tax laws.

A Reuters recap of editorials lists other newspapers calling for Daschle to step aside.

Indianapolis Star: "No need to fumble for words that sum up the stew of hypocrisy, arrogance and insiderism that is the unfolding saga of Tom Daschle. This is the audacity of audacity. ... Daschle isn't indispensable. But he is indefensible."

Philadelphia Inquirer: "Surely President Obama can find qualified people to serve in his Cabinet who aren't hustling to write overdue checks to the IRS. ... Daschle's error is too serious to ignore; it should disqualify him from serving in the Cabinet."

San Francisco Chronicle: "Does anyone important in Washington pay taxes? Or is that civic duty -- like jury duty or serving in the military -- now something that only the 'little people' in America, those without deep pockets and connections, do? ... Tom Daschle is the latest Obama appointee to make the American middle class feel like suckers. ... Daschle, for all of his experience and knowledge of health care, has disqualified himself from this important position because of his own personal greed. The Senate should reject his nomination."

Chicago Tribune: "So why is Obama determined to stick with Daschle despite his embarrassing record of non-compliance with the tax laws? ... Contrary to what the president seems to think, the administration can succeed without his services. Obama might keep in mind the wisdom of Charles de Gaulle, who noted that the graveyards are full of indispensable men."

Elsewhere, the White House has just confirmed that Nancy Killefer has withdrawn her name to be the first chief performance officer for the federal government. The AP's Michael Sniffen notes that "in 2005 the District of Columbia government had filed a more than $900 tax lien on her home for failure to pay unemployment compensation tax on household help."

In her letter to Obama, Killefer wrote, "I recognize that your agenda and the duties facing your Chief Performance Officer are urgent. I have also come to realize in the current environment that my personal tax issue of D.C. Unemployment tax could be used to create exactly the kind of distraction and delay those duties must avoid. Because of this I must reluctantly ask you to withdraw my name from consideration."

And that prompted this note from NPR's Michel Martin, host of Tell Me More:

Now, somebody please explain to me why two Men fail to pay tens of thousands of dollars in taxes and they're STILL IN ... but a Woman doesn't pay $900 and she's OUT?

You should also check out Michel's latest online column (on the Tim Geithner situation), "You Say Forgiveness; I Say Sexism."

Feb. 2, 1989:

The Senate Armed Services Committee puts off a scheduled vote on the nomination of former Sen. John Tower (R-TX) to be secretary of defense. The committee acts in the wake of testimony last week by conservative activist Paul Weyrich that questioned Tower's "moral character."

The full Senate will reject Tower's nomination on March 9. President George Bush will then nominate Rep. Dick Cheney of Wyoming, who will easily win confirmation.

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Since this is America, you have a choice:

You can either not pay your taxes and be confirmed as secretary of health and human services.

Or, you can hear the latest episode of our "It's All Politics" podcast, which offers the Listener an opportunity to hear Rod Blagojevich at his contrite and apologetic best.

Credits --
Nonstop talkers: Ron Elving and Ken Rudin
Producer: Evie Stone

Here's a nice note from Jonathan Oppenheimer:

I'm a dedicated listener to the podcast. Being a professional conservationist in Idaho requires a good sense of humor, and I appreciate your contribution to my sanity every week.

I also heard from Stacy Yip, who says she "religiously listens to the podcast." When I explained to her that I firmly believe in the separation of church and podcast, she explained, "I'm not religious, but I am when it comes to listening to the Political Junkie."

Stacy is absolved.

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Gregg may give up his Senate seat for Commerce, but with conditions.

What was initially perceived as unfathomable is now likely to happen, as soon as this week.

By all accounts, President Obama is apparently on the cusp of nominating Sen. Judd Gregg, a New Hampshire Republican, as secretary of commerce. With the Granite State looking more and more blue as of late -- in 2006 both GOP representatives were defeated and in 2008 Sen. John E. Sununu (R) lost his re-election bid -- perhaps Gregg, 61, was reading the political tea leaves. Or, maybe, his real desire is to become president one day, and he wants to emulate Herbert Hoover, who went from commerce secretary to the White House. (A lot of politicians yearn to emulate Herbert Hoover these days.) Whatever the reason, there would be consequences to such a move.

The question many Republicans ask is, is he willing to give the Democrats the potentially pivotal 60th vote (assuming that, one day, Al Franken is declared the winner in Minnesota, and assuming that all 60 Democrats would vote as a bloc)? Not necessarily. Gregg no doubt has been warned by his Republican colleagues to consider those consequences. Word is that Gregg would accept the post only if New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat, does not name a Democrat to fill the final two years of his term. A curious arrangement, but -- given the last batch of Senate appointments -- nothing is surprising anymore.

There's virtually no way Lynch, who has already ruled out his own Senate candidacy, would name a partisan Republican to fill the seat, such as Sununu or former Sen. Warren Rudman. But there's no way Gregg would agree to a deal that saw Lynch appoint, say, Rep. Paul Hodes (D) to the seat. The name most bandied about is Bonnie Newman, Gregg's former chief of staff, who headed up "Republicans for Lynch" in 2004. She would presumably be a caretaker appointment, not planning to run in 2010.

Another potential appointment, writes the New Hampshire Union Leader, is former GOP state House Speaker Doug Scamman, another Lynch ally.

Obama had originally named New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) for commerce, but he withdrew his name in the wake of a federal corruption investigation of his administration.

Sununu could re-emerge and seek a comeback next year. His father, John H. Sununu -- the former governor and Bush 41 chief of staff -- was just elected chairman of the state Republican Party. The Boston Globe's James Pindell today writes about what's on the senior Sununu's plate:

New Hampshire had long been a libertarian-minded, conservative Republican state. From 1856 to 1994, Republicans won 63 of 71 races for governor. The same domination held basically true for the state's congressional delegation and state house.

Recently it has been a different story. The state voted for a Democratic governor in six of the last seven races and for a Democratic president four out of the last five elections. In 2006, Democrats had their most successful election year since the 1870s, unseating two Republican members of Congress, winning the governorship by a record margin, and grabbing majorities in both state house chambers.

If the younger Sununu did return to the Senate, he would join Jeanne Shaheen (D), who defeated him last year. It would be the fourth pairing of senators currently serving from the same state who had once run against each other; actually, Sununu and Shaheen squared off against each other twice, with the first contest in 2002 going to the Republican.

Nevada: Harry Reid (D) and John Ensign (R) -- Reid beat Ensign in 1998.
South Dakota: Tim Johnson (D) and John Thune (R) -- Johnson beat Thune in 2002.
Wyoming: Mike Enzi (R) and John Barrasso (R) -- Enzi beat Barrasso in the 1996 GOP primary.