Democratic News Chatter 4-1-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

President Barack Obama is making the rounds today in London - breakfast with Prime Minister Gordon Brown and meetings with Russia and Chinese Leaders. After a meeting with Russia President Dimitry Medvedev, it was announced Obama would travel to Moscow for nuclear arm reduction talks in July. Reuters.com has more here. Obama will also travel to China at the end of the year to meet with China President Hu Jintao to discuss enhanced U.S. - Chinese relations and strengthening economic and financial cooperation. You can read more here.

At a press briefing with PM Gordon Brown, Obama indicated they expected cooperation among world leaders at the G-20 economic crisis summit tomorrow.

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White House Director of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers to visit Michigan today - Dr. Ed Montgomery will meet with Governor Jennifer Granholm (D) and her economic staff to discuss efforts being made by the auto task force. Granholm was critical of the firing of GM CEO Richard Wagoner by the Obama administration. WhiteHouse.gov has more here.

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Congressional election in New York another close one! - Democrat Scott Murphy is leading by only 65 votes over Republican Jim Tedisco with all precincts reporting. However, there are still 4100 absentee ballots to be counted. Over 150,000 votes were cast in the 20th district in the special election to replace Kristen Gillibrand who was named to fill the vacant Hillary Clinton U.S. Senate seat. While this is a heavily registered republican district, conservative Democrat Gillibrand had won and Obama received 51% of the vote in his election last year. The NY Times has more here.

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Meanwhile, Minnesota is still waiting for a U.S. Senator to be named - in a ruling that appears to favor democrat Al Franken, the court ruled to review 400 absentee ballots instead of the 1300 requested by republican Norm Coleman. Franken currently leads by 225 votes so Coleman would need to win 80% of these 400 absentee ballots to overtake Franken. The absentee ballots will be opened and reviewed in court on April 7. However, the likelihood of a Senator heading to Washington to be sworn in is remote as the Coleman campaign has indicated they will appeal the decision. Stay Tuned. CNN.com has more here.

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So much for increased White House vetting as Sebelius reveals she also owed back taxes - The last Obama nominee for a cabinet position indicated she had recently paid around $8,000 in back taxes when questioned by a senate sub committee yesterday. It was back taxes that derailed the nomination of Tom Daschle for this position of Secretary of Health and Human Services. With all the attention on AIG bonuses, the firing of GM Richard Wagoner and the President overseas, this is likely to receive little media attention and Sebelius is expected to be confirmed. Politico.com has more here.

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Is Gingrich on the way back? - after a miscommunication with the staff of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich was named to be the keynote speaker for a major Republican fundraising dinner in June. The Republican House and Senate fundraising committees are holding the fundraiser. You can read more here.

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