Democratic Chatter 11-8-2008

George Wenschhof

President-elect Barack Obama delivers the Democratic weekly radio address this morning - You can read the transcript and listen to it here.

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Lieberman's status with Democrats remains unclear - what to do with Joementum has become one of the most discussed topics among Democrats. After losing in the 2006 Democratic primary in his reelection bid for the senate from Connecticut, he changed to Independent and won election. Since then, Lieberman has caucused with the Democrats and is chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

The Democrats who had 49 senators, were able to reach a slim majority of 51 with the help of Lieberman and Bernard Sanders, another Independent from Vermont. Democrats have gained 6 seats so far in the 2008 election with Georgia heading for a runoff, Minnesota facing a recount and the Alaska race still undetermined. Expect Lieberman who campaigned for Senator John McCain and spoke at the Republican National Convention to be removed from the chair position and possibly be offered a lesser position.

It's a tricky move for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid as the first reaction is to punish, but his vote may be needed in the future. Stay Tuned. CNN.com has more here.

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U.S. Auto Industry also faces meltdown - congress has already approved 25 Billion in loans to the auto industry, but that does not appear to be enough. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are all lobbying for additional government assistance. President-elect Obama signaled yesterday in his press conference, that action would be necessary to aid the ailing auto industry. The NY Times has more here.

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Kratovil Wins Maryland First District seat - TheHill.com is reporting that AP has called the race for the Democrat who has a 2000 vote lead with absentee ballots still being counted. This brings the Democratic gains to 20 and they now hold 256 of the 435 seats in the House.

Maryland now has 7 Democratic Representatives from the 8 districts in the state. The lone Republican Representative in the state is Roscoe Bartlett who easily won reelection in the 6th District. Read more here.

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Senator Robert Byrd(D-W.Va.) will step down as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee - Byrd, who is 90, has been in ill health for some time and rumors were rampant that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wanted to replace Byrd as chair. Byrd is the longest serving U.S. senator who was first elected in 1958. His resignation from the chair position, effective January 6, 2009, eliminates the need for Reid to take action. The new chair will be Hawaii Senator Daniel Inouye. Read more here.

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