Democratic Chatter 12-15-2008

George Wenschhof Bio

President George W. Bush gets "shooed" by Iraqi Reporter - Seems not all Iraqis were happy to see President Bush. At a press conference, an Iraqi reporter threw not one but both of his shoes at Bush, missing both times. The man yelled "this is a farewell.....you dog". Reportedly, hitting one with a shoe is an insult among Muslims. The President took it well and went on with his statement. CNN.com has more here.

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President-elect Obama to announce his Energy team today at 5:00 PM ET - He is expected to formally announce Steven Chu as Energy Secretary. Also Lisa Johnson as EPA administrator, Carol Browner, and Nancy Sutley as director of a White House environmental committee. ThePage.Time.com has more here.

As this is a press conference, expect questions on when he will release list of contacts from his staff with Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich pertaining to the vacant Illinois Senate seat.

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President-elect will also meet with his entire national security team today - also present will be Vice-President elect Joe Biden, incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, and incoming White House Counsel Greg Craig. Obama is scheduled to hold a news conference at 4:00 PM ET.

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More on the "Blago watch" - speculation Governor Rod Blagojevich would resign today heated up after Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan mentioned the possibility on NBC "Meet The Press" yesterday.

Meanwhile, the report by prosecutors that they used "wiretaps" has potential witnesses or those who may have been involved scrambling for lawyers. The Chicago Sun Times has more here.

The Illinois legislature convenes this afternoon and if still necessary, will take up beginning the process of impeachment of Governor Blagojevich. You can read more here. Keep in mind, no one wants to go this route for it is very time consuming and would also most likely be even more damaging to the Democratic Party.

Stay Tuned.

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Obama will whistle-stop on way to Inauguration in D.C. - On January 17, the President-elect will attend an event in Philadelphia and then board a train with his family. They will then head to Wilmington, Delaware to pick up the Vice-President elect Joe Biden and his family. Then it is off to Baltimore for a stop before taking the final leg of the trip to Washington D.C. USA Today has more here.

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