Democratic Chatter 12-31-2008

George Wenschhof Bio

President-elect Barack Obama expected to move to Washington D.C. this weekend - He, his family and friends will wind down their vacation in Hawaii by the end of the week. Yesterday, he and his daughters visited the Honolulu Zoo. The Honolulu Star Bulletin has more here. They will then travel to D.C. where they will stay in a Hotel for two weeks before they can move into the "Blair House" on January 15. The daughters begin their new school next week. CNN.com has more here.

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Israel continues attack on Gaza - now in the fifth day, close to 400 Palestinians have died. The French have been hard at work brokering a 48 hour cease-fire, but no agreement has been reached. Hamas remains defiant and continues to fire missiles into Israel despite the threat of an invasion by Israel. The NY Times has more here. President George W. Bush has said little and incoming President Barack Obama continues to use the line "we only have one President at a time". He now has only twenty days he will be able to use that phrase and he becomes the 44th President.

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Blagojevich selection of Burris a shrewd move - by selecting Roland Burris who is an African-American with a solid political background, he has made a bad situation even more difficult for Democratic leadership. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said they will not seat him, setting up yet another political battle. After Barack Obama resigned his Senate seat, there are no African-Americans serving in the Senate. This is shaping up to be one more distraction for the incoming Obama administration to contend with. Politico.com has a good read here.

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Obama Transition Team informs 90 appointees at Pentagon they will not be continuing their jobs - Although Defense Secretary Robert Gates was kept in his position by the incoming President, 90 of the 250 political appointees were recently informed they would be replaced. Jim O'Beirne, special assistant to secretary of defense for White House liaisons expressed some frustration he was not informed first. TheHill.com has more here.

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Want a Free ticket, travel and hotel stay for the Inauguration? - The Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) sent out an email last night to supporters from David Plouffe, the Obama campaign manager offering just that. Of course, they are using the offer as a hook to ask supporters fro donations, but you don't have to donate to be considered. If you sign up between now and midnight on January 8, they will select 10 supporters who will receive tickets for themselves and a guest, travel to D.C. and a Hotel room. Why not sign up and give it a try? To donate and register for a chance for the free ticket click here. To register without making a donation click here.

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