Daily Political Wire 11-23-2010

George Wenschhof

North and South Korea exchange Artillery fire - the latest in long standing differences between the countries. South Korea had been test firing artillery near the North Korea border when North Korea responded with shots to a island of South Korea, killing several soldiers. The NY Times has more here.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs issued a statement calling on North Korea to halt it's belligerent action and to honor the 1953 armistice agreement. The Washington Post has more here.

Another test for the Obama administration.

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Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faces Impeachment - an interesting development as the parliament indicated they wished to impeach but have refrained from doing so due to the wishes of Supreme Leader Allatollah Ali Khamenei. The Wall Street Journal has more here.

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Kathleen Kennedy Townsend to chair "American Bridge" - a liberal counterpart to conservative groups such as "American Crossroads". David Brock, a Democratic political operative, has set up the group and former Maryland Lt. Governor Townsend has agreed to chair the committee. The committee will support Democratic candidates in the 2012 election and already has 4 million in pledges, including one million from George Soros. You can read more here.

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Four House Races still Undecided - Republicans added another win yesterday when Democrat Representative Solomon Ortiz conceded to Blake Farenthold in Texas. Two races in New York and two in California remain to be decided. Democrats lead in 3 of the remaining races. Republicans have now picked up a total of 62 seats. TheHill.com has more here.

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Miller Sues to Halt Murkowski Senate Victory - Joe Miller backed by Sarah Palin and a tea party favorite, has filed another lawsuit challenging the write in victory of Senator Lisa Murkowski. At issue, the legal definition of the state statute which spells out what is acceptable for a write-in. His argument will be the name has to be spelled correctly and intent is not good enough. Stay tuned... Reuters.com has more here.

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Axelrod to Leave White House after "State of The Union" - the senior adviser to President Obama will be replace by David Plouffe. Plouffe is expected to arrive soon and work for the next month or more with David Axelrod before he leaves. Axelrod will essentially be changing roles with Plouffe, who was the Obama campaign manager in 2008. Politico.com has more here.

One of the problems with the Obama administration is there has been no good spokesperson after the president. Axelrod is one of a long list; a smart individual, but poor appearance and delivery of positions on issues. Don't look to see Plouffe be the answer.

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Jurors Deliberating in Tad DeLay Money Laundering Case - a long time coming in the case involving the former Republican House Majority Leader. CNN.com has more here.

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