Morning Read

Liberal bloggers push back against Democrats in Congress pressing President-elect Barack Obama to do more about the economic crisis. One blogger's suggestion that it's time to make the District of Columbia a state splits bloggers on both sides. But the blogosphere comes together to dismiss lawsuits over Obama's eligibility for the presidency.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and other Democrats have suggested that Obama hasn't been assertive enough in his support of the auto bailout. But Obama isn't even president yet and deserves more time, writes Awesome Blog's Lee Stranahan, who wonders whether other presidents-elect have been as active as Obama has been. Even as president-elect, Obama doesn't have more legal power than a regular citizen, notes Balkinization's Sandy Levinson.

By making the District of Columbia a state, Congress would uphold the basic idea that citizens should be allowed to vote and be represented, writes Matthew Yglesias. But kos wonders why no one's talking about having most of the District annexed by either Maryland or Virginia. Making the District a state would violate serious principles, since it's just a tiny city that has fewer residents than every state except for Vermont, writes James Joyner at Outside the Beltway.

The "truthers" on the right who are agitating for courts to consider whether Obama was really born in the United States are just like the conspiracists who wondered whether Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) is really the mother of her newborn, writes Michelle Malkin. The fringe lawsuits are part of the new American tradition of trying to overturn presidential results by any means necessary, writes Dave Weigel at Slate.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Great Expectations? Impossible Ones? - L. Stranahan, Awesome Blog
Power and Authority in Time of Crisis - Sandy Levinson, Balkinization
Geithner: Kick Bair Out - Ian Welsh, Firedoglake
Obama's Muslim Speech - Abe Greenwald, Commentary
D.C. Statehood - Matthew Yglesias
State of Columbia - kos, Daily Kos
D.C. Statehood Violates Principles - J. Joyner, Outside the Beltway
Truthers to the Left and Right of Me - Michelle Malkin
Crazies at SCOTUS - Mustang Bobby, Bark Bark Woof Woof
Fringe Movement to Stop Obama - Dave Weigel, Slate

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Back on Cap Hill, Auto Executives Still Find Skeptics - NY Times
HHS to Shepherd Health Care Reform - Washington Post
Obama Fundraising Close to $1 Billion - Los Angeles Times
Dems: Obama Needs Hands-On Econ. Approach - Associated Press

The recount in Minnesota's Senate race has devolved into chaos, according to bloggers keeping close tabs of the latest vote count. The argument that President-elect Barack Obama hasn't chosen a bipartisan Cabinet is dismissed by liberal blogs. And the Treasury department's latest plan to revive the housing market is received with skepticism from blogging economists on the left.

Both Democrat Al Franken and Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) are claiming that they're winning the recount, which is so close that it reminds Chris Cillizza of a 1974 Senate recount in New Hampshire that was resolved by a revote. But Franken's campaign seems to be claiming a lead just to introduce uncertainty and to set the stage for litigation, according to Power Line's Scott Johnson.

Obama hasn't lived up to his campaign talk about reaching out to Republicans since he's done nothing more than making the "token appointment" of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, writes In Transition's David Nather. But that argument is nonsense, as Obama has chosen both Gates and retired Gen. Jim Jones, another Republican, to fill two of the most high-profile posts in his administration, writes TalkingPointsMemo's Josh Marshall. Obama may also ask former GOP Rep. Jim Leach (Iowa) and Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) to join his administration, notes Washington Monthly's Steve Benen.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's plan to revive the housing market by offering more cheap credit to mortgage lenders seems to forget that the housing mess was created by an abundance of cheap credit, writes Mark Kleiman at The Reality Based Community. Providing even more money to lenders won't address the underlying problem of foreclosures, writes Angry Bear's Ken Houghton.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Counting Chaos! - Chris Cillizza, The Fix
Recount Update - Scott Johnson, Power Line
Why The Different Numbers? - John McCormack, Weekly Standard
Missing Ballots in Minneapolis? - Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight
Last Call for Bipartisan Cabinet - David Nather, In Transition
No Transition From Nonsense - Josh Marshall, TalkingPointsMemo
A Bipartisan Cabinet - Steve Benen, Washington Monthly
The Latest Bailout Plan - Doug Mataconis, Below The Beltway
Brilliant! - Mark Kleiman, The Reality Based Community
I'd Like to Refinance - Ken Houghton, Angry Bear

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Treasury Weighs Action on Mortgage Rates - Washington Post
U.A.W. Makes Concessions in Bid to Help Automakers - New York Times
Obama Keeps Distance From Treasury on TARP - Wall Street Journal

The reelection of Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) means different things to different bloggers. Conservatives see it as the first step in a Republican rebirth, while liberals write that it doesn't change the fact that Republicans will need to cooperate. The decision by Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) not to seek another term gives former Gov. Jeb Bush (R) a chance to rehabilitate his family's name, according to bloggers on both sides.

The Republican victory in Georgia shows that President-elect Barack Obama's coattails aren't that long and that the GOP can win in 2010 and 2012, writes Townhall's Hugh Hewitt. Tuesday's vote shows that people do take into account whether they want divided or one-party government, writes Mickey Kaus. Now that the "pro-amnesty and pro-bailout" Chambliss is in power, it's up to conservatives to hold him accountable, writes Michelle Malkin.

But since Republicans just have 41 Senate votes, they're the ones who will have to move to the center, writes MyDD's Todd Beeton. Even if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had the 60 votes that he had been hoping for, he would still work for a few Republican votes to pass the legislation he wants, according to Swampland's Karen Tumulty.

Two sources close to Bush told Marc Ambinder that the former governor is seriously considering a campaign for Senate. If Bush runs, he could clear the GOP primary field and help the party's image with Hispanic voters, Ambinder adds. The Senate campaign provides Bush with an opportunity to redefine his and his family's image and set him up for a future run for the White House, writes Hot Air's Allahpundit. Though the family name isn't that popular across the country, Bush himself is well-liked in his own state and would probably prevent Democrats from taking it over, writes Oliver Willis.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Chambliss Rolls in Georgia - Hugh Hewitt, Townhall.com
Palin Wins the First Round - Don Surber
Ga. Reader Holds Nose and Votes - Michelle Malkin
Voters Choose Divided Gov't - kausfiles, Mickey Kaus
GOP Needs to Move to Center - Todd Beeton, MyDD
Reid Still Needs to Woo Votes - Karen Tumulty, Swampland
Jeb Bush Ponders Florida Senate Run - Marc Ambinder
Sophie's Choice Starring Jeb Bush - Phil Singer, The Marathon Blog
Opportunity In His Back Yard - Allahpundit, Hot Air
Jeb! - Oliver Willis

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Big Three Seek $34 Billion Bailout Aid - Wall Street Journal
Haste Could Make Waste on Stimulus, States Say - Washington Post
Obama Teams Scrutinizing Federal Agencies - Washington Post
Anxiety Among Dems as Pelosi Tightens Grip - The Hill

With the Georgia Senate runoff election taking place today, liberal bloggers urge readers to give last-ditch support to Democrat Jim Martin, while conservatives lambaste Democrat Al Franken for considering an appeal to the U.S. Senate in the Minnesota Senate seat recount.

Despite a Public Policy Polling survey yesterday that showed Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) up by 7 percentage points, Chambliss's Senate seat is not out of reach for Martin, MyDD's Todd Beeton declares. At Daily Kos, brownsox implores readers to help Martin today by phone banking, while on the right Townhall.com's Amanda Carpenter writes that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) has energized Georgia Republicans by campaigning there for Chambliss.

Still several hundred votes behind Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), Franken is contemplating a new last-ditch effort to win the Minnesota Senate race, Power Line's Scott Johnson says: appealing to the Senate for rejected absentee ballots to be counted. Franken would de-legitimize his bid for Coleman's seat by appealing to his fellow Democrats in the upper chamber for help, Pejman Yousefzadeh opines at RedState.

And TalkLeft's Jeralyn is unsurprised (if a little disappointed) to hear that a Texas indictment against Vice President Dick Cheney has been dismissed. Cheney had been indicted by a Willard County, Texas grand jury on the grounds that his investments in private prison companies made him culpable in prison abuse cases, and the blogger decides that the case was too good to be true.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Palin GOTV Calls for Chambliss - Matt Lewis, Townhall.com
Michael Steele, Meet Your Party - Michael D., Balloon Juice
Run-off Day - Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
Indictments Dismissed against Cheney, Gonzales - Jeralyn, TalkLeft
Clinton's Fresh Start - Sean Quinn, FiveThirtyEight
Meet the Press Settling for Gregory? - Todd Beeton, MyDD
Thoughts on Rebuilding - Erick Erickson, RedState
Run, Toomey, Run! - Atrios, Eschaton
A Team of Mavericks in Georgia - M. K. Ham, The Weekly Standard
He Means It This Time? - Jennifer Rubin, contentions

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Success of Clinton Choice Hinges on Rapport - Washington Post
Pardon Is in Focus for Justice Nominee - NY Times
Franken May Seek Senate's Help to Win Race - The Hill
Canadian Autoworkers Would 'Take a Hit' in U.S. Bailout - Bloomberg

With President-elect Barack Obama set to announce his national security team this morning, bloggers debate whether national security will look much different under the new administration. Others, meanwhile, debate President Bush's potential legacy as Iraq's liberator.

A sea change in national security policy is on the way with Obama's new team, Political Animal's Steve Benen asserts, citing a report in today's New York Times. The new team, which reportedly will include Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, will recommit the U.S. to diplomacy, emphasize prevention, and cut back Pentagon spending, Benen declares. But any new priorities won't replace the basic need for a robust military, Jennifer Rubin writes at contentions, accusing the left of wishful thinking in its predictions of sweeping change.

Though Bush said in a recent interviewer that he wants to be remembered as Iraq's liberator, his legacy in Iraq is nothing to be proud of, Firedoglake's Attaturk asserts. Iraq is still dangerous for many who live there, the blogger notes, while Power Line's Scott Johnson contends that while we will have to wait for history's verdict on him, Bush invaded Iraq with a clear conscience.

Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, might damage their public opinion standings if they challenge Obama too early in his presidency, Matthew Continetti predicts at The Weekly Standard. A New Deal-esque stimulus plan is not what the country needs, Continetti asserts, but the weakened GOP may not be in a position to fight Democrats' agenda according to the blogger.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Jim Martin #2 and #3 - Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
Messages from Mumbai - Michael Medved, Townhall.com
3 A.M. - Kathryn Jean Lopez, The Corner
The Stimulus - Matthew Continette, The Weekly Standard
The National Security Team - Jed Lewison, The Jed Report
Michael Steele for RNC Chair - Matt Stoller, Open Left
It's Honeymoon Time - Paul Mirengoff, Power Line
The Liberationator - Attaturk, Firedoglake
In Which I Eat My Hat - Kevin Drum
The Governor Is Missing - Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Dish

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
A Handpicked Team for a Shift in Foreign Policy - NY Times
Pentagon to Detail Troops for Domestic Security - Washington Post
Decisions Made on Two Other Top Jobs - Chicago Tribune

President-elect Barack Obama's decision to keep Robert Gates on as Defense secretary is getting decidedly mixed reviews in the blogosphere. Some liberal bloggers worry about having yet another Republican head the Pentagon, while others argue that the Gates pick will give Obama cover and more political capital. Some conservative bloggers praise Obama for yet another centrist Cabinet pick, while others note that the Obama's Cabinet is still stocked with liberals.

Keeping Gates, who will become the second Republican Defense secretary in as many Democratic administrations, sends the message that Democrats themselves don't trust Democrats to run the military, writes Open Left's Chris Bowers. Gates and most of Obama's national security team weren't with him during the campaign and could thus squeeze out the younger policy operatives from the mid-level administration jobs that could define the future of liberal national security thinking, writes Matthew Yglesias.

But Gates will allow Obama to conduct a troop withdrawal from Iraq that won't be taken as a slight by the military, writes Spencer Ackerman. Choosing Gates allows Obama to keep his promise of having a multi-partisan Cabinet and will thus allow him to build political capital for the rest of his agenda, writes MyDD's Todd Beeton.

To conservative Max Boot, Obama has chosen a team of national security and economic advisers that is "stunning in its moderation" and has already helped him exceed expectations. Of course, choosing Gates goes against the message of "change" that Obama ran on as a candidate, notes Michelle Malkin. And while other conservatives are pleased with Obama's choices, Power Line's Paul Mirengoff notes that Obama's picks, especially Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) for secretary of State, are still further to the left than most conservatives.

FROM THE BLOGS:
The Debate Over Gates - Chris Bowers, Open Left
The New Team - Matthew Yglesias
Gestures - Spencer Ackerman, Attackerman
The Cabinet Comes Into View - Hilzoy, Political Animal
The Pros and Cons of Keeping Gates - Todd Beeton, MyDD
Obama's Picks Stunning in Moderation - Max Boot, Contentions
Obushma - Don Surber
Obama Keeps Bush's Defense Secretary - Michelle Malkin
Unhappy With Clinton - Paul Mirengoff, Power Line

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
U.S. Moves to Revive Consumer Lending - Washington Post
Obama Plans to Retain Gates at Defense - New York Times
'Recovery' Is In; 'Stimulus' Is So Seven Months Ago - NY Times

Two polls in Georgia's runoff Senate race have liberal bloggers alternately confident and worried, while others ponder whom President Bush might pardon as he exits the White House.

Things are looking up for Democrat Jim Martin, Daily Kos's brownsox proclaims after reading a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC)-sponsored poll that shows Martin trailing incumbent Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) by two percentage points.

The federal government's approval of $306 billion in loans and securities to assist troubled Citigroup finds skepticism among bloggers on the left and right. Democrats, meanwhile, are applauded by liberals for planning a hefty economic stimulus package.

Citigroup is now running exclusively on "taxpayer-funded life support," RedState's blackhedd declares, surmising that taxpayers have essentially acquired the troubled bank. And the Citigroup rescue is a slap in the face to Detroit, emptywheel protests, as lawmakers have hesitated to approve a $25 billion in assistance for the Big Three.

News that Democrats' proposed stimulus could hit $700 billion encourages Political Animal's Steve Benen, who takes the potential pricetag as a sign that Democrats are taking the economic crisis seriously. A $1 trillion stimulus might be a better target as Dems work on their plan, writes The Jed Report's Jed Lewison, proposing that average Americans need some bailing out of their own.

Different outcomes for Minnesota's undecided Senate race, meanwhile, are predicted by conservatives. Democrats could overturn a victory for Sen. Norm Coleman (R) by convincing courts to count rejected absentee ballots, Power Line's Scott Johnson suggests, while Townhall.com's Hugh Hewitt predicts Coleman will hold on to defeat Democrat Al Franken after election officials finish recounting votes.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Minnesota Senate Recount Prediction - Scott Mirengoff, Power Line
Future of Agriculture - Natasha Chart, MyDD
Citigroup Received Massive Bailout - Chris in Paris, AMERICAblog
Whoa - Jed Lewison, The Jed Report
Sadr Can Barely Draw a Crowd - Bill Roggio, The Weekly Standard
Blue-Light Special - blackhedd, RedState
The Story - Josh Marshall, TalkingPointsMemo
Scowcroftian Foreign Policy - Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
Saving Citi but Not GM - emptywheel
Obama's Clinton Problem - Glenn Reynolds, Instapundit

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Citigroup Gets Giant Bailout - The Hill
Democrats' Stimulus Plan May Reach $700 Billion - Washington Post
Closing Guantanamo May Be the Easy Part for Obama - LA Times

Democrats should pursue ambitious projects beyond typical government spending, infrastructure and the proposed economic stimulus package, liberal bloggers contend, while conservatives prefer any added money go toward wartime efforts. Meanwhile, Attorney General Michael Mukasey

With the $25 billion bailout for car makers stalling in the Senate, liberal bloggers press lawmakers to get it going again. Democrat Al Franken is gaining votes in the recount of his race against Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), worrying conservative bloggers who think Franken is about to steal the election. And President-elect Barack Obama's choice of Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as Homeland Security Secretary earns praise from bloggers on the left but dampens hopes of unseating Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in 2010.

The bailout is necessary since an auto industry collapse would risk setting off a tidal wave of lower wages and lower buying power for consumers, writes The Huffington Post's Robert Creamer. The Senate should pass a $100 billion recovery package and instruct Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to use part of the $700 billion bailout already approved to help the car makers, writes Robert Borosage, also at The Huffington Post.

Franken gained a net of 43 votes during the first day of the recount, reducing his deficit to 172 votes. Four-fifths of the vote have yet to be recounted, and many of those ballots come from Democratic counties, writes FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver. Franken and Democrats are trying to steal the election by challenging votes that were obviously cast for Coleman, writes RedState's Erick Erickson. Franken may gain enough legitimate votes during the recount that would push him over the top when added to illegitimate votes ACORN and Democrats won for him on Election Day, writes a concerned John Hinderaker at Power Line.

Napolitano is a terrific choice to lead the Homeland Security Department since she's a rising star and is one of the country's best governors, writes Political Animal's Steve Benen. But her appointment means that a Republican will become Arizona's governor and that McCain, who is vulnerable to a Napolitano challenge, has an easier path to reelection, writes MyDD's Todd Beeton. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) is option for Democrats in either race, as she has shown political savvy by winning in a Republican district, writes FiveThirtyEight's Silver.

FROM THE BLOGS:
U.S. Needs Strong Auto Industry - R. Creamer, Huffington Post
Free Fall - Robert Borosage, Huffington Post
Unstimulating - Pejman Yousefzadeh, RedState
Franken Gains Net of 43 Votes - Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight
Deeply Concerned About Recount Outcome - J. Hinderaker, Power Line
Numbers Moving in Right Direction - Todd Beeton, MyDD
Stealing Minnesota - Erick Erickson, RedState
Napolitano Is Terrific Choice - Steve Benen, Political Animal
McCain's Possible Challengers - Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight
McCain Dodges a Bullet - Todd Beeton, MyDD

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Fed Reserve Sees Recession To At Least Mid-2009 - LA Times
Obama's Pick of Daschle May Test Conflict-of-Interest Pledge - NYT
Dems: Napolitano Emerges For Homeland Security Job - AP
Big 3 On The Brink - The Hill