Friday roundup: transition edition

Political reporters all over the nation are experiencing election postpartum depression. If you're reading this blog, you might suffer from it, too.

It works like this: After months of mounting intrigue and 24/7 media coverage, voters go to the polls and declare a winner. And then, after that thrilling dénouement . . . comes a lull.

Suddenly, your Electoral College map is irrelevant. And your RSS feeds don't call no more. 

But don't worry, there is still plenty of interesting political news being churned out, and we at the Ticket vow to supply you with a steady fix. Once a week, beginning today, we'll post a roundup of some of the most interesting stories from around the web.

This week we offer:

An intimate look at Barack Obama's faith.

A dispatch from the Republican Governors Assn. by our very own Mark Z. Barabak.

A very funny cartoon.

Foreign Policy's 20 questions for Obama (thankfully, none of them are, "what kind of dog will you bring to the White House?").

Josh Greenman's own set of (sillier) questions.

Will Marshall's advice to Obama on how he can close the "national security confidence gap."

And an analysis of Obama's technology policy. (Our own Jessica Guynn, by the way, has crowned Obama the president-elect of the YouTube nation.)

Happy reading.

-- Kate Linthicum

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Barack Obama may tap Hillary Clinton to be his Secretary of State

A secret meeting between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton yesterday has set rumors swirling that the president-elect might tap his former rival to be his secretary of State.

The pair met Thursday afternoon at Obama's office in downtown Chicago, Times staff writers confirm. Neither politician has spoken publicly about the meeting, but unidentified aides have told media outlets like CNN that Obama offered Clinton the role.

E-mails sent to Clinton's aides and to Obama's transition team were not immediately returned Friday.

Although Clinton has said in the past that she would not be interested in a Cabinet position, she seemed to indicate that she is open to the possibility in an interview on Monday at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards.

When asked what role she might play in an Obama administration, Clinton answered:

"I am happy being a senator from New York; I love this state and this city. I am looking at the long list of things I have to catch up on and do. But I want to be a good partner and I want to do everything I can to make sure his agenda is going to be successful."

Clinton campaigned hard for Obama in the months leading up to the election, putting to rest rumors that she was bitter after her loss in the Democratic primary. Even her husband, former President Bill Clinton, rallied voters for Obama eventually.

Since winning, Obama has surrounded himself with several former staffers from Clinton's Presidency. Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, served as a top advisor in Clinton's White House.

Obama was rumored to also be considering Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska for Secretary of State.

-- Kate Linthicum

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Photo credit: Sen. Clinton greets Democratic supporters Barbara Douglass, left, of Long Beach and Lillian Verducci of Fortuna, Calif., at a fundraiser in downtown Los Angeles. Clinton swung through California to try to convince her supporters to support Obama (Mel Melcon / LA Times).

John McCain sleeps like a baby, he says. But they also cry

John McCain hit the campaign trail in Georgia on Thursday.

No, this is isn't Groundhog Day. McCain was stumping for somebody else.

He was in Cobb, Ga. to rally support for Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss, who is locked in a tough runoff battle with Democrat Jim Martin.

Chambliss beat Martin 49.8% to 46.8% on election day, but since he didn't win 50% of the vote, a runoff is set for Dec. 2.

It was McCain’s first political appearance since  he lost the presidential election to Barack Obama, and  he was in good humor.

He told a crowd of about 1,500 Georgians that someone recently asked him how he's doing since his defeat.

“I told him I sleep like a baby,” McCain said. “I wake up every two hours and cry.” An ancient joke used by politicians after an election loss, most recently by McCain himself the other night on national TV with Jay Leno.

-- Kate Linthicum

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Photo: AFP/Getty Images

An insider's story: Why Barack Obama was not Swift Boated

Here’s one about the Swift Boat that didn’t happen, related by Republican adman Larry McCarthy at a California Chamber of Commerce post-election gathering this week at Torrey Pines in La Jolla.

As the Democratic National Convention was beginning, a newly formed group, American Issues Project, launched an ad that sought to tie Barack Obama to his Chicago acquaintance, Weather Underground founder Bill Ayers.

Texas billionaire Harold Simmons, who helped pay for the devastating Swift Boat attacks on John Kerry in 2004, paid almost $3 million to air the spot in battleground states.

American Issues Project was intended to serve the function in 2008 that Swift Boat and a few other groups filled four years ago -- that is, to derail the Democratic nominee.

McCarthy, one of the Republicans’ most skillful ad producers, put the spot together, and was prepared to do many more.

As it turned out, however, American Issues Project raised about $7 million, a tenth of what was raised by independent groups in 2004 against Kerry and for President Bush.

"There simply wasn’t the donor base to support it," McCarthy said.

And there are some rather interesting ....

William Ayers defends himself and his relationship with Barack Obama on 'Good Morning America'

(UPDATE: See below.)

For months, William Ayers was one of the most talked-about men in America.

Ayers, who was a radical antiwar protester in the 1960s and who now teaches at the University of Illinois-Chicago, was ridiculed as a "washed-up terrorist" by Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

And McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, accused Barack Obama of "palling around with terrorists" because he worked with on civic boards with Ayers and attended a reception at Ayers' home when he was running forIllinois state legislature.

But while the controversy churned, the man at the center of it remained silent.

That changed on election day. As soon as the polls closed on Nov. 4, Ayers opened up. In an interview with the Washington Post, Ayers complained that the Republicans had turned him into "a cartoon character." He also called the media's handling of the affair "kind of shameful."

Today, Ayers talked to the media again, this time in an interview with ABC's “Good Morning America." In the interview, which you can watch below, Ayers said that his relationship with Obama was exaggerated and insisted that the two never talked about Ayers' antiwar activities.

He complained that the whole controversy was a “dishonest narrative” used by Republicans to “demonize” him. And he defended his actions during the Vietnam war.

“Let's remember that what you call a violent past that was at a time when thousands of people were being murdered by our government every month, and those of us who fought to end the war were actually on the right side. I never hurt or killed anyone."

(UPDATE: Ayers also made an appearance today on Democracy Now! In the interview Ayers tells host Amy Goodman that his radical past "was raised up in an attempt to replay the culture wars."

(He also recounts his experience at Obama's acceptance speech on election night. "It was an extraordinary feeling," he said. "I've been in a lot of large crowds in my life, but I've never been in one that didn't either have an edge of anger or a lot of drunkenness or kind of performance. This was all unity, all love.")

You can watch footage of the interview on Democracy Now's website.

-- Kate Linthicum

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Elton John is enlisted as an unlikely ally for pro-Proposition 8 fundraising efforts

Protests and vandalism mounted by advocates of same-sex marriage are being used by promoters of Proposition 8 as a fundraising tool.

Jeff Flint, manager of the Yes-on-8 campaign, the proposition that banned gay marriage, also is using an unlikely ally -- Sir Elton John.

Flint sent out an e-mail solicitation decrying the tactics by some foes of the initiative and citing a USA Today article that quotes the performer as describing he and his partner are in a civil partnership, not marriage, and how he prefers it that way.

Prominent on the e-mail is a large red button that says: Donate.

“We want our supporters to know that we’re not going to stand by while they are harassed and intimidated when we asked them to support us,” Flint said today.

There have been numerous protests and some vandalism since voters approved the measure by a margin of 52.25% to 47.8% on Nov 4.

“It shows the so-called forces of tolerance are the most intolerant force in politics,” Flint said. “I can’t believe politically it is helping them.”

Money raised by the measure will be used in the coming court battle over Proposition 8. More than 40 Democratic legislators have filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging that the California Supreme Court overturn the initiative. Arnold Schwarzenegger also has called on the court to intervene.

-- Dan Morain

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Photo: Schalk van Zuydam /Associated Press

Barack Obama won labor support. Now labor seeks his support

Barack Obama might not be president-elect without the tens of millions of dollars that organized labor spent on his behalf.

Now, a union-backed organization is hoping to hold Obama to one of his promises. It's launching an early salvo in what could be a major fight at the start of the new administration.

Although somewhat arcane, the issue involves the method unions use to organize workers. Organized labor views it as a pivotal to its survival. Business led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is preparing for a major lobby battle.

The group, American Rights at Work, plans to start airing its new ad on Sunday, hoping to build support for the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation authored by Rep. George Miller, chair of the House Education and Labor Committee.

American Rights at Work was founded by David Bonior, a former Democratic congressman from Michigan. Now, Bonior is part of Obama’s economic transition team, and stood alongside various members from Wall Street and Washington when Obama held his first press conference last week.

“When it comes to looking for economic solutions for the middle class, this should be a top priority,”....

'Most dangerous VP we've had' Cheney welcomes Biden, who said that

It was the political summit of two professional politicians, the departing vice president, who may be the most powerful No. 2 in American presidential history, and the incoming vice president, who has publicly said some pretty mean stuff about his host.

Republican Dick Cheney, the former wrestler, welcomed Joe Biden, Barack Obama's running mate, to the official vice presidential residence Thursday. Lynne Cheney and Jill Biden were also there and seemed to carry the forced conversation during the posed greeting. (See video below.)

Biden was heard to say he'd been on the residence's first-floor a couple of times. The couples spent about 50 minutes together, then issued the usual brief messages of hospitality and appreciation.

During his vice presidential debate with Alaska Republican Gov. Sarah Palin, the loquacious Biden decided not to attack the woman candidate on the podium but took off instead on Cheney, who wasn't running for anything. Biden called Obama's cousin "the most dangerous vice president we've had."

During his August speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Biden also said:

"For every American who is trying to do the right thing, for all those people in government who are honoring their pledge to uphold the law and respect our Constitution, no longer will the eight most dreaded words in the English language be: 'The vice president's office is on the phone.'"

A Biden spokeswoman later said the vice president-elect thanked the Cheneys "for welcoming them into their home and for their gracious hospitality."

You can choose which feeling is the most sincere.

--Andrew Malcolm

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Obama quits Senate after 46 months--21 of them seeking another job

Well, Barack Obama's Senate career didn't last long -- about 46 months.

But long enough to mount a 21-month campaign to move on to bigger digs. The Democratic president-elect announced today he'll resign his Illinois seat in the U.S. Senate on Sunday, just before the Senate is set to resume sessions. Something about a presidential transition period.

That means that the Illinois Democratic governor with the unpronounceable name will soon be appointing Obama's replacement, a Democrat. Speculation has centered on Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who's made himself available in interviews and pointed out how few votes he's missed in the House (not that he's pointing a finger at Obama).

Vice president-elect Joe Biden is expected to resign soon too, giving his Delaware Democratic governor a chance to appoint someone.

The resignations before January will give both their successors slightly longer seniority over those taking office in January, which is a really big deal in that world because it involves which office and committee assignments and ranking you'll have. Kind of like merit badges without your mom having to sew anything.

We have a video report below. And the complete text of the president-elect's resignation statement is available by clicking on the "Read more" line below.

--Andrew Malcolm

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Photo credit: Associated Press

Michael Steele bids to be first African American chair of RNC

The fallout starts from the political demolition the Republicans experienced in last week's presidential balloting:

Michael Steele, former Maryland lieutenant governor and unsuccessful U.S. Senate candidate, announced this evening his candidacy to become chairman of the Republican National Committee. His announcement is an open challenge to current chairman, Mike Duncan, who has said he was exploring a re-election bid when the committee meets in January.

Normally, the party chair is named by the president if he controls the White House. But with George W. Bush leaving Jan. 20, the next selection will be left up to the RNC's members.

In his announcement Steele, a former Maryland state party chair, said he made his decision to challenge the incumbent last weekend, but delayed disclosure while he telephoned many committee members to seek their support.

The 50-year-old Steele, a native of Washington, D.C., and its Catholic school system and a graduate of Johns Hopkins University, has had his eyes on the RNC's top job for several years.

He was about to announce a candidacy to succeed Bush aide Ken Mehlman immediately after losing a Senate run in 2006, when Bush named Florida Sen. Mel Martinez.

Martinez got the job, partly as an outreach to the Latino community, which did not work very well, according to last week's presidential voting. The Cuban-born Martinez held the job only nine months and resigned 13 months ago eager to return to full-time senatoring, given his re-election campaign in 2010.

Duncan, a Kentucky native and longtime party operative, inherited the challenging job, which ...