The Note: The Majority Party
— -- WASHINGTON, Nov. 10
Bipartisanship lives: Day 3, as President Bush continues his reach across the aisle today, and the incoming majority leadership of the nearly-co-equal branch reaches back.
This morning Mr. Bush is scheduled to meet with the soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) at 11:35 am ET in the Oval Office. The President also participates in the dedication of the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, VA at 2:00 pm ET.
White House press secretary Tony Snow briefs the press today at 11:20 am ET at the White House.
(The role of the Vice President, Karl Rove, and Tracey Schmitt in the New New Normal remains tbd. Will the White House and RNC rapid response teams jump on the emergence of Bob Rubin's call to raise taxes or George McGovern's pending Hill visit to help Democrats come up with an Iraq policy? If not, you will know we are indeed in the New New Normal. Today's Paul Krugman victory lap is just the start.)
Speaker-Presumptive Nancy Pelosi has no public events scheduled for today. She is in her Capitol Hill office working on the transition. Through guile and skill at the insider game that some in the media (read: The Note) have misunderestimated at times, Pelosi has solved her Emanuel problem and is on the road to solving her Black Caucus problem, and now just has to finesse the Intelligence Committee fight, wait for Murtha to lose to Hoyer, and then decide just how truly nice she wants to be to the minority.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) continues her Empire State thank you tour. Today she thanks supporters in White Plains at 9:00 am ET, Albany at 1:00 pm ET, and Dexter, NY at 2:30 pm ET. At 11:00 am ET, Sen. Clinton will squeeze in a bit of official business when she attends the opening ceremony at the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor in New Windsor, NY.
Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) makes a 10:45 am ET announcement on the state budget in Boston, MA.
Gov. Tom Vilsack (D-IA) plans to hold is first press availability since becoming a presidential candidate in Cedar Rapids, IA at 7:15 pm ET.
At 9:30 am ET, the Brookings Institution holds a news conference to discuss, "A Post-Election Analysis: Victories, Losses and What Lies Ahead" at National Press Club in Washington, DC.
State Legislatures Magazine presents StateVote 2006 Election Analysis sponsored by Fleishman-Hillard in cooperation with Governing Magazine at Westin Embassy Row in at 9:30 am ET in Washington, DC
The president of the Southwest Voter and Registration Project, Antonio Gonzales discusses "The Impact of the 2006 Election on the U.S. Latino Community" at the National Press Club at 10 am ET in Washington, DC.
Be sure to tune into "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" on Sunday when George will be joined by White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and incoming Chairmen of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees -- Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) and Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI). LINK
2006: analysis:
In a must-read, the Washington Post's Dan Balz and Jim VandeHei report that Tuesday's electoral upheaval "wiped out many of the few remaining Republican moderates in Congress, further cementing the geographic partitioning of the House and potentially widening the ideological divisions that have contributed to partisanship and gridlock on Capitol Hill." LINK
"The majority party in the House is now the minority party among Southern states for the first time since the 83rd Congress in 1953-1954. The same holds for the new Democratic-controlled Senate, except for a brief period in the 1980s."
Rumsfeld departs:
John Broder of the Paper of Record does the Democrat takeover wrap up, highlighting President Bush's priorities before control switches in Congress, not the least of which is a confirmation for Robert Gates. LINK
On that subject, the New York Times also had a disappointed Newt Gingrich, "If the president had replaced Rumsfeld two weeks ago, the Republicans would still control the Senate and they would probably have 10 more House members. For the president to have suggested for the last two weeks that there would be no change and then change the day after the election is very disheartening."
Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times reports that President Bush has been considering replacing Rumsfeld since late summer. LINK
Ken Mehlman departs:
The New York Times' Adam Nagourney scores the Mehlman interview formally declaring his intention to leave the Republican National Committee at the end of his term. LINK
Nagourney includes Mitt Romney extending an informal offer to Mehlman to join his team. (Though, don't be surprised if Mehlman sits out the nomination fight and waits until a 2008 nominee emerges.) And be sure you don't miss the evocative James Carville dig at Howard Dean.
The Washington Times' Ralph Z. Hallow reports that Republican officials told the Washington Times that Lt. Gov. Michael Steele (R-MD), who lost his bid for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, "has been sought out to succeed Mr. Mehlman as national party chairman. Those Republican officials said Mr. Steele had not made a decision whether to take the post, as of last night." LINK
The Washington Post's Dan Balz reports that Mehlman is "leaving his position voluntarily and has not come under any pressure from the White House or state party leaders to vacate his position as a result of Tuesday's elections." LINK
Cino, Matalin, and Steele are the names bandied about.
