Sunday Snapshot -- Hail To The Chief Of Staff

A number of Pres.-elect Obama's team members made the Sunday rounds. Newly-named WH CoS Rahm Emanuel discussed his role in the admin. on "This Week" and "Face the Nation."

Emanuel, on House Min. Leader John Boehner saying it was "an ironic choice" for Obama to select him as CoS: "President Obama is very clear, as you look at his career, both in the state senate, U.S. Senate, and the campaign that we have to govern in a bipartisan fashion. And if you look at the way his campaign is run and also the ideas, he has always said that we have to be bipartisan. ... So that is the tone. That is the policy. And that is exactly how we're going to go forward. And he has said it for us."

Emanuel, asked if there's one specific idea that Obama and John McCain can work together on: "They had a good call. They're going to be talking about a series of things, not only domestically but internationally, on where they can work together."

Emanuel, asked if Obama will support a proposal put forth by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Maj. Leader Harry Reid that the gov't tap the $700B rescue plan for the auto industry: "First, the auto industry is an essential part of our economy, an essential part of our industrial base. Second, they should look at accelerating the $25 billion that was offered for retooling for the industry, going forward. Third, there are other authorities within the administration they should use at this immediate time. And, fourth, President-elect Obama has asked his economic team to look at different options of what it takes to help bridge the auto industry so they are a part of not only a revived economy but part of an energy policy."

More after the jump, including the futures of Lieberman and the GOP.

(KATHERINE LEHR)

ABC's Stephanopoulos, on the stimulus plan: "President-elect Obama said he wants that to happen sooner rather than later. The White House has certainly signaled its reluctance, but they've also signaled that, perhaps, if Congress attached the Columbia Free Trade Agreement to a stimulus package, then the president could sign on this year. Is that a trade worth taking?"

Emanuel: "You don't link those essential needs to some other trade deal. What you have to deal with is what's immediate here, and the lame duck is for immediate things that are important. That's what should be the focus, right now. There's an economic recovery package in front of the Congress. Washington should get it done."

Emanuel, asked if Obama is willing to postpone a tax increase on the wealthy due to the current economic crisis: "It was built on the fact that the middle class had been hurt, and to have a strong recovery and a sustained recovery over a period of time means that the middle class must be the focus of the economic strategy" ("This Week," ABC, 11/9).

CBS' Schieffer, on Congress coming back into session: "Is [Obama] going to be on the Senate floor, as a senator from Illinois, or will he stay in Chicago and work on his economic team?"

Emanuel: "The basic approach has been he's going to be here in Chicago, not only his economic team, but the policies he wants to outline for the country as soon as he gets sworn in, so we hit the ground running."

Schieffer: "So do I take it he's going to leave the lame duck session to the Senate and to the congressional leaders; he's not going to take any role in that?"

Emanuel: "He called for action. ... He's going to, as he did on Friday, encourage Washington to move immediately, because of what's happening to the economy. ... He doesn't want to waste a single day getting his Cabinet, his government and his policies in place to move forward on January 20, as soon as he is sworn in and as his Cabinet is sworn in" ("Face the Nation," CBS, 11/9).

NOT PULLING A DICK CHENEY

Meanwhile, Obama transition team head John Podesta was on "Fox News Sunday" and "Late Edition."

Fox's Wallace: "President-elect Obama made it clear in his Friday news conference that job one is the economy, but he left it unclear how active, how involved, he's going to get before his inauguration. Will he give congressional Democrats clear direction about what he wants them to do in a lame duck session on economic stimulus? Will he actively engage with the Bush administration on the financial bail-out, or is he going to wait until he takes the oath of office?"

Podesta: "Well, we have one president at a time, as President-elect Obama said on Friday, so the job is up to President Bush to move that legislation forward and try to keep economic recovery moving today. ... [Obama] sent a strong signal that we need an economic recovery program moving forward. He'd like to see the stimulus that's pending on Capitol Hill pass. ... He hopes that will happen during this lame duck session, that President Bush will cooperate. If it doesn't, it would be the first item of business when he comes back."

Podesta, asked if Obama feels pressure to name his treas. sec. and economic team first and quickly to reassure the financial markets: "Across the board, whether it's national security, the economy, the senior leadership that will manage health care, energy and the environment, I think he intends to move very quickly. And you know, he's beaten a lot of records during the course of the campaign. ... With the exception of President Bush 41, which was an intraparty transition, no new president has named a cabinet secretary before December, going back through the Kennedy administration. And I think we're moving aggressively to try to build out that core economic team, the national security team, and you'll see announcements when they're ready."

Wallace: "Your transition team has reportedly already identified a number of areas where he could issue executive orders as soon as he takes office ... to solve problems that he thinks needs solving, but also to demonstrate quickly that change has come to Washington. What's at the top of the list?"

Podesta: "Well, I'm not going to preview decisions that he has yet to make. But I would say that as a candidate, Senator Obama said that he wanted all the Bush executive orders reviewed, and decide which ones should be kept, and which ones should be repealed, and which ones should be amended. And that process is going on."

Wallace: "On the big legislative initiatives, the things he's going to have to go to Congress for, such as the economy, and health care and energy, have any decisions been made? And as a former White House chief of staff under Bill Clinton, do you have any thoughts on how many he can take on at once? And is there a danger of trying to do too many things at the same time?"

Podesta: "There's always a danger of trying to, I think, sort of, if you will, clutter the agenda. But I think one of the things that Senator Obama, again, showed during the campaign -- and I think what we're trying to do during the transition is be very disciplined about the strategy to actually execute against the programs that he laid out, the promises he laid out. ... The question that I think faces him now and Senator Biden -- and during the course of the transition -- is what's the strategy that allows you to tackle those problems in a parallel fashion, simultaneously, so that we can improve the lives and well-being of the American people. ... I think he has the capacity to do a lot."

Podesta, on the transition team: "We were up and working as early as early August. I talked with the White House chief of staff several times before the election. We had meetings at the White House. We pre-cleared under the intelligence legislation that was passed in 2004 100 people who now have security clearances so they're able to go in the agencies and be fully briefed on the important national security matters facing the country. We began building out a personnel file to be able to make choices rapidly during the course of this transition period. That was all guided by a diverse board of 14 people who were strong supporters of the campaign."

Podesta, asked what lessons he's learned from mistakes made by B. Clinton and other admins. in terms of how to do this transition differently: "It was important to name a White House chief of staff early and build a White House staff right from the beginning to go along with the cabinet's election process."

Wallace: "Are you making a conscious effort to look for Republicans in the cabinet? Are you making a conscious effort on diversity both in terms of race and gender?"

Podesta: "Absolutely. And I think that you'll see, again, a cabinet that looks like the way President Obama ran his campaign. He brought millions of people in. They weren't all Democrats. ... Sometimes there's a token Republican in the cabinet or token Democrat in a Republican administration. I think his charge to us is that he wants a broad diverse cabinet. ... First criteria is excellence."

Wallace: "You're the head of a liberal think tank, the Center for American Progress, and you have come under some criticism for not disclosing who your donors are. This is perfectly legal. But can you understand where some people, given the fact that you're playing a key role in staffing this administration, would wonder who your financial backers are?"

Podesta: "All of our major financial backers are out in the newspaper, and you can go read them. And the 58 foundations that support the senator are out there and available. ... We're fully compliant with the law."

Podesta, asked if billionaire investor George Soros is one of his contributors: "It's been reported, and I've confirmed that. He was an early contributor. He's not our largest contributor."

Wallace: "Any chance that you will pull a Dick Cheney as the head of the search team and actually become a part of the administration yourself?"

Podesta: "No, I've made it very clear to President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Biden that I will be the most unpopular man in Washington come January 20th for having said no to so many people, and that I'll kind of ride off into the sunset at that point and go back to the center and try to do what we do well, which is to produce policy ideas and criticize the administration when we think they're doing the wrong thing" ("Fox News Sunday," 11/9).

Podesta, asked if Obama's tax plan be in the early days or does it have to wait: "Yes, no, absolutely. I think you have to think about this in the short term and the long term. It's clear that we need to stabilize the economy, to deal with the financial meltdown that's now spreading across the rest of the economy."

CNN's J. King: You are working very closely now with an administration, the Bush administration, that, for eight years, you frankly called incompetent, over and over again, from the outside. Are they cooperating now, in a competent way?"

Podesta: "Yes. I think that we've had very good conversations with the administration before the election. I met with Josh Bolten, the president's chief of staff. His deputy, Blake Gottesman, is really heading up the transition effort inside the White House. We've had several meetings before and subsequent to the election. ... We're moving and proceeding in a very professional way. ... Their personnel office, across the board, I think, in the White House, we've had a very collegial and cooperative arrangement, and I thank them for that" ("Late Edition," CNN, 11/9).

A FLAWLESS FRIEND

And Obama transition team co-chair Valerie Jarrett appeared on "Meet the Press."

Jarrett, on the priorities during this transition time: "We hit the ground running first thing Wednesday. Wednesday, President-elect Obama -- it feels so good to say President-elect Obama -- pulled together our team and we began to lay out the framework for how we want to move forward. As you would expect, both the economy and national security are top priorities. ... We will be looking to be efficient, transparent, bipartisan. We want the American people to understand the transition and how we're moving forward. And in the days and weeks ahead, President-elect Obama will be making announcements as he makes decisions."

NBC's Brokaw: "What's the working model? Are you going to try to be a shadow government or just a very interested spectator off to the side?"

Jarrett: "There is one president at a time. President Bush is still the president. ... So we respect that. He will be the president until January 20th. However, given, really, the daunting challenges that we face, it's important that President-elect Obama is prepared to really take power and begin to rule day one. So we will be working closely with his administration. We're reviewing the agencies now. He will be making key personnel decisions. He gets national security briefings every day now as well, but he will not be the president until January 20th."

Jarrett, asked when a treas. sec. will be announced: "That's obviously up to President-elect Obama. He's reviewing candidates. ... It was very important to him last week to have his economic advisers in and begin the conversation with them."

Jarrett, asked if Obama will have some GOPers in the Cabinet: "He thinks he'll make better decisions if he's pushed hard by people with perspectives that are wide and broad. And so it's important to him to have that kind of breadth at the table, and so I'm confident that his administration will include people from all different perspectives."

Jarrett, asked if Defense Sec. Robert Gates will carry over to the Obama admin.: "I think everything is a possibility right now."

Jarrett, asked if there's going to be a "kinder, gentler" Emanuel as WH CoS: "I've had the pleasure of knowing Rahm for, oh my goodness, over 15 years now. ... Tone starts at the top, and I think that President-elect Obama has made it clear that he wants an administration that that reaches out, that's bipartisan, that works in a collegial way. There's no one who can hit the ground running faster than Rahm Emanuel. He embraces President-elect Obama's philosophy. He's going to do an outstanding job."

Brokaw: "I want to share with you something that was said in the Chicago Tribune. Obama said that having an adviser like Jarrett, someone who 'knows your flaws but also knows your strengths' is crucial. What are his flaws?"

Jarrett: "Well, that's the advantage of being his friend is that I only talk about his strengths. We never talk about his flaws, but he does have them."

Jarrett, asked if Michelle Obama's first lady model will be more like Laura Bush or Hillary Clinton: "I think her model will be Michelle Obama. She's going to be her own first lady. There'll be nothing like it."

Brokaw: "But will she have a place at the table? Bill Clinton used to say about Hillary Clinton, 'elect one, get one free.' And that's that she would be in on the decision-making within the bowels of the White House."

Jarrett: "Michelle is really not interested in doing that. Her first priority as she comes to Washington and moves into the White House are those two darling girls. ... After that ... her interests will be work-life balance, volunteerism, military spouses. And she'll go from there. But having a seat at the table and being a co-president is not something that she's interested in doing" (NBC, 11/9).

And Emanuel was asked about Jarrett's future on "This Week."

ABC's Stephanopoulos: "Barack Obama's confidante and transition co-chair Valerie Jarrett. WLS TV in Chicago reported this morning that she's his choice to become the new senator, to replace him as senator from Illinois. Is that true?"

Emanuel: "I haven't seen that story. She is a very, very dear friend, as you know, of the president-elect, and I don't think there's been any decision or any discussion that I've seen to that basis" (ABC, 11/9).

NOT ANOTHER TEEN MOVIE

CNN's J. King spoke with Senate Maj. Leader Harry Reid, where they discussed the future of Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT). Portions of the interview aired on "Late Edition."

King: "You have proposed he lose his premier committee, Homeland Security, take a lesser committee, Veterans' Affairs or something else. Why not just say sorry, Joe, you are not welcome here anymore?"

Reid: "Well, John, whoever gave you this information is wrong because he is not on the Veterans' Committee. I couldn't offer him that if I wanted to. ... I know Joe Lieberman very well. He is a senior member of the Senate. He is on Armed Services, if something happens to the chairman he becomes chairman. If something happens to the chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, he becomes chairman. So he is a senior member -- person around here. And I want to remind all of the people that are watching this newscast or however this program is going to air that I would not be majority leader but for his vote."

More Reid: "So I recognize what he did was wrong and quite frankly, I don't like what he did. I told him so all during the campaign. But the caucus has a decision to make and they're going to make it. I am not going to make the decision. ... We've had a number of conversations, we're going to have more. But for those people beating up on Joe Lieberman, I've done my share. Recognize the glass being half full, not half empty."

King: "Do you want a man who says [Obama] is not ready to be commander-in-chief, nowhere close, to be the chairman of a committee in the Democratic Senate?"

Reid: "Joe Lieberman told me yesterday you have a big job to do. I am going to do everything I can to help Barack Obama."

Reid, asked if Lieberman owes Obama an apology: "Oh, I don't know. This is not a high school deal where you say, OK, you embarrassed me in front of my girlfriend therefore you apologize."

King: "But you made peace with Senator McCain. Should they do something like that?"

Reid: "Maybe they already have. I think a lot of this is very private stuff but Joe Lieberman has done something that I think was improper, wrong. ... If we weren't on television, I'd use a stronger word of describing what he did. But Joe Lieberman votes with me a lot more than a lot of my senators. He didn't support us on military stuff and he didn't support us on Iraq stuff. But you look at his record, it's pretty good. He comes from one of the most liberal states in the country. ... Joe Lieberman is not some rightwing nutcase. Joe Lieberman is one of the most progressive people ever to come from the state of Connecticut" (CNN, 11/9).

Emanuel, asked if Lieberman should be allowed to retain his position: "As the chief of staff for the new president, he's going to be focused on the basic problems facing the country. ... What happens on the House and Senate, on chairmanship is their business" ("This Week," ABC, 11/9).

THE GOVERNATORS

Reps. Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Mike Pence (R-IN) appeared together on "Fox News Sunday" to talk about the future of the GOP.

Cantor: "We have to demonstrate, number one, that we understand what people are going through. Our vision going forward has to be one of reform. ... There's no question that the Republican Party has got to stop doing things the way they've always done them. We were doing things that we'd been doing for the last 10 years. The incredible innovation and use of technology that the Obama campaign and the Democrats employed is stunning. We're going to have to change. The Republican Party will have to begin to adapt those innovations and that technology to make sure that we can reach out to the increasing diverse population of this country."

More Cantor: "But at the end of the day, it is about a message of change. And what we're going to be faced with when we come back to Congress in January is a president who probably will be facing extraordinary challenges at a historic level. ... I think that the Republicans in Congress will stand ready to work with this new president. ... There is going to be, I think, a willingness to try and get things done. But at the end of the day, I think you will see a Republican Party in Congress serving as a check and a balance against Mr. Obama's power and Speaker Pelosi's power."

Fox's Wallace: "I had Karl Rove on on election night, and he said, 'It's not enough to just go back and say, 'Well, we're the party of Ronald Reagan.' He says you've got to come up with new conservative solutions to the problems that people face today."

Pence: "Right. But you build those conservative solutions on the same time-honored principles of limited government, a belief in free markets, a belief in the sanctity of life and the sanctity of marriage. ... There were three state referendums on marriage. All three of them carried. ... The vitality of the conservative movement around the country is very real. I don't think we should draw any broad conclusions ... about a big realignment."

Wallace: "How long do you see Republicans in the wilderness? Is this something that takes years, or do you think you could actually take back the House or the Senate in 2010?"

Cantor: "It's pretty unbelievable that we sit here today, given this date -- and four years ago the discussion was all about the Democrats unable to find their footing. So I do think in this age of the 24/7 news cycle and the Internet world, we're going to have the ability to reach out to many supporters. ... Our challenge going forward is to make sure that we're able to connect with the younger people in this country in explaining our vision and talking about the conservative principles that will be adapted to the everyday challenges that people face. And I think that's our challenge ... in the Northeast, in the upper Midwest. We will not be taking back a majority unless we are able to put in place a plan that does just that" (11/9).

Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) was on "Meet the Press," where he was asked if there is going to be in the next two years within the GOP a real struggle for the identification of the GOP.

Martinez: "No question about it. ... We have to modernize. There's a great meeting of Republican governors taking place in my state next week, and that is a laboratory of ideas. That's where we got a lot of the resurgence of our party on conservatism. The fact is that there's a lot of bright stars of our party. Mitch Daniels had an excellent day. On a day when the Republican ticket lost Indiana, he won re-election overwhelmingly. That's because the kind of governor he's been and the kinds of things that he has done. These are governors who have not been governing as partisans but who have been governing as getting things done for the people. And the ideas that are germinating in our states, I think, are very exciting and, I think, will give rise to the future of our party" (NBC, 11/9).

And CA Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) talked about his party on "Late Edition."

Schwarzenegger: "The important thing for the Republican Party is now to also look at other issues that are very important for this country and not to get stuck in ideology, in the ideological corners. Let's go and talk about health care reform. Let's go and strive towards having everyone have insurance and be insured so that they're covered. Let's make sure to go and to open up and to go and fund programs if they're necessary programs, and not get stuck on just the fiscal responsibility, but look at the reality of what needs to be done. And so I think the party has to open up and do more of the things that the American people right now need. Then, they can be again the party that they once were."

Schwarzenegger, asked who is the leader of the GOP at this moment: "Governors. ... We'll figure one out. ... It always happens by itself. Someone will emerge again."

Schwarzenegger was also asked if he he has any interest in a Cabinet job: "No. I also made it clear that I wanted to stay here until I'm finished with my term" (CNN, 11/9).

ROUNDTABLE ROUNDUP

The "This Week" roundtable discussed the Obama transition/admin., the future of the GOP and the economy.

George Will, on Obama: "The grinding paradox that he faces is this, the very conditions that did more than anything else to produce a liberal administration, that is the economic crisis, has now put severe restraints on what that administration can do."

Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Cynthia Tucker: "It seems to me they need to worry about taking Democratic senators out of the Senate.
... It is also true that Obama owes latinos a great deal. 66% of their votes went to Obama. So he's going to have to give Bill Richardson or some other latino a very significant position" (ABC, 11/9).

The "Fox News Sunday" roundtable discussed the Obama transition/admin. and the future of the GOP.

Fox's Hume, on Obama: "I don't think we're going to know what his real priorities are until he really comes to grip with the budgetary implications of what he's got, until he's had more of these foreign policy briefings, and he really sees what's facing him."

Weekly Standard's Kristol, on the GOP: "It's in a fair amount of trouble. It's not in more trouble than it was in in '93 after the first President Bush lost to Clinton, or in '76 after Ford lost to Carter. ... Two years after Clinton won, Gingrich led the Republicans to taking over Congress. Four years after Carter won, Reagan won the presidency. So these things can turn around very fast. But there's been a lot of self-inflicted damage done by Republicans" (11/9).

The "Late Edition" roundtable discussed the Obama transition/admin. and the future of the GOP.

CNN's Borger, on the transition team: "It's not as if they haven't been planning this for the last three or four months, because they have. And the discussion that's going on inside Obama world right now is, are you better off using the momentum you have on January 21 and putting all your cards out on the table? ... Or are you better off just focusing on the economy ... and then laying out what you intend to do? But don't start everything at once."

Time's Stengel: "There's a spirit of kumbaya in the land, right now. ... Even in some of the post-election polls that Republicans, even though they might not have voted for Barack Obama, they feel proud that America voted for Barack Obama. I think Obama himself will have very relentless bipartisan policy. I think he's going to bring Republicans into government. He's going to try to enlist Republicans in the House and the Senate. And I think there is a spirit in land that people want people in Washington to do something" (CNN, 11/9).

The "Face the Nation" roundtable discussed the Obama transition/admin.

New York Times' Brooks: "There's a huge debate going on in Democratic circles and in the Congress as a whole, how fast do you go? ... I got the impression from [Emanuel] they want to do everything at once. ... I think that's a disastrous mistake. ... There are other people on the other side who say you do this in two stages. The first stage of your administration is stimulus and building faith in Washington. ... If you pile all this together in the first few months, in my opinion you're going to freak out the country."

Politico's Harris: "I do think there are sort of two theories of presidential power at stake here. One says you're never more powerful than on January 21st, the day after inauguration, and you spend down that account, and you better get as much as you can, because it's going down. The other ... there's a slow but steady approach that says a president can, by doing modest things first, getting them done, being effective, build up reservoirs, and so you can actually have more leverage, more power in your two, three and four than you do in year one. And we are really looking for clues as to which theory Obama believes" (CBS, 11/9).

The "Meet the Press" roundtable discussed the Obama transition/admin.

WH historian Doris Kearns Goodwin: "Obama's challenge now is to educate the country as to where he wants to take them. We saw landslides in 1964 for Lyndon Johnson. It got undone by Vietnam. A landslide in '72 for Nixon, it got undone by Watergate. You can't predict history. [Franklin] Roosevelt became great because of what he did. So the challenge will be he's got a mandate, he's got a majority, and he's got a program. Progressive goals are out there, he's going to have to learn like Roosevelt did in the World War II, even more than the New Deal, move step by step to educate the country, but don't give up on those progressive goals."

Newsweek's Meacham: "They worry too much about the big speeches and the celebrity and all that. I would say leverage your strengths. ... The personality is fascinating, because there could be a vice there. I mean, perhaps he's too much of a rock star. I don't think so. I think that the country, with due respect to President Bush in the last eight years, I think the country is willing to hear some eloquence and I think is prepared for a kind of clarity of expression. Both Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan were very clear about what they believed, and communicated it quite, quite brilliantly. He has a special gift, and to quote Winston Churchill, 'There are things afoot in the world right now that will be spoken of as long as the English language is spoken in any corner of the globe'" (NBC, 11/9).