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Blagojevich general counsel resignsAssociated Press - December 30, 2008 8:14 PM ET CHICAGO (AP) - Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's chief lawyer has quit the administration to go back to private practice. William Quinlan resigned today as general counsel, a state government job. Quinlan is the latest top adviser to Blagojevich to resign since the Chicago Democrat was arrested on federal corruption charges earlier this month. Other recent departures include former chief of staff John Harris, who was arrested along with Blagojevich, and Deputy Gov. Bob Greenlee. Blagojevich has been accused of trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate...

Democratic U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush of Chicago said today during Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s press conference that one of the reasons former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris should be appointed to fill President-elect Barack Obama’s U. S. Senate seat is because Burris is black. ... Rush went on to say that it was a matter of national importance that an African-American replace Obama in the Senate. Press conference video at:http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/race/2008/12/does-obamas-suc.html Also see:http://www.wgntv.com/wgn_news

Barack Obama is calling for a national day of service to take place on Jan. 19, the federal holiday for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday and the day preceding Mr. Obama’s inauguration as president. Mr. Obama and Joseph R. Biden Jr. are planning to roll up their sleeves themselves that day and perform some as-yet-unspecified service work in Washington, D.C. The Presidential Inaugural Committee is putting the wheels for the project in motion with calls and e-mails to national service organizations. The committee is reaching out to organizations of all sizes and ideologies, including faith-based groups, unions...

Facing 30 years in prison on corruption charges, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is assembling the best defense team money can buy. The question is, whose money? There has been speculation that Blagojevich will use his expansive campaign war chest, $3.6 million at last count, to pay for his defense. Can he really do that? To paraphrase a fellow Chicagoan: Yes he can! Possibly. State law does not prevent the Democratic governor from tapping his campaign committee's funds to pay legal bills, even though he stands accused of illegally soliciting and obtaining some of the funds in exchange for official actions....

Valerie Jarrett Who Am I? Chicago Medical Center As Well." (Jay Newton-Small, "Campaign Insider," Time, 4/7/08) "Chicago Is In The Running For The 2016 Olympics … One Of Obama's Top Advisers, Valerie Jarrett, Is The Vice Chair Of Chicago's Bid Committee." (Lynn Sweet, "McCain, Obama, Clinton All Push Bush On China Games," Chicago Sun-Times, 4/10/08) Under A Plan Devised By The City Of Chicago And Habitat Co., "The City Has Lost More Than 13,000 Housing Units For The Poor." (Jason Grotto and Laurie Cohen, "Obama Adviser Shapes City Housing Policy," Chicago Tribune, 7/5/08) "Habitat Has Earned $6.8 Million In Fees...

Chicago IN the recently concluded presidential race, I was unwillingly thrust upon the stage and asked to play a role in a profoundly dishonest drama. I refused, and here’s why. Unable to challenge the content of Barack Obama’s campaign, his opponents invented a narrative about a young politician who emerged from nowhere, a man of charm, intelligence and skill, but with an exotic background and a strange name. The refrain was a question: “What do we really know about this man?” Secondary characters in the narrative included an African-American preacher with a fiery style, a Palestinian scholar and an “unrepentant...

Admission: Lawrence O'Donnell is emerging as one of my favorite media liberals. On the one hand, almost exactly one year ago, his anti-Mormon rant spurred me to action. But lately, watching him as a frequent MSNBC guest, I've been impressed by his acumen and willingness to call them as he sees them. Take O'Donnell's intervention on tonight's "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue," where he made the salient point that the scandal of the Marc Rich pardon is, ironically, being held against AG nominee Eric Holder . . . while Hillary Clinton skates. View video here.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Barack Obama has chosen Christina Romer, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, as the head of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, a Democratic source told Reuters on Monday. Reuters – Council of Economic Advisors Director-designate Christina Romer listens as President-elect Barack Obama   The pick is to be announced at an 11 a.m. CST (12 p.m. EST) news conference, where Obama will also unveil his selection of Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary and Lawrence Summers as head of the White House National Economic Council.The three-member Council of Economic Advisers makes recommendations to the president on...

The story of a group calling themselves the "We the People Foundation," who are questioning the authenticity of Barack Obama's natural-bornedness, has gotten a lot of attention this week due to their purchase of a full-page ad demanding access to the original birth certificate. On a related note, I am taking out a full-page ad demanding access to Jessica Alba's sock drawer.

Ellen Moran, executive director of EMILY’s List, was named White House communications director by President-elect Obama on Saturday. Moran, a well-known grassroots organizer, has also managed statewide Democratic campaigns and managed the Wal-Mart corporate accountability campaign for the AFL-CIO. EMILY's List, one of the most important Democratic constituency groups, says it is "dedicated to building a progressive America by electing Democratic pro-choice women to office." As expected, the White House press secretary will be Robert Gibbs, a top strategist on Obama's campaign who helped chart his leap from the U.S. Senate to the presidency. Dan Pfeiffer, the campaign communications director,...

How will President Obama deploy his Internet army?  | WASHINGTON — Campaign manager David Plouffe, in a mass e-mail sent Wednesday to former workers, asked how much time they can spare for four missions integral to Obama's effort to transform his victory into a broader political movement.The volunteers' options are, Plouffe wrote: Campaign for progressive state and local candidates Undertake grassroots local efforts to advance Obama's agenda Train others in Obama's organizing techniques Focus on local political issues. "Obama's building a political machine," said Stephen Hess, a presidential scholar at the Brookings Institution, a center-left Washington research group."These people have...

America's Jewish community welcomed U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's pick of Rep. Rahm Emanuel for the post of Chief of Staff, saying that the choice demonstrates that Obama has learned from the mistakes of previous Democratic presidents. On Thursday, Obama announced that Emanuel, a key official in the Clinton administration, had accepted his offer and will serve as the next White House Chief of Staff. William Daroff, the director of the Washington office of the United Jewish Communities (UJC), an umbrella organization representing 155 Jewish Federations and 400 independent Jewish communities across North America, said Thursday "Rep. Emanuel is among the...