Winter News Bits for the Politically Deprived

The long lame duck period between election day and inauguration will come to a close in one weeks time, which means that the political lull between the Presidential Election and the always significant first hundred days in office is nearly over as well. About the only thing to tide us over during that period has been a recount in Minnesota, and scandal in Illinois. While both of those stories will continue to make big splashes on the national scene, the attention of the Congress will turn to matters of domestic and foreign policy, and all of the political intrigue that comes with it. Democrats all across the country worked seemingly forever to ensure that this particular set of politicians were elected, and now it’s time to see what they can do. But until Barack Obama’s hand lands on the Lincoln Bible for his swearing in, it’s time to look at some news bits.

Breaking news from Washington, Senator-Designate Roland Burris will be seated by Congressional Democrats later this week as the official replacement of Barack Obama from the state of Illinois. Senate Democrats are apparently being forced to capitulate in the face of a court ruling handed down which stated that the Senator-Designates appointment could not be halted due to the Secretary of State’s refusal to affix his signature to the appointment certificate. According to the court, “no further action is required by the secretary of state or any other official to make the governor's appointment of Roland Burris to the United States Senate valid under Illinois law." Harry Ried took a hard line stance against the seating of Burris to avoid tainting the party any further in the scandal caused by Blagojevich, but the courts have effectively forced his hand.

Also from the Senate, Ohio Senator George Voinovich will retire at the end of his term in 2010. That brings the number of expected GOP retirements in the Senate up to five, with at least four of those expected to be competitive races. My word of warning to Democrats giddy over the fact that it will remain difficult for the GOP to make inroads into the Dems Senate lead; Be wary, for this is a double edged sword. That these men are retiring does not mean that the GOP will not be able to replace them with young and able replacements to put on the ballot. If the GOP is able to find these kinds of charismatic candidates, then they may not make inroads by numbers, but they will begin finding lost popularity. Democrats need to take advantage of this opportunity and must begin recruiting now.

House Republicans are extending an olive branch to the incoming President by inviting to speak before the GOP conference of 178 Representatives. According to a letter dated January 9th and signed by Minority leader John Boener, "In accordance with your campaign pledge to work in a bipartisan manner and change the partisan tone in Washington, D.C., we would like to extend an invitation to you to address a meeting of the House Republican Conference."

Advisors to President elect Obama have leaked confirmation that one of the first things Obama will do when he assumes office next week will be to act on closing the Guantanamo Bay Detention facility which has been a hotbed of controversy for over three years. While the order to close it could come as soon as his first day in office, it could be months before the facility actually closes for good owing to the need to move the 250 prisoners being held there to new facilities. International Relations theorists have proposes for years that closing the base would do wonders to restoring the American image worldwide.
From Kansas: Lieutenant Governor Mark Parkinson and Congressman Dennis Moore have both declined interest in running for Governor, with Parkinson planning to retire, and Moore planning to run for re-election. That would seem to indicate that neither would be interested in the upcoming Senate election either. That leaves Kansas Democrats still out looking for viable candidates for both offices, though such prominent names as Nancy Boyda and Kathleen Sibelius are both possible for the open Senate seat.