Elected Official

Napolitano to head Homeland Security — Via the Washington Post: Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D), a border-state governor whose handling of immigration and homeland security issues brought her accolades from fellow governors, is President-elect Barack Obama's choice to serve as secretary of homeland security, Democratic sources said yesterday. Napolitano, 50, was an early supporter of Obama and was the only sitting governor and current elected official tapped to serve on his 12-member transition advisory board. She was reelected in 2006 to a second term as governor of Arizona, the home state of Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee in the race against Obama. Term limits... [Tags: arizona gov, barack obama, border state, democratic sources, elected official]

King Family Seeks To Cash In On MLK-Obama Items — ATLANTA — Zealous guardians of his words and his likeness, the family of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is demanding a share of the proceeds from the sudden wave of T-shirts, posters and other merchandise depicting the civil rights leader alongside Barack Obama. Isaac Newton Farris Jr., King's nephew and head of the nonprofit King Center in Atlanta, said the estate is entitled to hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees _ maybe even millions. "Some of this is probably putting food on people's plates. We're not trying to stop anybody from legitimately supporting themselves," he said, "but... [Tags: barack obama, center bookstore, civil rights leader, dexter king, elected official]

Hagel: Palin "Arguably The Thinnest-Résumé Candidate" For VP In U.S. History — In early June, Senators Chuck Hagel and John McCain met in Hagel's office on Capitol Hill. McCain, the presumptive Republican Presidential nominee, considered Hagel--a fellow-Republican and the senior senator from Nebraska--among his closest friends in Congress. Six months earlier, in December, 2007, McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, had asked Hagel to endorse McCain and campaign with him in the upcoming primaries. Hagel had demurred. ... Hagel skipped the Republican Convention, choosing instead to go, with two aides, on a fact-finding trip to Latin America. He did hear McCain's speech, which, in its evocation of the need to bridge a disabling... [Tags: aides, alaska national guard, campaign manager, capitol hill, chuck hagel]

Torture v. Shooting His Friend In The Face — Katie Couric asked the vice presidential nominees what is the "best and worst thing that Dick Cheney has done as Vice President?" Biden on Cheney's worst thing:I think he's done more harm than any other single elected official in memory in terms of shredding the constitution. You know --condoning torture. Pushing torture as a policy. This idea of a unitary executive. Meaning the Congress and the people have no power in a time of war. And the President controls everything. I don't have any animus toward Dick Cheney but I really do think his attitude about the constitution and the... [Tags: animus, attitude, biden, caricature, constitution]

Palin: Cheney's Worst Act Was "Duck Hunting Accident" — In an interview aired Thursday, Sarah Palin claimed that the worst thing Dick Cheney has done as vice president was his "duck hunting accident." As part of Katie Couric's inteview series with both VP candidates, Palin and Joe Biden were asked to name the best and worst things that Cheney has done over the last eight years. The answers stood in stark contrast, to say the least. Biden offered withering criticism of Cheney, charging that he had "done more harm than any other single elected official in my memory in terms of shredding the Constitution," citing Cheney's promotion of "torture... [Tags: caricature, contrary to popular opinion, dick cheney, duck hunting, elected official]

Congressman, McCain Bundler On Palin: I Would Have Picked Someone Else — On Monday, John McCain dismissed the notion that there was dissension among conservatives over his choice of Sarah Palin as vice president. "Really," he asked the Des Moines Register editorial board. "I haven't detected that. I haven't detected that in the polls. I haven't detected that among the base... so again, I fundamentally disagree." If McCain is truly unaware of Republicans souring on the Palin choice, than he's not paying attention. In fact, around the time that McCain was speaking to the Des Moines Register, a Republican congressman and McCain surrogate and bundler was unwilling to say that Palin was... [Tags: alaska governor, bundler, campaign committee members, chicago tribne, des moines register]

Officials to empty Texas peninsula — UPDATED AT 10:08 PM -- GALVESTON, Texas — About 250 people who withstood Hurricane Ike on a coastal sliver of land will be forced off it so crews can begin the recovery effort, authorities said today, saying they'll invoke emergency powers to make it happen. Judge Jim Yarbrough, the top elected official in Galveston County, said those who stayed despite warnings that they would be killed if they rode out the storm in the rural coastal area are a “hardy bunch” and there are some “old timers who aren’t going to want to leave.”... [Tags: authorities, coastal area, elected official, emergency powers, empty texas]

David Donnelly: Prebuttal: McCain's Reform Credentials Have Turned to Sand — The John McCain who fought for campaign finance reform in the past is not the same John McCain speaking tonight. In his acceptance speech, McCain will try to recapture the past reform victories as prologue to what a President McCain would fight for, but the last two years have exposed him as a cynical, old-school politician. McCain has neither a comprehensive, bold reform agenda that will truly change Washington nor the ability to reject the control exercised by his lobbyist-run, big money-fueled candidacy. As someone who has organized for comprehensive campaign finance reform for just as long as John McCain... [Tags: acceptance speech, campaign finance reform, campaign money, candidacy, christian coalition]