Ellen Moran: The Obama-Clinton Thaw Continues By Michael Crtowly,Eve Fairbanks, and Noam Scheiber The New Republic's blog: THE STUMP Today Barack Obama announced his White House communications team: Ellen Moran as communications director, Robert Gibbs as press secretary, and Dan Pfeiffer as Moran's deputy. Gibbs and Pfeiffer were core members of Obama's campaign media team, so no shock there. But the name of Moran, a longtime Democratic operative who since 2005 has been executive director of the pro-choice fundraising group Emily's List, comes as a surprise. Unlike the others, she's not a member of Obama's inner circle and played no role in his campaign. In fact, she was actually a strong supporter of Hillary Clinton in the primaries. Read more about Ellen Moran posted 27 November 2008	Parity in the Branches of Government Legislative 111th Congress Senate     (17 out of 100) 17% House     (74 out of 435) 17.7% Executive President-elect Obama VP-elect Joe Biden 0% Office of the White House Co-chair Valerie Jarrett     50% Council of Economic Advisors 17 members- 4 women 23,5% Cabinet ?? Ambassadors/Foreign Affairs ?? Judicial Supreme Court Judges         (1 out of 9) 11%
An Old Hometown Mentor, and Still at Obama's Side By JODI KANTOR November 24, 2008 NY Times CHICAGO - In a dark afternoon last week, the road to Jerusalem and Beijing momentarily veered through the office of a real estate company here.Valerie Jarrett, the company's chief executive, had signed her resignation letter an hour earlier, and now she was taking phone calls from potential top diplomatic appointees. . . . If someone were to rank the long list of people who helped Barack and Michelle Obama get where they are today, Ms. Jarrett would be close to the top. Nearly two decades ago, Ms. Jarrett swept the young lawyers under her wing, introduced them to a wealthier and better-connected Chicago than their own, and eventually secured contacts and money essential to Mr. Obama's long-shot Senate victory. Read more about Ms. Jarrett posted 25 November 2008
Ariz. Governor Said to Be Pick For Homeland Security Post By Spencer S. Hsu Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, November 20, 2008; Page A05 Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D), whose handling of immigration issues brought her accolades from fellow governors, is President-elect Barack Obama's choice to serve as secretary of homeland security, Democratic sources said late Wednesday. Napolitano, 50, was an early supporter of Obama and was the only elected official tapped to serve on his transition team. 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. Napolitano previously served as U.S. attorney and state attorney general for Arizona; she was the first woman in both of those posts. Read more about Napolitano's appointment posted 22 November 2008
"I Heard a Tap-Tap of Gunfire. But I Didn't Realize My Legs Had Gone." Sunday 16 November 2008 by: Paul Harris, The Guardian UK New York - As the man and woman walked slowly towards the war memorial in Chicago last week, the figure of Barack Obama was instantly recognisable. But as the pair hugged after laying a wreath in the ceremony, it was the young woman who caught the attention of the media and whose photograph flashed around the world. It was difficult not to notice her. As the President-in-waiting embraced her, it was clear that she was a double amputee. Rarely has the human cost of America's war in Iraq been so painfully and poignantly illustrated. The woman was Tammy Duckworth, one of the most remarkable figures to emerge from the conflict. Horribly wounded by an insurgent attack, the former helicopter pilot is now part of a wave of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who are returning home and reshaping US politics. They are running for office, heading government departments and campaigning on issues they care about. Read more about Tammy Duckworth posted 17 November 2008
Longstanding Obama Adviser Gets Senior Role at the White House By JODI KANTOR Published: November 14, 2008, NY Times Nearly two decades ago, Valerie Jarrett hired a young lawyer named Michelle Obama for a job at City Hall in Chicago. Now President-elect Barack Obama is hiring Ms. Jarrett for a senior role in the White House. Ms. Jarrett’s role and title are threefold: White House senior adviser and assistant to the president for intergovernmental relations and public liaison. A longstanding member of his tiny core of top advisers, Ms. Jarrett will continue providing him with counsel on a wide-ranging set of issues, she said Friday evening. She will help Mr. Obama manage his relationship with the rest of government, serving as the White House’s point person for state and local officials. Finally, she will supervise the Office of Public Liaison, which she hopes to turn into an active channel for government-citizen collaboration. Read more about Valerie Jarrett posted 16 November 2008
Potential Treasury Secretary Sheila Bair Is A "Woman To Watch" By Megan, 4:00 PM on Mon Nov 10 2008 Jezebel FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair tops the Wall Street Journal's list of "The 50 Women To Watch 2008", which attempts to line up the top 50 women in corporate America today. Despite being the lone government employee on the list, Bair tops it not just because of her work in finance as the chair of the FDIC but because, more importantly, her name is bandied about as a black horse candidate for Treasury Secretary in an Obama Administration. So what should you know about her? Bair might have learned about politics at the feet of her political mentor and former boss, former Republican Presidential candidate and Senator from Kansas, Bob Dole, but she certainly doesn't sound like any hard-hearted partisan hack: "This myth of all these people making sophisticated calculations and trying to game the system, that wasn't it," Ms. Bair says of the event [on avoiding foreclosure] hosted by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. "These were just regular people, working families trying to hold onto their homes. They were scared and I saw a lot of fear on their faces, and I think that struck me more than anything." Bair, unlike many a mortgage-holder and deregulation apologist, doesn't see an upside to putting more mortgagees on the street and boarding up more homes — a key part of Obama's recovery plan which calls for a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures. Read more about Sheila Bair posted 14 November 2008
Money Dries Up to Push Women for Obama Cabinet Run Date: 11/13/08 By Allison Stevens Washington Bureau Chief WASHINGTON (WOMENSENEWS)--As President-elect Barack Obama mulls over potential Cabinet picks, women's rights advocates are scrambling to make up for an unexpected shortage of cash to fund a push for female appointees. "It's late in the game but we're really confident we're going to do this," said Kim Otis, head of the National Council of Women's Organizations, an umbrella group of women's rights groups in Washington, D.C. Read more about the Funding of the Women's Appointments Project posted 14 November 2008
Women seek voice in cabinet as Obama team short on female faces SIRI AGRELL From Tuesday's Globe and Mail November 10, 2008 at 4:41 AM EST They had their hopes dashed by Hillary Clinton's loss and were both attracted and appalled by Sarah Palin, but are women now being overlooked by Barack Obama? Those looking for increased gender representation in U.S. corridors of power may not find it under the president-elect. On Friday, Mr. Obama appeared at his first press conference, surrounded by his 17-person transition economic advisory board, a sea of male faces and just four pantsuit-wearing women. That visual may have been disappointing for women hoping that his promises of change would apply to Washington's notoriously out-of-whack gender makeup. Read more about Obama's lack of parity choices. posted 12 November 2008