(CNN) – If Jim Martin’s new ad evokes a sense of déjà vu, there’s a reason.
The 30-second television spot recently launched by the Democrat in his run-off race against Sen. Saxby Chambliss bears a striking resemblance to an ad released by the Obama campaign in mid-September just as the country’s financial crisis was appeared to worsen.
Just as Obama’s ad used footage of McCain saying “the fundamentals of our economy are strong,” the new Martin ad “Recession,” utilizes footage of Chambliss saying, “We may not be in a recession. I don’t know what that term means.”
“For six years, he voted to get us into this mess,” an announcer also says in the Martin ad.
Responding to the ad, John Randall, the online communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said "Jim Martin campaigning on the economy would be laughable, if his own record was not so tragic."
"The out-of-touch liberal has indicated a desire and willingness to raise taxes on those making less that $75,000 a year. Perhaps, he is willing to put the economic squeeze on millions of Americans because he believes the middle class is a state of mind and not an economic reality," Randall also said in reference to comments Martin made to NPR in August.
Shortly after major investment banks appeared on the brink of collapse, McCain told his supporters “the fundamentals of our economy are strong” – coments that immedietly were highlighted by the Obama campaign in seemingly endless television commercials.
"In mid-September, only 32% of all voters agreed with McCain that the economy was fundamentally sound, and that figure would probably be a lot lower today if we asked the same question now," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Throughout the campaign, economic issues were McCain's Achilles heel, and the financial crisis only made the problem worse for him."
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Massachusetts Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy returned to work Monday after a battle with brain cancer that hospitalized him in May.
Greeted by 100 waving staffers beneath a banner that read "Welcome Back," Kennedy appeared eager to get back to work.
"I feel fine ... looking forward particularly to working with Barack Obama on health care", he said.
Known as the "Lion of the Senate," Kennedy underwent surgery on a malignant brain tumor this summer following a seizure suffered at his home in Hyannisport, Massachusetts.
The 76-year-old Democrat chairs the Senate Committee on Health and wasted little time addressing a universal health care bill widely expected to be introduced in the new Congress.
"I'm very hopeful this will be a prime item on the agenda", he said. "The president-elect has indicated that this is going to be a priority and I certainly hope it will."
Kennedy, who has represented Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate since his election in 1962, made his first appearance on Capitol Hill since surgery this summer to vote on a Medicare bill where he received a standing ovation.
In August, he made a second dramatic appearance at the Democratic National Convention, pledging to see Barack Obama to the White House and his own return to the Senate floor.
(CNN) - President-elect Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain are meeting Monday for the first time since the presidential election to talk about how they can work together on problems facing the country.
Watch: Former rivals meet, chat
McCain arrived at Obama's transition headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, at around 11 a.m.
The meeting comes as Obama is trying to fill out his Cabinet with the most capable people and show he can reach across party lines.
Obama aides said the president-elect was expected to focus on common ground issues, like climate change and ethics reform, in Monday's meeting.
The two were not expected to talk about any possible Cabinet position for McCain, according to both McCain and Obama advisers.
MICHAEL GOTTSCHALK/AFP/Getty Images
CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN)– Here’s the thing about honeymoons:
One of their defining aspects is that the rest of the world is supposed to leave you alone.
Right.
Chicago in November is hardly the place most honeymooners would choose for their little piece of paradise, but every incoming president is granted a honeymoon period, and for his, Barack Obama is here– either in his home on the South Side, or in his transition office downtown, where John McCain is scheduled to visit with him today.
A cold snap has hit the city– no surprise there: when historians someday look back upon Obama’s charmed political year of 2008, one of the eyebrow-raising facets will be that warm and balmy November Election Night scene in Grant Park; no one has that kind of good luck, but Obama did– and McCain’s friend Joe the Plumber might do well to come along with him here today, because by tonight there may be frozen pipes to deal with all over town.
Obama’s pre-White House honeymoon in Chicago has been festooned with several features most new presidents don’t receive, and each is symbolic of the unusual amount of goodwill with which he is taking office.
For one, the Topps trading card company– the people who first became famous for packaging baseball cards with brittle pink slabs of bubble gum, and wrapping them in waxy paper for sale to eager children– is issuing a series of Obama trading cards. The company that once sold colorful cardboard images of Moose Skowron and Minnie Minoso has determined that there is money to be made in the booming Barack Obama market– a good indicator that his appeal, at least for now, goes well beyond that of most political men.
(CNN) - Former President Bill Clinton is weighing in on the possibility of his wife becoming secretary of state, saying the New York senator would "be really great" in the post.
"She loves doing what she is doing. But if she decided - if he decided to ask her to do it and they did it together I think she'd be really great at being secretary of state," Clinton said Sunday during an economic conference in Kuwait hosted by the National Bank of Kuwait.
But the former president made clear his wife did not seek out a job offer.
"She worked very hard for his election after the primary fight they had and so did I and we were very glad that he won and we have a lot of confidence that he can do a good job. But she did not do what she did with the hope or expectation of getting any kind of job offer, much less getting this discussed," he said.
The New York senator is reportedly on Obama's shortlist for the position. Sources tell CNN New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is also in the running.
Watch CNN's Suzanne Malveaux report on the upcoming meeting.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Call it a meeting of the bipartisan minds.
President-elect Barack Obama will meet with former GOP presidential candidate John McCain Monday in Chicago, Illinois.
Watch: Obama set to meet McCain
The meeting will take place at the Obama transition headquarters.
"It's well-known that they share an important belief that Americans want and deserve a more effective and efficient government, and will discuss ways to work together to make that a reality," Obama transition spokesman Nick Shapiro said in a statement Sunday.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - At the start of a week that could see Barack Obama make his first Cabinet secretary announcements, a new national poll suggests that most Americans are confident that the president-elect will make the right decisions when it comes to picking those officials.
Forty-three percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday morning are very confident that Obama will make the right choices, with 34 percent somewhat confident and only 23 percent not confident.
"Obama is having the kind of honeymoon that no president-elect has had in at least 30 years," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "It's no surprise that Americans have a positive view of anything Obama might do - at least until he does something controversial."
As for what which appointment will matter the most to the country's future: 41 percent say the Secretary of the Treasury; 25 percent say Secretary of State; 24 percent Secretary of Defense; and 8 percent name the Attorney General.
"Although a lot of ink has been spilled recently over Obama's choice for Secretary of State, Americans are paying closer attention to his nomination for Treasury Secretary. With the economy in such bad shape this year, it's no surprise that a plurality of Americans say the Treasury post is the one that will matter most to the country's future," said Holland.
The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted November 6 to 9, with 1,246 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
CNN's Jim Acosta takes a look at the pros and cons of Hillary Clinton as the next Secretary of State. (Getty Images)
CNN: Obama and McCain set to meet in Chicago
Call it a meeting of the bipartisan minds.
President-elect Barack Obama will meet with former GOP presidential candidate John McCain Monday in Chicago, Illinois.
The meeting will take place at the Obama transition headquarters.
CNN: Obama: Stimulating economy top priority
President-elect Barack Obama said stimulating the economy is a top priority - even if it means adding to the nation's growing deficit.
CNN: South Korea would 'welcome' Obama meeting with Kim Jong Il
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Sunday he would "welcome" and "support" a meeting between President-elect Barack Obama and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il if Obama were to take such a step after taking office.
CNN: Obama chooses more White House positions
The man who steered Barack Obama's Senate office will now move over to the White House with the incoming president.
CNN: Bill Clinton to campaign for Martin in Georgia
Three weeks before Georgia’s December 2 Senate runoff vote, former President Bill Clinton – the last Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state – will stump for his party’s candidate Jim Martin, locked in a tight race with incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss.
CNN: Franken heads to DC to ease potential transition
The hotly-contested — and yet to be decided — Minnesota Senate race may be headed for a recount, but Democrat Al Franken is already headed for Washington.
CNN: GOP senator: Republicans would 'love to have' Lieberman
Two members of the Senate’s Democratic caucus have called for Joe Lieberman to lose his committee chairmanship. On Sunday, North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan didn’t go that far — but did say the Connecticut senator’s actions during the campaign were “not acceptable,” as Republican Sen. Jon Kyl said the GOP would “welcome [Lieberman] with open arms.”
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