CNN projects Saxby Chambliss will win Georgia Senate runoff
(CNN) - CNN projects that Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia will win the Senate runoff, thereby killing Democratic hopes of gaining enough seats to halt filibusters.
Chambliss, who failed to win a majority of the vote in November's three-person race, was projected to win more than 50 percent of the vote in Tuesday's rematch against Democrat Jim Martin.
Track county-by-county results here.
Obama briefed daily on intelligence
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Barack Obama apparently has a hearty appetite for intelligence.
The president-elect is receiving intelligence briefings every day of the week, exceeding the six days given to President Bush, according to Michael McConnell, the director of national intelligence.
At an appearance Tuesday at Harvard University, McConnell jokingly wondered aloud whether "there's a little bit of competition" between the men.
He said he was amazed at how much and information the two men absorb and how quickly they do it. "The speed with which these two particular gentlemen absorb information and move on is astounding," said McConnell.
Gates, a lifelong spy, reveals two secrets in press briefing
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Washington is full of seemingly obscure places where history is made. Deep Throat's parking garage, the balcony at Ford's Theater. Now you can add the fire station at Reagan National Airport.
That's where President-elect Barack Obama met secretly with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to discuss the unprecedented idea of having Gates continue on in the Obama administration.
Reporters traveling with Obama on November 10 knew that he'd gone into the airport fire station after his visit with President Bush at the White House. What they never knew was who he was meeting in the fire station.
Tuesday at a briefing at the Pentagon, Gates spilled the beans.
"We did meet the day he came to Washington to meet with the President. We met when he went back to the airport. We actually met in the fire station at National Airport and they pulled the trucks out so that our cars could go in."
Rove says 'marketplace of ideas' will decide Palin's fate
(CNN) - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's rock-star status could solidly position her to lead the Republican Party in four years, but former top Bush aide Karl Rove said the "marketplace of ideas" will ultimately decide her political future.
"Republicans believe in markets, so the marketplace of ideas will decide what the answer [to her future] is," Rove told NBC Tuesday. "These people are going to get out there, campaign, offer their ideas, offer themselves."
Palin has declined to say whether she is officially interested in seeking the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, but has left open the possibility. Palin's popularity among the party's base and firmly established name-recognition would likely mean instant top-tier status should she decide to throw her hat into the ring.
But ultimately, Rove said, Republicans need more time to get to know Palin before embracing her as the party's future.
"Remember she was on the stage for nine weeks in the general election - that’s not a lot of time," he said. "Now we are going to get to a chance see her over a longer period of time."
iReport: Your questions for Bill Gates, in the Situation Room
(CNN) - Here's your chance to be in The Situation Room. Wednesday, Bill Gates will be our guest. What questions do you have about the economy for one of the richest men in the world?
Send us your questions on video, and be sure to keep them clear and concise. We'll pick the best ones to be used on air.
Click here for the latest on Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation.
Clinton nomination sets off fundraising opportunities
(CNN) - One day after Sen. Hillary Clinton was formally nominated to be the next secretary of state, her husband sent a message to supporters seeking cash to help alleviate the former presidential candidate's campaign debts.
"This nomination would not have been possible without the hard work of everyone like you who has supported Hillary throughout the years," former President Bill Clinton wrote in the e-mail sent Tuesday. "I know I speak for her when I say thank you for everything you have done for her."
The message, which also asks supporters to write notes of congratulations to Clinton, features a big "Contribute" link below the text.
Sources told CNN last month Clinton's campaign debt is roughly $7 million - down from the more than $20 million she owed last summer.
The fundraising e-mail comes hours after former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe sent out an e-mail of his own touting the president-elect’s new national security team - including Clinton - and seeking cash for the transition fund.
"While the challenges they are sure to face will be great, the opportunities to unify our country and our world will be even greater," Plouffe wrote. "With your support, we'll meet those challenges and opportunities with the hope and optimism that has brought us to this moment of change."
Obama received over $6 million from government funds for his transition effort, but is seeking millions more in private donations.
Cafferty: Importance of 60-seat Senate majority for Democrats?
A run-off is underway today in the U.S. Senate race in Georgia between Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss and Democratic challenger Jim Martin. Poll watchers say the race will come down to voter turnout which is probably why Alaska governor and former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin flew down to campaign for Chambliss yesterday. That and to get her picture taken some more. She apparently hasn’t lost her touch. She drew huge crowds.
The Georgia race is one of two unresolved Senate races. Democrats need to win both to get a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority. The other undecided race is in Minnesota where a recount is underway between Republican Senator Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken. Don’t hold your breath for that one. The recount is expected to take weeks.
To read more and contribute to the Cafferty File discussion click here
Two states, two very different lines of succession
(CNN) - Bill Richardson and Janet Napolitano: Both are governors of neighboring states in the Southwest. Both are headed to Washington. But their departure is triggering very different succession scenarios in their home states.
CNN has learned that New Mexico Governor Richardson will be nominated tomorrow as President-elect Obama's Commerce Secretary. For Richardson, who was Energy Secretary and UN Ambassador under President Clinton and a former Congressman from New Mexico, it means a return to the nation's capitol.
But who takes Richardson's job?
That person would be the state's lieutenant governor, Democrat Diane Denish, who stands to become become New Mexico's first female governor. Denish was Richardson's running mate in the 2002 and 2006 elections and with the governor term-limited out of the 2010 race, was planning a gubernatorial run of her own.
While the governorship in New Mexico stays in Democratic hands, it's just the opposite in neighboring Arizona.
That state's governor, Janet Napolitano, was nominated yesterday by Obama to serve as Secretary of Homeland Security. Arizona doesn't have a lieutenant governor, so when Napolitano steps down to head to Washington, Arizona Secretary of State Jan Brewer — a conservative Republican - takes over the job.
Richardson to be nominated as commerce secretary
(CNN) - President-elect Barack Obama will nominate New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to be Commerce Secretary at a news conference in Chicago Wednesday, a Democratic source tells CNN's Candy Crowley.
A former rival of Obama's for the the Democratic nomination, Richardson served as ambassador to the United Nations and the Secretary of Energy under President Bill Clinton.
Palin: Campaign is over, ‘appreciated’ NGA meeting
(CNN) – Governor Sarah Palin told reporters following the National Governors Association meeting with President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden Tuesday that she appreciated the new administration reaching out to the country’s governors, brushing aside ‘unflattering’ comments made by both tickets during the campaign.
Asked how she felt about a partnership with people she spoke unflatteringly about on the campaign trail, Palin replied that the jabs were “mutual.”
“But the campaign is over and I so appreciated this meeting that we had,” Palin said. “I'm quite optimistic about moving forward in a bi-partisan manner as we do forge this partnership between states and the federal government.
“I appreciated that President-elect Obama recognizes, first that he recognizes how valuable it is to have governors in his cabinet and we assume that all will go well and some of these governors will be in his cabinet,” she continued, adding that governors “know best” about the economic issues raised Tuesday.
“In fact, remember on the campaign trail I tried to convince the majority of voters that governors knew best. Obviously that didn't work, I'm here and VP-elect Biden is there,” she said, calling the meeting “overall great.”
The Alaska governor briefly waded into subject of Tuesday’s meeting, saying that she and other governors present had “great concerns” about increased spending under an Obama administration.
“When much of the economic problem that we are facing today perhaps was caused by too much debt, that solving those problems will not come from incurring more debt so we do have some concerns about these. This is going to be a matter of re-prioritizing federal dollars though and putting them to use in the wisest fashion for taxpayers, for constituents.”
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