Latest blog headlines Obama buys corned beef, latkes at surprise lunch stop at Manny's, the most politically connect deli in Chicago. (11/21/2008 13:30:45 PM) Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid is boosted by Obama 2016 (11/21/2008 12:20:53 PM) Bill Daley likely to co-chair Inauguration Committee (11/21/2008 09:29:44 AM) Obama's Friday; to make some local stop in Chicago. Pool report. (11/21/2008 09:16:58 AM) Penny Pritzker says she is not a candidate for Commerce Secretary. Read Pritzker statement here. (11/20/2008 12:03:17 PM) Illinois State Society Inaugural Gala; Obama plans pending (11/20/2008 08:17:53 AM) Chicago's Penny Pritzker likely Obama Commerce Secretary (11/20/2008 06:50:03 AM) Obama birthday gift to Biden: Chicago White Sox, Chicago Bears, hats; Garretts popcorn. Rahm on The Hill. (11/20/2008 05:18:47 AM) David Axelrod named Obama White House senior advisor; Greg Craig White House counsel (11/19/2008 15:48:39 PM) Bush twins show Malia, Sasha Obama White House; Michelle and daughters visit D.C. schools (11/19/2008 06:59:45 AM)
WASHINGTON -- Penny Pritzker, the Chicago billionaire who played a key role in President-elect Barack Obama's political career, said Thursday she does not want to be considered for commerce secretary, issuing a statement after her name had been mentioned for the Cabinet spot.
President-elect Barack Obama, inspired by Abraham Lincoln as he prepares for his presidency, is gathering his own team of rivals -- huddling with Sen. John McCain in Chicago on Monday while behind the scenes considering whether Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will fit into his administration as secretary of state.
Lynn Sweet: Friday night, President-elect Barack Obama and wife Michelle headed toward Chicago’s Gold Coast to attend a birthday party for Valerie Jarrett hosted by another pal, Desiree Rogers. Earlier in the day, she got her gift: In Obama’s White House, Jarrett will be a senior adviser and assistant to the president for intergovernment relations and public liaison.
WASHINGTON — Valerie Jarrett will be a senior adviser and assistant to the president for intergovernmental relations and public liaison in the Obama White House, a role that will allow her a wide latitude in advising President-elect Barack Obama and the first lady.
WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama's transition co-chair Valerie Jarrett is headed toward a senior position in the White House, I've learned, rather than a Cabinet post. Meanwhile, Jarrett Wednesday shut down speculation about replacing Obama in the Senate when she said she's not interested in the seat.
Lynn Sweet: President-elect Barack Obama's transition co-chairman John Podesta pledged Tuesday "to make this the most open and transparent transition in history." Meanwhile, let's see if the Obama team provides more than the legal minimum when it comes to details on how private money is being raised to help bankroll the transition operation.
Lynn Sweet: President-elect Barack Obama sized up the Oval Office on Monday and pronounced it "pretty nice" after touring the White House with wife Michelle on a cordial visit hosted by President Bush and wife Laura.
WASHINGTON -- The most elite private schools here are competing for Obama's daughters, and Michelle Obama toured two of them during a Monday day trip.
Lynn Sweet: In getting ready to be president, Barack Obama said Friday he is consulting with the living former presidents and President Bush, re-reading some of Abraham Lincoln's writings and wrestling with what he kiddingly called a "major issue"-- what kind of dog to buy for his daughters.
Lynn Sweet: When William Daley was looking for someone to manage his brother's 1989 race for mayor of Chicago, a brash Rahm Emanuel pitched himself for the job.
Lynn Sweet: Rep. Rahm Emanuel is weighing an offer from President-elect Barack Obama to be his chief of staff.
Lynn Sweet: What does a man do on the day he is elected president, transforming politics along the way in a sweeping victory, proving that there are no red states, there are no blue states, but a nation of Obama states? Somewhere between 1:31 a.m. on Tuesday and his departure at 7:33 a.m. to vote, Obama had his last night to sleep, if that is what he did, without the awesome responsibility that comes with the White House.
In what he called a "little bit of a bittersweet time," Barack Obama on Monday announced that his grandmother had died, the day before her grandson is likely to be elected president.
CLEVELAND -- Barack Obama, whose skills as a charismatic orator launched him on a path likely to make him president-elect Tuesday night, wound up Sunday with serial stemwinders in the battleground state of Ohio.
Lynn Sweet: "I am a kibitzer with a broad portfolio," David Axelrod is saying. He's kidding, of course, as he underplays his pivotal role in Barack Obama's drive for the White House. Axelrod has been a part of other White House bids -- Paul Simon in 1988, John Edwards in 2004, even having influence on a "West Wing" presidential contest.
PUEBLO, Colo. -- Vice President Dick Cheney, Barack Obama's politically unpopular distant cousin, handed Obama a gift Saturday by affirming his support for John McCain, while a Kenyan aunt of Obama's turned up in a Boston public housing apartment, living illegally in the U.S.
Lynn Sweet: Barack Obama lost his famous cool Friday afternoon when he became annoyed at the press while out walking to a Halloween party in Kenwood with daughter Sasha. Obama briefly left the campaign trail to spend a few hours in Chicago as he entered into the last weekend of his almost two-year quest for the presidency.
Lynn Sweet: John McCain has been calling Barack Obama a socialist, and Obama is calling his bluff in a new riff in his stump speech in which he ups the ante by cracking a joke about his "communistic tendencies."
ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Obama campaign, always big, right from the start, is intent on finishing up with a big multi-front splash. That's how they planned it, Obama chief strategist David Axelrod said on the Obama plane, flying from North Carolina to Florida, both battlegrounds.
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- The Obama campaign has opened a new fund-raising front, I've learned, creating a nonprofit entity to bankroll Barack Obama's presidential transition operation, quietly in business for months.
HARRISONBURG, Va. -- After 21 months of running for the White House, by this time next week Barack Obama will know whether he is the president-elect or the junior senator from Illinois facing an indeterminate sentence over at the Hart Senate Office Building.
WASHINGTON -- With Barack Obama's lead growing and John McCain's path to the White House shrinking, speculation is growing about who will serve in an Obama administration as Obama's transition team works behind the scenes.