Winter's Picks
Although many of the big ones are taken - chief of staff, secretary of defense, state, there are still a few key positions open in the new Obama administration.
Among those yet to be picked, and an insider's look at who's in the running from Politico:
Secretary of Energy
Director, Central Intelligence Agency
Director of National Intelligence
Secretary of Labor
Chief Technology Officer
And Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin got hit harder than anyone, according to eight out of 10 respondents to the poll conducted for the Lifetime television channel.
A huge majority said too much attention was paid to her wardrobe, and about half said there was way too little reporting on Palin's position on policy issues.
Hillary Clinton also got some sympathy, with 44 percent asking what all the fuss was about her clothing style, and another 31 percent saying media coverage was too negative.
Quote: The findings also revealed that 65 percent of the respondents - "majorities in every demographic and political group" - also said that male and female candidates are held to different standards on the campaign trail. Twenty-nine percent thought the expectations were the same.
"Women gave male candidates the edge on every item tested," the survey said.
Is Barack Obama an American? Why are we still asking this question?
Is his birth certificate forged or real? Can we just get over this?
But no, there are now web sites whose sole purpose is to prove Obama wasn't really born in Hawaii and his birth certificate is forged. The U.S. Supreme Court might get into the picture as well.
Slate magazine highlights the entire blow-by-blow look at this fiasco that simply won't go away.
Quote: How did the citizenship rumor get started? Ironically, it began when the Obama campaign tried to debunk some other conspiracies. After Obama locked up the nomination in early June, low-level talk radio and blog chatter peddled rumors that Obama's real middle name was Muhammad, that his father was not really Barack Obama, and that he was not really born in Hawaii. The campaign released a facsimile of Obama's certificate of live birth. Requested from the state in 2007, the certificate reported that Obama was, indeed, born in Honolulu at 7:24 p.m. on Aug. 4, 1961.
The certificate was a bullet that didn't put down the horse. Why, skeptics asked, release a new form from Hawaii instead of the original paper that Obama's parents got in 1961—the one that Obama found in a box of his dad's knickknacks in Dreams From My Father? They quickly came up with an explanation: The certificate was forged.
Here's a little irony for you.
During the heat of the Democratic presidential primary, Hillary Clinton ran ads asking voters who they wanted to answer the 3 a.m. emergency call at the White House. In the end, voters said they wanted Barack Obama to answer it.
The kicker is that as the new secretary of state, Clinton probably would be the one to call Obama at 3 a.m. during any international crisis.
There's more on that, and a look at Clinton's experience and what it will mean for her new role, here
The obvious affection and respect Barack and Michelle Obama show each other could bring about a positive change in relationships, according to experts in this article.
Some say the impact will be seen most in black communities, where there is a higher percentage of single families. Others say it's not about race, but the relationship itself.
Quote: But the effect of the couple’s love for each other transcends the black community, and according to relationship expert Kathlyn Hendricks, author of several books including “Conscious Loving” and “Lasting Love,” Americans should see the couple as a role model for a healthy relationship.
“Not only does [Barack Obama] love his wife, he respects her,” said Hendricks. “The model of harmony, shared humor and easy communication that the Obamas reveal really is a new model — if ordinary citizens practiced this each day, our world would transform very quickly in positive directions.”
