Officially, Valerie Jarrett appeared on this morning’s “Meet the Press” to discuss Barack Obama’s transition effort, which she is helping to lead. But hours later, her turn in the national spotlight took on added significance, with the news that Obama apparently wants Jarrett to succeed him in the United States Senate. In hindsight, she might have been auditioning.

Whether Jarrett, a Chicago lawyer and civic leader who has been closely involved in Obama’s entire political career, ends up being elevated to the Senate isn’t, of course, the president-elect’s call. The power of appointment belongs to Illinois’ Democratic governor, Rod Blagojevich. But, presumably, Obama’s recommendation will go a long way.  read more »

A lot of people are betting Barack Obama and Joe Biden will be victorious tomorrow. Last week, The Observer looked at New Yorkers who might become part of an Obama-Biden administration and others who can count themselves as F.O.B.s (Friends of Barack). New York Magazine put the Senator on the cover with the headline January 20th, 2009. Even The New York Times' William Kristol, who went from acting as Dan Quayle's brain to becoming Sarah Palin's biggest fan managed to declare today, "Barack Obama will probably win the 2008 presidential election."

Then there's Fred Shwaery, who is so hopeful that Senator Obama will be elected President of the United States tomorrow that he registered the Web sites yeswedid.com, yeswedid.net, and yeswedid.us in May.  read more »

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – As Sarah Palin shook hands and blew kisses and signed signs after delivering her stump speech on a baseball field here on the evening of Oct. 30, Diane Taylor stood on the pitcher’s mound and wondered what might have been if John McCain didn’t hold back the Republican ticket.

“I think youth and energy are what sweeps people into the White House,” said Taylor, a 42-year-old mother from Williamsport. “John McCain could have done a lot more with this campaign and she wanted to do more but they never let her loose.”

She pointed at her daughters, who were watching Palin wave goodbye to the crowd before hopping on another flight and starting another day of campaigning in Pennsylvania.  read more »

Here's a write-up by Observer intern Lien Hoang of a visit by Republican Senator Chuck Hagel to the Columbia campus on Friday:  read more »

The biggest knock on Joe Biden, back when Barack Obama was still mulling his running-mate options, was his propensity to commit gaffes. And in the two months since he was chosen, Biden has in many ways lived up to his reputation for indiscipline – particularly this week, as his prediction that a President Obama would be tested by a "generated" international crisis has given the G.O.P. an opening to stoke fears about Obama's seasoning.

Obama, who surrounded himself on Wednesday with a collection of reassuring national security graybeards, certainly didn't seem pleased to be answering Republican charges that his own running mate has doubts about his experience and preparation (even though Biden made a point of saying that Obama has "a spine of steel") while media outlets trotted out the "best of" Biden gaffe reels that they reserve for such occasions.  read more »

SCRANTON, Pa.—For a while, the political rally that took place in here on Oct. 12 seemed to be happening in a parallel universe in which Hillary Clinton is running a general-election campaign.

Scranton, of course, is Clinton Country. Older white women constituted the majority of the crowd inside the Astroturf-carpeted sports complex, and many of them wore Hillary buttons on their shirts. Several of the men wore Hillary buttons on the suspenders they used to hold up their jeans. Bill delivered an address attesting to his wife’s wonderfulness. Vice presidential candidate Joe Biden spent the first portion of his speech talking about how close he was to Clinton.  read more »

When John McCain’s campaign made it clear over the weekend that their stretch-run strategy would lean heavily on raising questions about Barack Obama’s personal history and past “associations,” Obama’s communications director provided a simple, almost indifferent reaction to The Washington Post: “This isn’t 1988.”

Michael Dukakis, the Democratic presidential nominee whose campaign was eviscerated that year by tactics ripped from the same playbook from which Mr. McCain now seems intent on borrowing, tends to agree.

“Well, it happens every time,” the former Massachusetts governor said in an interview on the afternoon of Oct. 6 in his college office. “They’re desperate, they’re slipping, and all of that stuff.  read more »

On Thursday night, Fox News' telecast of the Vice Presidential debate attracted more viewers than either MSNBC's or CNN's. The event also ranked as Fox News' highest telecast in the network's 12-year history.

From a Fox News release:  read more »

It's been fashionable to call Joe Biden a "gaffe machine," especially in the run-up to last night's debate, which featured endless suggestions that the Delaware senator would be incapable of restraining himself. But those critics had either ignored Biden's debating history or were oblivious to it, because he has actually been one of the instinctively strongest, most versatile and – yes – self-controlled debaters in politics.

As I wrote a few weeks ago, one parallel between an earlier Biden debate and the challenge he faced against Sarah Palin stood out.  The year was 1972, and Biden was a 29-year-old first-time candidate for the U.S. Senate, challenging 63-year-old Cale Boggs, an institution in Delaware politics. When they debated, Boggs was asked a question about an obscure international treaty. As he fumbled and stammered to produce a coherent response, it became obvious he'd never heard of it. Biden, though, did know about the treaty, and could have jumped in to show it. But he also knew how that would look – the know-it-all-up-start rubbing it in the old man's face. So when it was his turn to speak, all he said was, "Aw, I don't know that one either."  read more »

At the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Rudy Giuliani set the tone for Governor Sarah Palin and the sharp, well-delivered attack speech that brought her to national prominence. Then, last night, after a poor stretch for Palin highlighted by embarrassing interview performances, Giuliani was back to confidently herald Palin’s return to form.

“I mean, this was a fabulous performance,” said Giuliani, walking at a two-step-per-minute rate with his wife, Judith, in a frenzied scrum of reporters in the media center at Washington University in St. Louis on Oct. 2. “She displayed tremendous intelligence, she displayed total grasp of the issues, and she did a very effective job of attacking Joe Biden and Barack Obama with a lot of style and a lot of grace.  read more »