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- Kirsten Gillibrand has been appointed to Hillary Clinton's vacated Senate seat and the decision is flawed both from the perspective of advancing progressive causes and electoral strategy. Ultimately, though, Gillibrand is likely to be a mixed bag on policy; as Ben Smith notes, some progressive groups are already lining up behind her, while others are not (seriously, a perfect score from the NRA?).
- President Obama reversed the Global Gag Rule preventing American foreign aid from going to overseas health organizations that provide abortions and Congress passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair-Pay Act.
- Yesterday brought confirmation of more Obama Cabinet picks, including Susan Rice for U.N. ambassador, Ray LaHood for transportation secretary, Lisa Jackson to head the EPA, Shaun Donovan for secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Nancy Sutley to head the Council on Environmental Quality, and Mary Schapiro to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. Still being held up by GOP obstruction are Eric Holder, Hilda Solis and Timothy Geithner, while Tom Daschle is with his cancer-stricken brother and the delay behind Ron Kirk's confirmation is unknown.
- If John McCain really is destined to be the guy in the Senate who brings moderate Republicans into the fold for passing progressive legislation with a filibuster-proof majority, then I'm ecstatic. But does The Washington Post really need to resurrect the old 'Maverick' storyline as a narrative for this front-page piece? I know I use the term in jest here, but the Post seems to have truly bought into it as McCain's defining feature.
- In addition to the wingnuttery chronicled by Adam here, we also learn that Dick Morris' derangement actually indicates that everything will be alright, Frank Luntz is shocked that Americans are not only willing to pay for infrastructure, but are willing to pay higher taxes for it (including 3 out of 4 Republicans!), the NRCC believes the economy is "robust and job creation is strong" because "Republican tax cuts are creating jobs and continuing to strengthen the economy," and Marc Thiessen declares Obama to be "the most dangerous man ever to occupy the Oval Office."
- Another day, another Republican
retiringbeing urged to retire his Senate seat. - Speaking of retired Republican pols, Marc Ambinder reports considerable buzz behind former Idaho governor and Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne running for president in 2012. Was Bob Dole unavailable?
--Mori Dinauer
