politics

President-elect Barack Obama's close advisers "tend to shudder at any parallels to George W. Bush," writes Mark Leibovich, "but many reporters and rivals have noted the 'Bush-like' tendencies the Obama campaign demonstrated in its ability to control information. The comparison is generally meant as a compliment (albeit a grudging one) by members of the press and expressed enviously by veterans of other campaigns. Plouffe himself admitted to me that the Obama campaign subscribed to the 'Bush model' of communications discipline. Asked if Obama himself spoke of the 'Bush model,' Plouffe told me he did." Like Bush's election campaigns, the Obama campaign's "brain trust was unusually small and close-knit. ... This enabled the Obama team to maintain tight control of its information. They prided themselves on never leaking. ... Obama’s operatives spoke with a single voice and a precise message and only when they wanted to." And, "Like the Bush model, the Obama model also clearly allowed for combat with the press, sometimes extending to punishment." One difference, however, is that Obama plans to maintain a close advisory relationship with his press secretary, Robert Gibbs. Bush, by contrast, kept his press secretaries including Ari Fleischer, Scott McClellan and Tony Snow at arm's length and out of the decision-making loop.

In case anyone doubts that some Republican leaders are racists, Chip Saltsman, a candidate to chair the Republican National Committee, has clarified things a bit by sending a Christmas gift to committee members that includes a music CD with lyrics from a song called "Barack the Magic Negro," which was first played on Rush Limbaugh's right-wing radio show. The song, performed by conservative satirist Paul Shanklin, features Shanklin doing an impression of black Al Sharpton and mocks Barack Obama along with other black figures including Snoop Dogg and Louis Farrakhan. The song is part of a compilation of 41 similar conservative songs titled "We Hate the USA." Other selections include "The Star Spanglish Banner," an anti-immigration tune that begins, "José can you see..." Cultural critic David Ehrenstein, who was the original inspiration for "Barack the Magic Negro" by writing a column with that title in 2007, is gay and of partly African-American descent. He responded to the controversy over Saltsman's hateful holiday gift by pointing out that he was critizing Obama (for pandering to anti-gay Christians, among other things) even before it became fashionable for conservatives to do so.

When Congress drafted the $700 billion financial bailout bill, they intended to limit Wall Street executives' sky-high pay. To do this, they included a process for reviewing executive pay, recovering bonuses based on unrealized earnings, prohibiting "golden parachutes" and punishing firms that break the rules. But just before the bill passed, the Bush administration insisted Congress make one little change in the bill's wording that pertained to that provision. The change said that penalties would only apply to firms that sold their troubled assets at an auction, since that was how the Treasury Department originally said it planned to use the money. But auctions have not been used to dispose of bad assets after all, and Bush's change effectively created a loophole allowing companies that take bailout money to circumvent restrictions on top executives' lavish pay. Senators on the Finance Committee are considering whether they should amend the law to assure the enforcement mechanism applies to firms that participate in the bailout.

In September 2008, as the U.S. Congress "was debating the first financial bailout, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich went on Fox News to decry how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had so 'many politicians beholden to them' that no one would step up to protect the American taxpayers," notes Muckety.com. But, as it turns out, Freddie Mac paid Gingrich $300,000 in 2006, "to push back against tough, new regulations of the mortgage company at a time the Bush administration was concerned about how big the two government-backed mortgage giants had become." After taking the money, Gingrich "talked and wrote about what he saw as the benefits of the Freddie Mac business model," reported the Associated Press. The Gingrich hire was part of an effort to woo conservatives; Freddie Mac also hired Frank Luntz and the DCI Group in 2005. Freddie Mac spent $11.7 million on outside lobbyists and consultants in 2006; 17 firms focused on Republicans, while four focused on Democrats. Freddie also hired Gingrich in 1999, "to provide strategic counsel," notes TPMMuckraker.

George W. BushAs CMD previously reported, George W. Bush is worried about his legacy. In case they have any trouble summing it up on their own, he has provided his Cabinet members and other high-ranking officials with a memo containing suggested talking points for characterizing his eight years in office. The memo, titled "Speech Topper on the Bush Record," states that Bush "kept the American people safe" after the September 11 terrorist attacks, that he helped the U.S. economy by making tax cuts, curbed AIDS in Africa and maintained "the honor and the dignity of his office." The memo presents Bush's record as a complete success, without mentioning any major negative events that have happened during his presidency, like flawed intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war, the federal government's failed response to Hurricane Katrina, abuse of prisoners held at Abu Ghraib, the collapse of the housing market and subsequent financial company failures. In regard to the current recession, the memo says only that Bush "responded with bold measures to prevent an economic meltdown."

The draft bailout for the U.S. automobile industry calls for the appointment of a "Car Czar" who, if the bill passes and is signed into law, would instantly become the most powerful marketing and advertising executive on Earth. The Czar would be charged with overseeing auto company expenses over $25 million, which means he or she would control the companies' media buys. An estimate from Advertising Age places the auto industry's marketing spending at about $7.3 billion in the U.S. alone -- $2 billion more than the next largest advertiser, Procter and Gamble, which spends some $5.2 billion per year. This will effectively make the Car Czar the single most influential marketing executive on Earth. The only catch? Ad agencies that work for automakers under the bailout will be effectively working on a government account, with all the bureaucracy and restrictions that entails. Depending on when the bill is signed, the Car Czar could be appointed by George W. Bush, but could be replaced by Barack Obama after his inauguration.

Illinois Governor Rod BlagojevichThe Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich after wiretaps showed he planned to sell or trade the open Senate seat left by Barack Obama to obtain financial and personal benefits for himself and his wife. If he couldn't get what he considered to be satisfactory compensation for the appointment, Blagojevich planned on taking the Senate seat himself. The government also accused Blagojevich of threatening to withhold state financial assistance to the troubled Tribune Company, publisher of the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, unless the Tribune fired its editorial board members who had been critical of him. The Governor is alleged to have said in a phone call about the board members, "Our recommendation is fire all those [expletive] people, get 'em the [expletive] out of there and get us some editorial support." Blagojevich is the second Illinois governor in a row to be arrested and charged with corruption. Former Governor George Ryan was convicted of racketeering and fraud in 2006.

Mark Penn, the CEO of the global PR firm Burson-Marsteller, recently spoke at a corporate conference in the UK promoting his book Microtrends. Journalist Cole Moreton interviewed Penn, starting with a blunt question on his role as "chief strategist" for Hillary Clinton's failed Presidential nomination bid: "Mr Penn, you blew it, didn't you? Were you so interested in microtrends that you completely missed the huge desire for change?" Penn responded, defensively, "Well, no, I think that, you know, I think ... the book is really a non-political book." Penn even denied that an infamous internal memo portrayed Barack Obama as unelectable. "Yes it does, if the facsimile published by Atlantic Monthly magazine is correct. The great communicator appears thrown," wrote Moreton. Penn's explanation: "Those memos, right, that came out, were really ... er, were really, I think, show you, you know, just a piece, because ... a small part, a piece of how we were looking to, I think, set up or solve the fact that he was a very strong candidate."

President-elect Barack Obama's cabinet appointments are winning praise from conservatives such as Karl Rove, Mitch McConnell and John McCain, and most of the people who actually voted for Obama aren't complaining just yet. Opinion polls show that most people approve of Obama's picks, while two-thirds of Americans approve of Obama personally. One the left, however, people like Chris Bowers are asking, "Why isn't there a single member of Obama’s cabinet who will be advising him from the left?" Bowers thinks Obama is "avoiding the tough fights" for now and hopes he'll be "more willing to take on some larger battles" further down the road. "Leading opponents of the war have mostly been silent," writes Jonathan Martin, while Obama, "who first built his national image on the foundation of his early opposition to the Iraq war, assembles a group of national security hands that is anything but a team of doves." Some anti-war activists say they trust Obama to do the right thing, regardless of his appointees. Others cite "a reluctance to carp before Obama is even sworn in." Marilyn Katz, a veteran of the peace movement and a well-connected Chicago public-relations executive, says some liberals have not been listening closely to Obama's positions all along. "A lot of people took his position on Iraq and projected our politics onto him," she said. "And that was never him. It was never true."

Freedom's Watch, the conservative 501(c)(4) organization that was set up earlier this year to help Republicans win elections, "is closing after just one cycle in business," reports Reid Wilson. "The group, which ran television, radio, phone and mail campaigns against dozens of Democrats this year, received most of its funding from wealthy gaming mogul Sheldon Adelson, chairman of the Las Vegas Sands Corp." Although Freedom's Watch originally said it would be spending as much as $200 million for ad campaigns, the reality was only about $30 million. The recession has hurt Adelson financially, cutting into tourism and gambling and sending Sands stock tumbling from $122.96 per share to just $2.89, a loss of 95 percent of its value. Freedom's Watch originally claimed to offer a conservative answer to the liberal advocacy group MoveOn. As one blogger pointed out, however, the "biggest difference" between the two groups is that Freedom's Watch "had a handful of mega-wealthy donors," while MoveOn "has an email list and funding base of 4 million."