Obama Staffers Stocking Up on Midnight Oil

Bill, Al Gore and Robert Rubin leave mark on transition

(NEWSER) - Three of Barack Obama’s most important advisers will accompany him to the Oval Office only in spirit, Gerald Seib writes in the Wall Street Journal: Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and Robert Rubin. In leaving behind a healthy record as Democratic building blocks, the Clinton years left Obama “what we didn’t have, which is a usable past,” says a Clinton transition member. More»

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama is moving to DC this weekend, and he's already got an interesting lunch date lined up next week with some fellows named George Bush (both of them), Clinton, and Carter, ABC News reports. Wednesday's meeting at the White House will bring together the president-elect with all the living former presidents for the first time. More»

President-elect told he can't move into official guest house early

(NEWSER) - Washington's hotels are booked solid for January and the Obamas have joined those struggling to find a place to stay, the New York Times reports. The president-elect and his wife had hoped to move into Blair House, the official White House guest house, in time for the girls to start their new school Jan. 5. But the Bush administration has told them it won't be available until January 15—just 5 days before the inauguration. More»

Transition moving quickly between president, successor

(NEWSER) - President George W. Bush will meet with Barack Obama early next week to discuss plans for transition, the Washington Post reports. Obama received his first intelligence briefing this morning, and key staffers have been given expedited security clearances. “We face economic challenges that will not pause to let a new president settle in,” the President said, explaining the hasty measures. More»

He could sell , unlike Obama

(NEWSER) - Jonah Goldberg is tired of having a president who can articulate his views like a lawyer but doesn't have the faintest idea how to persuade others to agree with him. "I miss having a Democrat who could sell," Goldberg writes for the New York Post . And the conservative columnist adds a confession: "I'm suffering from a mild case of Bill Clinton nostalgia." More»