LIGHTNING ROUND: WHY SO SERIOUS?

• Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State? She's not denying it, but she isn't confirming it either. Dana takes a look at the pros of the selection, while First Read chalks the chatter up to political maneuvering by the Obama camp: "Just ask George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter what it was like to have a once or future presidential rival in the Senate serving as a one-person Roman tribunal. Remember how easily the press gravitated to John McCain in '01 or Bob Kerrey in '93 or Ted Kennedy in '77 to allow them to be one-senator judge/juries on Administration proposals? The upside for Obama putting Clinton at State (or even the Pentagon) is that it gets her out of the Senate and gets her out of the domestic policy debates." Also, who would get Clinton's Senate seat in the event of a promotion?
• Obama will meet with McCain on Monday to discuss issues the two men can work together and find common ground on, potentially giving McCain a leadership role on energy, budget reform, Social Security changes, earmark reform and immigration. Or maybe Obama wants to give him a cabinet position! Seriously though, hasn't this become the dominant post-election storyline -- Obama meets with someone and that person is instantly rumored to be "in contention" for this or that position within the administration?
  
• Michael Steele formally announces his intention to run for RNC chair and should be considered a front runner. Marc Ambinder describes him as "formidable," and says that he is "more popular among Republicans generally than among the Republicans on the Republican National Committee, even though he has more allies on that committee than some of his opponents would like to believe."
• Patrick Leahy has become the first Senate Democrat to publicly come out against keeping Joe Lieberman as chair of the Homeland Security committee. Of course, Leahy also had the guts to stand up to The Joker, so by comparison Lieberman's small potatoes.
• Things are looking good for Mark Begich in Alaska's still-uncalled Senate race, according to The Anchorage Daily News: "A Daily News analysis, based on data provided by the state Division of Elections, shows that 56 percent of those ballots come from districts that favored Begich on Nov. 4."
• Barack Obama's weekly radio address will now be simultaneously broadcast as a YouTube video.
• California Republican Rep. Dan Lungren is mounting a leadership challenge against House Minority Leader John Boehner, whose inspired leadership has resulted in his party losing over 50 seats in the last two elections. Unsurprisingly, the new (potential) House leadership is far more right-wing than the current leaders. Gotta love that big tent GOP!

--Mori Dinauer