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LIGHTNING ROUND: RIDING THE RAILS.
- In his Saturday radio address, Barack Obama named New York Housing Commissioner Shaun Donovan to be secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and The Denver Post reports that Sen. Ken Salazar is a leading contender to head the Department of the Interior. Obama will hold a press conference this evening where he will officially announce his picks for the Department of Energy and the EPA.
- I still think Caroline Kennedy running for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat reeks of dynastic privilege, but at least she's working for it now, instead of simply inheriting it because of her name.
- The Electoral College votes today for president of the United States, in what CQ Politics calls a "ritual." I'll be the last to defend the contemporary relevance of the Electoral College, but this vote isn't some meaningless ritual -- it's required by a law no higher than the Constitution. Bring on the national popular vote, please, but until then the law's the law.
- The Wall Street Journal has a good article on the softening political support for net neutrality, particularly among Obama and Lawrence Lessig. Tim concludes that Lessig's position hasn't been inconsistent on the issue, and Obama transition spokesperson Nick Shapiro denies any change to the president-elect's commitment to neutrality.
- Patrick Leahy has delayed the confirmation hearing for Attorney General-designate Eric Holder by a week to placate Republicans who suddenly want to get to the bottom of Holder's involvement in a presidential pardon that occurred eight years ago. The delay will interfere with Hillary Clinton's confirmation hearings, originally scheduled for January 13.
- Obama will continue the tradition of riding to his inauguration by train, swinging by Wilmington to pick up Joe Biden. The train tour will begin January 17.
- Miscellanea: Jay Carney is leaving Time to take as position as Joe Biden's communications director, Craig Newmark dissects Obama's vague call for "a craigslist for service," John Dean writes an open letter to the president-elect, and Princeton political scientist Nolan McCarty argues that not only was the 110th Congress the "most liberal" since the New Deal, the 111th is on track to be even more so.
- And finally, the Obama '08 logos that didn't make the cut.
--Mori Dinauer
COMMENTS (1)
While I would agree Mori that the contemporary relevance of the electoral college is now questionable with respect to the Framers' intent of providing a buffer between the easily-manipulated public fancies and the presidency, moving to a national popular vote would not, in fact, result in all votes being equal but those in larger states actually being "more equal." This is precisely the scenario smaller states were suspicious of and the reason the E.C. was proposed to begin with. Perhaps the more appropriate remedy is not to abandon the E.C. but to simply change the system from a winner-take-all one to one of proportional representation (i.e. you win 43% of the popular vote, you get 43% of the E.C. electors). This seems much more plausible than the likelihood of a constitutional amendment eliminating the E.C. Does anyone really think Wyoming, Montana, Oregon, Delaware, etc. are going to ratify that amendment?
Posted by: John Werbin | December 16, 2008 1:09 PM