All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

Embattled Republican Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, who acknowledged an affair with a member of his staff over the summer, said today that he will not resign, in part because doing so would help Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada win reelection.

"For the people who want to beat Harry Reid, you’d have a second Senate race [in 2010] and that takes the focus off Harry Reid," Ensign said on conservative radio station KXNT today, according to Politico. He said splitting Republican resources in the 2012 midterms would hurt "the conservative cause."

Reid is expected to face a tough reelection campaign next year, with a poll last month finding that two different Republicans would defeat him if the election had been held then. The survey found Reid's unfavorable rating to be 50 percent.

Ensign is vowing to serve it out his term, which runs until 2012.

Ensign, who said in 2004 that "marriage is the cornerstone on which our society was founded" and who called fellow Republican Sen. Larry Craig a "disgrace" following Craig's arrest for disorderly conduct in an airport restroom, has acknowledged and apologized for his ninth-month affair with former aide Cindy Hampton. After Cindy Hampton and her husband Doug stopped working for Ensign in April, Ensign's parents gave the couple $96,000.

Read full post…

Republicans who regularly listen to radio host Rush Limbaugh or watch Fox News host Glenn Beck see Sarah Palin as the best representative of their party's core values, according to a new Washington Post poll.

A story on the full poll is here.

Palin was cited by 48 percent of Limbaugh listeners and 35 percent of Beck viewers as most representing the party's core values, far more than anyone else in the poll. Overall, 18 percent of Republicans cited Palin, making her the top choice among the GOP rank-and-file.

The former GOP vice presidential nominee was also the top choice among all Republicans to be the party's 2012 presidential nominee, though party members are split so far in advance of the election. Despite finishing first, Palin was cited by just 17 percent of Republicans as their first choice to be the nominee.

Read full post…

Among the guests at President Obama's jobs summit on Thursday, formally called the "Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth," will be Eric Schmidt, the head of Google, and Disney chief Bob Iger, according to a partial list released by the White House.

Also on the list is Nobel Prize winning New York Times columnist and Princeton economist Paul Krugman, pictured at left.

The White House expects approximately 130 attendees for the forum. Here's the list of confirmed attendees, which includes representatives from major companies and non-profit groups, small business owners, elected officials, union heads and academics:

Read full post…

Former GOP Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin, who has been emerging from a bus emblazoned with her name and photograph during her publicity tour for her memoir "Going Rogue," may be flying between her promotional appearances.

A blog called "Palingates," citing the flight log, first reported that Palin has apparently been traveling on a Gulfstream II 12-passenger jet from stop to stop.

Joe McGinniss at The Daily Beast then picked up the story. Before the tour, Palin's publicist had claimed that Palin would be "making two and sometimes three stops a day, traveling in a bus painted with the cover of her book." The former Alaska governor also gave interviews from the bus, driving home the notion that it was her mode of transportation for the tour.

Read full post…

At an unannounced meeting with his war council yesterday, President Obama conveyed his decision on a new strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan and gave the order that the new strategy be implemented, according to White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

"The commander in chief delivered the orders," Gibbs told reporters this morning, reports CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller.

Among those present at the late afternoon meeting were Vice President Biden, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, Joint Chiefs Vice Chair General James E. Cartwright, U.S. Central Command commander Army General David Petraeus., National Security Adviser General James Jones and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

Following the meeting, Gibbs said, the president spoke via video conference in the Situation Room with General Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, and Karl Eikenberry, ambassador to Afghanistan, to convey his decision to them.

Read full post…

Nine years ago, former Arkansas governor and 2008 GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee commuted the prison sentence of Maurice Clemmons, the man being sought by police in connection with the weekend murder of four police officers in Washington.

Huckabee's decision to commute Clemmons' sentence came "over the protests of prosecutors," according to the Seattle Times, which quotes an Arkansas prosecutor saying, "This is the day I've been dreading for a long time."

Huckabee distanced himself from Clemmons in a statement last night, writing that if Clemmons is found responsible for the murders, "it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State." Here's more from the statement:

Read full post…

Oprah Winfrey will interview President Obama for a holiday special on ABC called "Christmas at the White House: An Oprah Primetime Special," the Live Feed reports.

The talk show host, who recently announced that she would end her show in two years, is fresh off a high-profile sit down with former GOP Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. The special with the president will reportedly include the interview with Mr. Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as well as a White House tour.

The special is scheduled to air on Sunday, December 13th.

Winfrey backed Mr. Obama during the presidential campaign, breaking with her longtime practice of remaining neutral in elections.

"You know, there are certain days that remind me of why I ran for this office," President Obama exclaimed today. "And then there are moments like this, where I pardon a turkey and send it to Disneyland."

With a light tone and his daughters in tow, Mr. Obama participated in a relatively recent tradition on the day before Thanksgiving: The presidential turkey pardon. Though he eventually raised his hand over "Courage," the bird in question, to offer a pardon, the president suggested he was somewhat reticent to do so.

"That's a good looking bird," Mr. Obama said, later stating that his daughters convinced him to go through with the pardon. "Thanks to the intervention of Malia and Sasha, because I was planning to eat this sucker, Courage will also be spared this terrible and delicious fate."

While turkeys have been coming to the White House for more than 50 years, they have only been pardoned for the last couple decades. Mr. Obama noted that both Presidents Eisenhower and Johnson ate the turkeys presented to them, while President Kennedy's turkey came with a sign that said, "Good Eatin', Mr. President" around its neck.

(Check out CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller's history of the presidential turkey pardon here.)

Courage, this year's lucky bird, will be the grand marshal of a parade at Disneyland tomorrow; he will then live out the rest of his days at the theme park. A backup turkey, "Carolina," was also spared, in case Courage cannot fulfill his duties.

Sasha and Malia Obama took the opportunity to pet the turkey, which was donated by the National Turkey Federation, following the pardon. One of the girls could be heard saying, "he is like a large chicken."

As Knoller points out, the turkey pardon today was moved from the White House Rose Garden to the North Portico today – because, ahem, of "fowl weather."

Read full post…

Updated 11:11 a.m. Eastern Time

President Obama will announce his new strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as any troop increase in the region, in a speech next Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time at the United States Military Academy at West Point, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters this morning.

In the speech at West Point, which is located 50 miles north of New York City, the president is expected to announce he is deploying between 30,000 and 35,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. Gibbs said today that the president has not yet informed him of a final decision.

The press secretary said the president will discuss how to get additional troops into Afghanistan, how to train Afghan forces to take their place, and how to get them out.

"This is year nine of the United States in Afghanistan and we're not going to be there in another eight or nine years," he said, adding: "Our time there will be limited."

Gibbs said the president will discus how to ramp up training of Afghan personnel so security forces "can keep the gains that have been made."

Following a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday, the president vowed to "finish the job" that began more than eight years ago in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 attacks.

Read full post…

The White House has released the menu for tonight's state dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. It is both tailored to Indian tastes and to the predilections of the prime minister, who has reportedly been "described by aides as an abstemious vegetarian." (Abstemious: "sparing or moderate in eating and drinking; temperate in diet.")

Here's the menu, which will be prepared by guest Chef Marcus Samuelsson and White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford. (At left, check out photos from CBS News' Frank Thorp of the table settings for the event.) You'll note the only non-strictly vegetarian option are the green curry prawns:

Potato and Eggplant Salad
White House Arugula w/ Onion Seed Vinaigrette
2008 Savingnon Blanc, Modus Operandi, Napa Valley

Red Lentil Soup w Fresh Cheese
2006 Riesling, Brooks "Ara", Wilamette Valley
Roast Potato Dumplings w Tomato Chutney
Chick Peas and Okra or Green Curry Prawns w caramelized Salsify w smoke Collard Greens and coconut aged basmati
2007 Granache Beckman Vineyards, Santa Ynez, CA

Pumpkin pie tart
Pear tatin
Whipped Cream and Caramel sauce
Sparkling Chardonnay, Thibaut Janisson Brut, Monticello, VA

Petits fours and Coffee
Cashew Brittle
Pecan Pralines
Passion fruit and vanilla gelees
Chocolate dipped fruit

Read full post…