Politics Today: Sarah Palin Book Tour Set to Begin

Politics Today is CBSNews.com's inside look at the key stories driving the day in politics, written by CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris:

**Palin book tour kicks off in Michigan

**Analysis and reaction to Obama's visit to China

**Reid nears unveiling of health care bill

**Obama says Gitmo won't be closed by January

(AP Photo/ABC, Steve Fenn)

"In her new HarperCollins book, 'Going Rogue,' the former governor of Alaska and 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate states that Michigan is 'where I 'went rogue' trying to reach out to during the campaign.' She and running mate John McCain made a stop there last fall.

"In fact, people were already standing outside the Barnes and Noble store early Wednesday amid the cold and wind. 'I've wanted to meet her ever since I saw her...speak at the Republican Convention,' said one woman. 'We purchased two books, one for each other,' said another couple.

"'I don't think people realize she's down to earth,' said one man."

"Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said Tuesday she is not trying to reach 'the liberal elites' on her book tour, but instead is focusing on 'everyday, hard-working Americans,'" Politico's Andy Barr writes.

"Palin is ignoring most major cities during the early stint of her book tour for smaller ones such as Noblesville, Ind., and Roanoke, Va. Many of her stops are in strong pro-life communities that are similar to the right to life events that she spoke at last week in Wisconsin and back in April in Illinois.

"Asked by conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh who she was trying to reach on her tour, Palin responded: 'I'm not trying to reach the liberal elites in this country, and it's a good thing I'm not trying to, 'cause I'm not succeeding there.'"

During an interview with ABC News' Barbara Walters, Palin candidly weighed in on President Obama's handling of the economy.

"I would start cutting taxes and allowing our small businesses to keep more of what they are earning, more of what they are producing, more of what they own and earn so that they could start reinvesting in their businesses and expand and hire more people. ... Not punishing them by forcing health care reform down their throats; by forcing an energy policy down their throats that ultimately will tax them more and cost them more to stay in business. Those are backassward ways of trying to fix the economy."

"You do have a way with words," Walters replied. "I call it like I see it," Palin said.

New York Times' Maureen Dowd, "Rogue American Woman"

"Reid says he asked the president if he's as angry as Defense Secretary Robert Gates about all the leaks coming out of his administration about the Afghanistan decision.

"'I think I'm angrier than Bob Gates about it,' Mr. Obama replied. 'We have deliberations in the situation room for a reason; we're making life and death decisions that affect how our troops are able to operate in a theater of war. For people to be releasing info in the course of deliberations is not appropriate.'

"'A firing offense?' Reid inquired. 'Absolutely,' Mr. Obama responded….

"'Put your seatbelt on, sharp turn here,' Reid said. 'Sarah Palin has given you a 'four so' far as president on a 10-point scale. Is that a fair assessment?'

"'Well, look,' the president answered. 'I have to say, obviously, Mrs. Palin is out there selling books right now, and I think she'll do very well. ... She and I have different political philosophies, and it's probably not the person I look to do see how our administration is doing.'

(AP)

"On topics like Iran (Mr. Hu did not publicly discuss the possibility of sanctions), China's currency (he made no nod toward changing its value) and human rights (a joint statement bluntly acknowledged that the two countries 'have differences'), China held firm against most American demands.

"With China's micro-management of Mr. Obama's appearances in the country, the trip did more to showcase China's ability to push back against outside pressure than it did to advance the main issues on Mr. Obama's agenda, analysts said."

"If there was any significant change during this trip, in fact, it was in the United States' newly conciliatory and sometimes laudatory tone," the Washington Post's Andrew Higgins and Anne E. Kornblut write. "In a joint appearance with President Hu Jintao on Tuesday, Obama hailed China as an economic partner that has 'proved critical in our effort to pull ourselves out of the worst recession in generations.' The day before, speaking to students in Shanghai, he described China's rising prosperity as 'an accomplishment unparalleled in human history.'

"Whether by White House design or Chinese insistence, President Obama has steered clear of public meetings with Chinese liberals, free press advocates and even average Chinese during his first visit to China, showing a deference to the Chinese leadership's aversions to such interactions that is unusual for a visiting American president," add the Times' Michael Wines and Sharon LaFraniere.

"This is no longer the United States-China relationship of old but an encounter between a weakened giant and a comer with a bit of its own swagger. Washington's comparative advantage in past meetings is now diminished, a fact clearly not lost on the Chinese."

Reuters, "Obama gets five minutes with half-brother in China": "U.S. President Barack Obama took time out of his busy diplomatic schedule in China to meet with his half-brother, who lives in the southern part of the country -- but only for five minutes.

"Obama had the brief meeting with Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo, who had the same, late, father as the U.S. president, on Monday evening in Beijing, a White House official said."

(AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

"Reid, who is scheduled to meet with the Senate Democratic caucus at 5 p.m. today, said he expects cost estimates from the Congressional Budget Office "very soon" and is hopeful he can get enough votes to start debate on the bill."

"Democratic leaders have spent recent days wooing three party moderates who have declined to publicly commit to starting the Senate debate: Sens. Ben Nelson (Neb.), Mary Landrieu (La.) and Blanche Lincoln (Ark.)," add the Washington Post's Shailagh Murray and Lori Montgomery.

"Nelson and Landrieu appeared to be warming to Reid's strategy, Democratic aides said, provided certain concerns are addressed. For instance, Nelson wants the bill to leave in place a federal antitrust exemption for insurance companies that other Democrats have sought to repeal. He is also demanding language that would unequivocally block federal money from subsidizing abortion.

"Landrieu has lobbied for additional benefits for her home state, while Lincoln has insisted on a 72-hour waiting period after the Senate bill is released to give lawmakers time to review it before voting."

(CBS)

"Views on the overall package of reform under consideration in Congress, as people understand it now, remain more negative (45 percent) than positive (40 percent), and split along partisan lines. Among Republicans, 74 percent disapprove and 20 percent approve. One quarter of Democrats disapprove of the proposals and 57 percent approve."

Meantime, reports the Los Angeles Times' Noam N. Levey, "A core tenet of the healthcare overhaul President Obama is pushing through Congress is that medical care can be improved -- and costs contained -- if the country relies more on experts to determine which procedures and treatments work best.

"But Monday's mammography report by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force delivered a swift and stark reminder that few ideas are more explosive in healthcare.

"The expert panel -- which recommended that women in their 40s should no longer get annual mammograms to screen for breast cancer -- sparked an outcry from those who say that the federal government is more interested in saving money than in improving women's health, even though the panel did not consider costs in its analysis.

"Some Republicans jumped on the report as the kind of government intervention in medical decisions that Obama's healthcare plan would bring."

(AP)

"The abortion issue has finally reared its head after years of taking a backseat to priorities like war and the economy, leaving both supporters and opponents of abortion rights feeling that the Democrats' middle-ground approach is falling short. The so-called Stupak amendment, which uses the House health care bill to restrict insurance coverage for abortions, has split open the debate to reveal complex but divided opinions on the subject of abortion. And as the public reconsiders the issue, interest groups on both sides of the debate are demanding more from Democrats."

GITMO: "President Obama says he won't set a new deadline for closing the Guantanamo Bay military prison, but does expect the facility to shut down sometime next year," the AP reports.

"The administration no longer feels it can meet the January 2010 deadline Obama set for closure soon after taking office. Obama says he isn't disappointed about missing the deadline, but has realized that things move slower in Washington than he expected.

"Obama says the timeline for closing Guantanamo will depend on cooperation from Congress. About 220 detainees remain at the prison, and the administration must decide how to prosecute some in U.S. courts and turn others over to other countries.

"Obama spoke in an interview with Fox News Channel."

Meantime, "The Democratic-controlled Senate ... thwarted an effort to block spending for upgrading facilities in the United States for housing prisoners transferred from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a move that Illinois officials feared could have complicated efforts to place detainees at a prison in their state," reports the Los Angeles Times' Richard Simon. "The measure was defeated on a mostly party-line vote of 57-43.

"The Senate vote, largely along party lines, came days after the administration announced plans to bring five alleged terrorists, including Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, to New York for trial," adds the Washington Post's Perry Bacon Jr. "The GOP-backed measure was attached to a $134 billion plan that funded programs for veterans and military construction. The overall bill was passed unanimously.

"The vote on the Republican proposal was in some ways symbolic. The ban would have applied only to this legislation, not to other spending bills, and the administration has not said that it intends to build or alter prisons in order to bring detainees from the military facility in Cuba to the United States for trial."

USA Today's Kevin Johnson, "Senators have tough questions for Holder": "Attorney General Eric Holder has said his decision to bring self-proclaimed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four alleged accomplices to New York City to stand trial in civilian court was the "toughest" call in his short tenure as the nation's top law enforcement officer. Today, his job gets even more difficult. In an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Holder most likely will face difficult questions not only about his decision in the Mohammed case but also about whether federal investigators mishandled information about the Fort Hood shooting suspect's contacts with a radical cleric months before the Nov. 5 massacre."

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