Obama Campaign: "A Lot Of Disinformation" About Transition Advisers

By GottaLaff

Not so fast, there, media types:

Barack Obama's transition team pushed back on Wednesday morning against an AP report claiming that former Sen. Sam Nunn and former Secretary of State Warren Christopher are playing an integral role in the presidential transition.

"Senator Sam Nunn will play an informal senior adviser role throughout the defense transition process. His expertise and the respect he has earned will be invaluable to ensure a smooth transition," Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Spokesperson Stephanie Cutter said in a statement.

"Secretary Christopher is deeply respected in the United States and throughout the international community. However, he is not playing a role in the transition process. There's a lot of disinformation out there. We're working hard to put the agency review teams together and expect they'll be announced this week and inside the agencies by the end of the week."

Oh, okay. We'll be good.

Barney Frank will have Nunn of that

By GottaLaff

I posted on some of Nunn's problems here. But Barney Frank says this isn't just a problem, it's a deal breaker. I agree:

Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) told the Rothenberg Political Report Friday that he “would have a hard time voting for the [Democratic] ticket” if Sen. Barack Obama picks former United States Sen. Sam Nunn as his vice-presidential running-mate.

Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and the first member of Congress to announce that he is gay, has expressed those views to Eric Holder and Caroline Kennedy, who are leading the search for Obama’s running-mate, as well as to others close to the Illinois Democrat.

The Massachusetts Democrat cites a number of examples of what he calls Nunn’s “real record of hostility” toward gays, placing greatest emphasis on Nunn’s September 1996 vote against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which failed in the Senate by a single vote.

Obama has made some real overtures to the gay community. This would be a reversal.

Obama's v.p. list includes John Edwards, Sam Nunn

By GottaLaff

I know, I know, so many conflicting reports, so little patience about who will be on the Obama ticket. Yes, Edwards is still an option, but no, he says he's not, and then he says he might be. Yes, Sam Nunn is a possibility, but no, Barack Obama won't comment. Here's the latest:

Former Sens. John Edwards and Sam Nunn are on a list of potential running mates for Democrat Barack Obama, a congresswoman said Thursday, one day after she met with the team Obama has reviewing possible candidates.

Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Mich., who leads the Congressional Black Caucus, said members of her caucus asked her to forward the names of Edwards and Nunn when she met Wednesday with Obama's vice presidential search team. The team, Caroline Kennedy and Eric Holder, indicated the two were on the list. [...]

Kilpatrick said she made several suggestions during the 45-minute meeting, including former Vice President Al Gore, Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha and Ohio Governor Ted Strickland. [...]

"I asked them what type of person the senator is looking for? And they said in general someone who could help him rebuild the country ... talking about change. How we reinvest in America, get people back to work and reinforce our education system and bring the jobs back," she said. [...]

When Kilpatrick said Gore was her personal choice, "they had a smile on their face. They have a list of candidates. I think I may have been the first to do that. They didn't say one way or the other."

But she wasn't the only one to mention Gore.

Rep. Joe Baca, D-Calif., chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, met Wednesday with Kennedy and Holder. A former Clinton supporter, he offered Clinton's name but said he mentioned others, too. Those included Edwards, Sens. Joe Biden and Chris Dodd, Gore, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sibelius and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano. [...]

Other lawmakers who have been briefed say there about 20 names on the list Obama's team has been discussing. The list includes current elected officials, former elected officials and retired military generals, lawmakers have said.

Kilpatrick said most of the names she was asked about were in the Senate.

That's such a long list, I'm surprised Paddy and I aren't on it. But I have a feeling General Wesley Clark is. And I really don't have any desire to play the guessing game. When it happens, it happens.

Dueling veeps: Nunn v. Napolitano

By GottaLaff

Nunn (title of article, Many See Nunn Leading Veepstakes):

The Boston Globe looks at the possibility that Sen. Barack Obama will choose former Sen. Sam Nunn and his running mate, noting that the "personal and intellectual affinity" between the two men "makes him a real possibility."

"Those close to Nunn, speaking on condition of anonymity, say he seems more prepared to accept a vice presidential offer this year, helping to offset Obama's lack of experience on national security and giving the Democrats a fighting chance in Georgia."

Said former aide Arnold Punaro: "He sounds like he may be more open to it. He has never before endorsed anybody. That was a surprise to me."

However:

Overall, Nunn was a moderate-to-conservative Democrat^[8] who often broke with his party on a host of social and economic issues. [...] He voted in favor of school prayer, capping punitive damage awards, amending the U.S. Constitution to require a balanced budget, and limiting death penalty appeals.

Vs Napolitano (title of article, Meet the Democratic VP Candidate: Janet Napolitano):

Janet Napolitano is regarded for her legal experience, dedication and tenacity, and her addition to the Democratic ticket might be enough to appease many of Hillary Clinton’s supporters.

A lawyer, U.S. attorney and state attorney general before being elected Arizona’s governor in 2002, Napolitano represented Anita Hill when she accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment.

During her term as Arizona’s attorney general, Napolitano was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy in 2000 and an ovariectomy in 2004.

At 50 years old, she’s an appealing red-state Democrat, like Kathleen Sebelius — but one who’s much more closely associated with hot-button issues like crime and immigration.

However:

Still, as the home turf of John McCain, Arizona itself is unlikely to be in play in the fall, and he will already be fighting hard to keep 2004 general-election states like Colorado and Montana. Now may not be Napolitano’s time, particularly since if she leaves Arizona, the Republican secretary of state, Jan Brewer, will take over as governor.

Competing headlines always amuse me.