CQ Politics' Web Picks

New York Times: Al Qaeda Coldly Acknowledges Obama Victory

In a propaganda salvo by Al Qaeda aimed at undercutting the enthusiasm of Muslims worldwide about the American election, Osama bin Laden's top deputy condemned President-elect Barack Obama as a "house Negro" who would continue a campaign against Islam that Al Qaeda's leaders said was begun by President Bush.

Daily Beast: Restoring the Rule of Law to the White House

Obama's two top new legal men must end the Bush legacy of an administration that feels free to circumvent the law when it pleases.

Harvard Law Record: Whom Will Obama Choose? Harvard Candidates for the Cabinet

Last week, the Record profiled the many HLS affiliates on the advisory board and senior staff of Barack Obama '91's presidential transition team, the numbers being no surprise given that Obama was a graduate. In this edition, the Record delves into the rumors about the President-elect's cabinet selections to speculate on which alums might make the cut.

Slate: Obama's White House, Clinton's Team

Who's (loyal to) who in the Obama administration: an interactive chart.

Nation: A Clinton Administration?

Looking at lists of early appointees for the transition period and the administration to come, from Rahm Emanuel on down, you might be forgiven for concluding that Hillary had been elected president in 2008. Clintonistas are just piling up in the prospective corridors of power.

Salon: The GOP's Problem? It's Not Right-Wing Enough

The House GOP is getting back to basics. (Think 1994.) The conservatives who dominate what's left of the GOP caucus -- mostly from the South or the West -- think the real reason Republicans have been losing the last few years is because the party wasn't conservative enough.

National Review: Doc Daschle

Daschle is apparently eager to take the assignment not so much because he relishes the challenge of managing the vast HHS enterprise but because, like many of his former colleagues in Congress, he wants to cap his career by being closely associated with passage of a nationalized-health-care plan. And he senses, as others do, that the moment may have arrived.

Wall Street Journal: This Time Around, Health-Care Revamp Has Wings

The effort to overhaul the nation's health system will begin next year with one clear advantage over previous attempts: A wide variety of interest groups are rooting for it to succeed rather than plotting to kill it. In addition, Barack Obama's choice of Tom Daschle, a former Senate Majority Leader, as Secretary of Health and Human Services, puts a skilled navigator of Capitol Hill in charge of the president-elect's bid to establish universal health care, which he has made a top priority.

Power Line: Why Not the Worst?

In a preview of what Eric Holder is likely to face in confirmation hearings if nominated for Attorney General, the conservativbe Power Line blog rolls out a video of Holder's testimony before the Senate Judiciary on former President Clinton's pardons.

Los Angeles Times: Antiwar Groups Fear Obama May Create Hawkish Cabinet

Antiwar groups and other liberal activists are increasingly concerned at signs that Barack Obama's national security team will be dominated by appointees who favored the Iraq invasion and hold hawkish views on other important foreign policy issues.

New York Magazine: Obama's Really Important Decisions

Yesterday Michelle Obama took daughters Malia and Sasha to see their future home in the White House; they also visited a couple of private schools. The trip highlighted some profound, troubling, and potentially explosive decisions that the Obamas are going to have to make very soon. That's right, we're talking about private family decisions. So the Obama's choices about church, pets, school, food, and sports will be scrutinized almost as much as his pick for Secretary of State.

Mother Jones: The GOP's Internet Insurgents

With the GOP in tatters after heavy electoral losses, a handful of tech-savvy Republicans are saying that the real problem isn't principle or politics; it's hardware. The GOP, they complain, is a complete dud when it comes to the Internet and using the tools of a 21st-century campaign.