CQ Politics' Web Picks

Daily Beast: Republicans for Hillary!

Neocons, right-wing scribes, and impeachment managers are in rare agreement with Obama --Clinton is a great choice for Secretary of State. How to explain the generally positive take Republicans have on Clinton's nomination? Her willingness to veer right in international policy.

Wall Street Journal: Clinton Faces a Familiar List of Overseas Problems

As secretary of state, Hillary Clinton would seek diplomatic solutions to problems her husband and President George W. Bush largely failed to solve, from North Korea's nuclear program to the Arab-Israeli conflict and the U.S. standoff with Iran.

Slate: Geithner is the Anti-Paulson

Our next treasury secretary won't be a guy who made a fortune on Wall Street (like Robert Rubin or Henry Paulson), or who served as CEO of a Fortune 500 company (like Paul O'Neill or John Snow), or who's been a distinguished economist (like Larry Summers), or who held high elective office (like Lloyd Bentsen). Rather, Geithner has been an extremely effective meritocratic bureaucrat for 20 years--a sort of community organizer for the financial world.

Washington Post: Ex-Marine Commander May Be Obama's NSC Choice

During 40 years in the Marine Corps, James L. Jones, 64, rose from being a platoon and company commander in Vietnam to Marine commandant. In the international realm, he has served as supreme allied commander of NATO and as a special envoy for Middle East security. In the public policy arena, he has chaired the Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq, a congressionally appointed panel that assessed the readiness of Iraqi troops

New York Times: Obama Tilts to Center, Inviting a Clash of Ideas

President-elect Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination with the enthusiastic support of the left wing of his party. Now, his reported selections for two of the major positions in his cabinet -- Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state and Timothy F. Geithner as secretary of the Treasury -- suggest that Mr. Obama is planning to govern from the center-right of his party, surrounding himself with pragmatists rather than ideologues.

Boston Globe: Will Lincoln's "Team of Rivals" Play Today?

The president-elect is emulating his role model, Abraham Lincoln, who boldly put political adversaries in his Cabinet, hoping to forge a strong presidency through the heat of conflicting ideas. But historians argue that Lincoln's model, described in the best-selling book "Team of Rivals," by Doris Kearns Goodwin, is a high-risk strategy for Obama, one that could alienate his allies and sow dysfunction inside the White House.

Los Angeles Times: Obama Happy as 9-to-5 Temp

During the transition period, the president-elect is glad to be able to sleep in his own bed and spend time with family. He wakes up in his own bed, works out in the same fitness center each morning, goes into the office, comes home and has dinner with his family -- a far cry from the frenzied campaign life of the previous 21 months.