First Glance
Please excuse us during this slightly awkward period in which not only are the domestic news pickings pretty slim, as far as what we tend to follow, but of what news there is, some of it is about NBC.

As Tom said last night in his closing note (full text below), you'll see Brian Williams in the chair on Nightly News tonight.

In D.C., all eyes are on how hard President Bush will push the GOP-run House to vote on the intel reform bill, which has been set up as a test of Bush's second-term -- cynics would say lame-duck -- clout. 

NBC's Mike Viqueira reports that while the White House is working behind the scenes to shake the bill loose, House Republicans so far remain defiant.  White House officials met with House Armed Services chairman Duncan Hunter until 2:00 am Wednesday, on the eve of the meeting of top GOP leaders in Congress and many of the same White House officials at a closed-door retreat in Virginia.  According to one leadership source, the White House officials are trying to get Hastert et al to "roll" Hunter and Judiciary chairman Jim Sensenbrenner -- to put the bill on the floor over their objections.  But the same source says that Hastert and DeLay have made it clear that they won't play along.

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Bush meets with the President of Nigeria this morning at 9:30 am, then he and Laura Bush take part in the Pageant of Peace on the Ellipse at 5:00 pm.  McClellan gaggles at 9:00 am and briefs at 12:15 pm.

Sen. Jon Corzine is expected to announce his candidacy for governor of New Jersey in 2005 in a 2:00 pm presser in Newark today.

Speaking of governors, sitting Democratic governors across the country descend on DC today for a meeting of the Democratic Governors Association.  They hold a presser at 3:15 pm at the swanky Mandarin Oriental Hotel, and later attend an invite-only holiday party.  In addition, they are expected to elect colleague and potential presidential contender Bill Richardson of New Mexico as the new DGA chair, and will also elect Richardson's team (policy chair, finance chair, recruitment chair, and federal liaison).

Not all Democratic governors will attend, but most will, including newly elected Brian Schweitzer of Montana and John Lynch of New Hampshire.  The theme of the gathering, says a DGA spokesperson, will be to highlight the contribution Democratic governors -- particularly those hailing from red states -- can make to the party after the 2004 elections, in message, policies, and campaign tactics. 

And Democratic Gov. Gary Locke of Washington state may have to stick around longer than he had planned because of his state's gubernatorial mess and a state provision that requires a governor's replacement to be "elected and qualified" before that governor can step down.

Other countries' elections
In Ukraine, the Supreme Court is still reviewing the election results, with a verdict possibly coming today, while lawyers start hammering out an agreement for the completion of the election.  Unclear whether another vote would be an entirely new election or a second run-off, and whether it would occur on December 19 as Yushchenko wants, or months down the road.

The AP rounds up election monitors' various charges of fraud.

USA Today runs a timeline for the whole election brouhaha.

The economy
USA Today: "Oil prices posted their biggest drop in more than three years Wednesday after government data showed an unexpectedly large increase in supplies just in time for the winter heating season.  The decline helped send the Dow Jones industrial average to its highest level in nearly nine months." 

The Wall Street Journal says, "The dollar dropped to a new all-time low of $1.3379 against the euro in European morning trading Thursday, but later recovered amid the threat of intervention to stop the U.S. currency's slide...  The dollar weakness came despite reports from Washington on Wednesday that the U.S. economy is gaining momentum, bolstered by home building, shipping and manufacturing."

"A growing number of Federal Reserve officials believe inflation risks are on the rise -- a shift in sentiment that will likely keep the central bank raising interest rates at its next few meetings," the Journal also reports.  "Officials cite several reasons for their newfound concern: slowing productivity growth, the lower dollar, high energy and commodity prices, recent inflation data, and anecdotal evidence of businesses raising prices."

The Bush agenda:  intelligence reform
Bob Novak in the Chicago Sun Times writes about how Bush’s lame-duck status seems to be making it more difficult for him to rein in Republicans on Capitol Hill.  “While Bush has laid out an ambitious conservative agenda for the second term, his poor performance on the intelligence bill suggests to his partisans on the Hill the need for an adjustment to reality at the White House.  Thanks to the 22nd Amendment blues, it will be much harder to pass bills far more difficult than intel reform.”

The New York Daily News says the White House is trying to make an “end run” around recalcitrant House committee chairs Hunter and Sensenbrenner, who are blocking the bill.  “The White House is initially focused on pushing Republicans who sit on Hunter and Sensenbrenner's committees to revolt against their chairmen.”

“‘They're being told that those guys are not going to be chairmen forever and to think about their futures,’ said a source familiar with the arm-twisting.”

The Washington Post reports that former CIA Director Tenet, speaking at a conference, criticized the provision in the intel reform bill which would create a director of national intelligence, "saying it would separate the new intelligence chief from direct control over the case officers and analysts who are overseas and 'taking risks.'"

The Bush Agenda:  Taxes, the deficit, and Social Security
The Wall Street Journal says that per key Hill Republicans, Bush had better hurry up and achieve some consensus among them if he wants to pass tax reform legislation during his second term.

While aides say Bush has a "renewed commitment" to control the deficit, analysts say "the administration seems to have little chance of significantly shrinking the budget deficit, despite Bush's promises to halve it within five years," reports the Boston Globe. 

"The analysts said Bush's commitment to lowering taxes while expanding large parts of the budget makes it impossible to meet his deficit-reduction goals.  The White House budget office acknowledged that Bush's next budget proposal, to be filed in February, will not include costs associated with his plan to partially privatize Social Security, a move that could cost $2 trillion."

"As criticism of Bush's fiscal record has grown among liberals as well as conservatives, the president may see some of the most ambitious items on his policy agenda held up."

The Washington Times says the White House "is considering larger Social Security personal investment accounts than the 2 percent plans often linked to President Bush's proposals...  Participants in these closed-door policy-making briefings say that Vice President Dick Cheney's office has become a player in the meetings and that senior officials are considering plans that would allow investments of up to 4 percent of payroll taxes, one of the three options proposed by the president's Social Security reform commission in 2001."

"One participant in the White House meetings said that the emerging plan 'will be similar to the federal retirement system' which allows government employees, including members of Congress, to invest their pension contributions in mutual stock and bond funds among other investment vehicles."

2004
Exactly one month after election day, USA Today rounds up the "wrinkles in the voting process," including the governors races in Washington state and Puerto Rico and the San Diego mayoral race.

About 77% of provisional ballots cast in Ohio, or 121,598 out of 156,977, were found to be valid and were counted, says the AP.  Meanwhile, Cliff Arnebeck is expected to file his lawsuit directly to the Ohio Supreme Court today; "Arnebeck said the case will seek to document that election abuses in Ohio were widespread."

Knight Ridder sums up the state of play in Ohio: "One coalition of disgruntled voters and interest groups plans to seek a recount.  Another plans to file a lawsuit with the state Supreme Court on Thursday contesting Bush's victory.  Despite these challenges - and rampant charges on the Internet that Republicans stole the election for Bush in Ohio - there's no proof of fraud, and there's no reason yet to think the election will be overturned."

"Any recount wouldn't start until Dec. 11.  That would leave only about 24 hours to find enough invalid votes to reverse Bush's victory in Ohio before the state's presidential electors vote for him on Dec. 13, which would seal his re-election."

A Kerry spokesperson tells First Read that Kerry's move to join the recount effort in Ohio "was the next step in ensuring that no county is excluded from the recount in Ohio, to ensure an accurate statewide count happens swiftly -- it was important to add the campaign's heft to that effort."

According to the Toledo Blade, Ohio's GOP secretary of state will certify final results on Monday.

From the AP: In Washington state, "because of a provision of the state constitution that says the governor's term of office is four years 'and until his successor is elected and qualified,'" Gary Locke (D) may not be able to retire from the governorship as soon as he'd planned.  Republican Dino Rossi was certified as governor the other day, but Democrat Christine Gregoire is requesting a third count after losing to Rossi by 42 votes.  Depending on whether the third count is a partial or full recount, and on possible legal challenges, it may not be completed by the state's scheduled inaugural date of January 12. 

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that even with the $200,000 contribution from Kerry, Democrats in Washington state still have not come up with the $700,000 down payment required for a hand recount.  The Democrats, the papers says, have until 5:00 pm Friday to submit the funds.  (We hear the DNC plans to kick in a chunk of change...)

On Saturday, Louisiana voters head to the polls to decide the two remaining congressional races of this cycle: the run-offs between Charlie Melancon (D) and Billy Tauzin III (R) in Louisiana's 3rd district, and Willie Mount (D) and Charles Boustany (R) in the state's 7th district.  The Melancon-Tauzin contest is probably the more intriguing of the two, mainly because Tauzin is running to replace his retiring father.  And although the race is being fought over taxes, trade, and Social Security, topics such as nepotism, age, Master P., Britney Spears, and sex ed for third-graders have all popped up in the course of the debate.

2005
The AP says Corzine "called New Jersey's 21 Democratic county chairmen on Wednesday, telling them that he will run for governor...  A source close to Corzine said he intends to remain in the Senate while waging a gubernatorial campaign."

The Trenton Times notes that although he’ll be the Democratic frontrunner, a Corzine victory -- even in the primary -- isn’t a sure thing.  “This is New Jersey, a state where anything can happen…  [Acting Gov.] ‘Dick Codey is not going to roll over and play dead (politically) for Corzine,’ asserted one well-connected North Jersey Democrat yesterday.  Codey has said he will decide next month whether to seek a four-year term as governor.”

First there was the Tom DeLay-engineered irregular redistricting in Texas.  Now the Los Angeles Times reports that in California, "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his top advisors... may call a special election that could upend the state's political order, redrawing legislative and congressional district boundaries, curbing spending and revamping the bureaucracy."

"Schwarzenegger would embrace various ballot measures that would be voted on in a special election and bill them as a 'reform' package meant to make Sacramento more accountable."  Still, the Times says, "[t]he governor has not yet agreed to call an election, and there are tactical reasons why he may be reluctant."

"As Schwarzenegger's aides and his outside political team weigh strategy, various interest groups are preparing initiatives that could wind up as key parts of the governor's agenda.  Ted Costa,... who drew up the original petition to recall Gov. Gray Davis, has been cleared to gather signatures for a measure that would profoundly alter the way California elects its congressional and legislative delegations."

2006
USA Today runs a huge (huge!) profile of expected New York gubernatorial contender Eliot Spitzer (D) and notes, "How far Spitzer, a Democrat, goes in politics depends not only on intangible factors, such as whether voters will cotton to his prosecutorial personality, but on an issue of fundamental importance to the future of the Democratic Party: How adversarial should the government be toward big business?"

2008
The Washington Post follows up on earlier AP and local Tennessee reports that a PAC "controlled by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) has lost almost $460,000 in stock market investments since 2000 and now does not have enough to cover a sizable bank loan, according to federal election records and the manager of the Frist account."

Which may prompt some to wonder, as outgoing Minority Leader Daschle just pointed out, whether Frist is at all concerned that average Americans might face similar problems if they invest their Social Security money in the stock market?

The Washington Times anticipates a Hillary Clinton run for president, but notes that "she has other immediate professional obligations to manage before that can happen...  [T]he Democratic Party is in a precarious position in its search for a candidate who would be attractive to an electorate that is trending consistently conservative.  The former first lady would face a mountain of obstacles, aside from her perch on the left."

Brokaw's closing note (Click here to watch the video)
"Well, the time is here.  We've been through a lot together, through dark days and nights - and seasons of hope and joy."

"Whatever the story, I had only one objective: to get it right.  When I failed it was personally painful and there was no greater urgency than course correction.  On those occasions I was grateful for your forbearance and always mindful that your patience and attention didn't come with a lifetime warranty."

"I was not alone here, of course.  I am simply the most conspicuous part of a large, thoroughly dedicated and professional staff that extends from just behind these cameras, across this country and around the world, in too many instances, in places of grave danger and personal hardship.  And they're family to me."

"What have I learned here?  More than we have time to recount this evening but the enduring lessons through the decades are these: it's not the questions that get us in trouble.  It's the answers.  And, just as important, no one person has all the answers.  Just ask a member of the generation that I came to know well, the men and women who came of age in the Great Depression, who at great personal sacrifice saved the world in World War II and returned home to dedicate their lives to improving the nation they had already served so nobly."

"They weren't perfect.  No generation is.  But this one left a large and vital legacy of common effort to find common ground here and abroad on which to solve our most vexing problems.  They did not give up their personal beliefs and greatest passions, but they never stopped learning from each other and, most of all, they did not give up on the idea we're all in this together."

"We still are.  And it is in that spirit that I say, thanks for all I have learned from you.  That's been my richest reward."

"That's Nightly News for this Wednesday night.  I'm Tom Brokaw. You'll see Brian Williams tomorrow night, and I'll see you along the way."

The New York Daily News: Brokaw’s “final show started with news from Iraq, as it often has for more than a year, and it ended with a heartfelt farewell and thank-you to the people who have let him into their homes.”

The Chicago Tribune: “In a eloquent endnote to one of the great careers in broadcast news, Tom Brokaw signed off last night telling viewers that the trust they had invested in him ‘didn't come with a lifetime warranty...'"

The Los Angeles Times: "In what seemed to be a reference to the political and moral partisanship that has divided the country in recent years, Brokaw said he had learned that 'It's not the questions that get us in trouble, it's the answers.  And just as important, no one person has all the answers.'"

The Miami Herald's Garvin: "It was a genial farewell by the network anchor probably most liked by his viewers.  Dan Rather can be prickly and weird; Peter Jennings cold and imperious...  But the key word is liked.  The news anchors who came before him were beloved."

The new era
The AP: "Brian Williams, long groomed as Mr. Brokaw's successor, takes over 'Nightly News' with tonight's broadcast.  He begins at the top of the ratings, where 'Nightly News' has reigned since 1997."

The New York Times says that when Williams eases into the anchor chair, he will have a longtime friend and colleague playing head coach to his quarterback: Nightly News executive producer Steve Capus.  “[A]s NBC embarks on the first anchor transfer at any network evening newscast in more than two decades, its senior executives say that any opening-night jitters have been tempered by the confidence they have that Mr. Capus and Mr. Williams work well together.”

The Los Angeles Times on possible changes for anchordom which are either afoot or already in the works: "With Williams taking over tonight for Tom Brokaw... and Dan Rather's announcement last week that he is leaving 'CBS Evening News' in March, the often-staid broadcast news divisions appear ready to embrace change.  Everything seems to be on the table.  Networks might push newscasts to later in the evening to adapt to family schedules and commuters.  Anchors such as Williams will increasingly turn up on early morning shows and Internet chat rooms to gain more exposure, and broadcast executives hope, viewers.  And yes, they will make frequent guest appearances on entertainment programs like 'The Daily Show.'"

"Entertainment values - employed fully by Fox News Channel in its successful decade-long battle against CNN - are becoming paramount...  There are signs of change already."

And the Washington Post's Tom Shales gets dark and gloomy: "With Dan Rather... set to follow Brokaw out the door next spring, abdicating a job he once said was the most important at any network, the whole idea of the anchor as a network's top gun and flag-bearer is looking shaky and frail, and perhaps irrelevant.  Jennings will be the only veteran in an anchor chair after Rather leaves, and instead of the earth shuddering at that prospect, there's a disheartening aura of 'so what?'"

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