Obama has lunch with 4 presidents

WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama hailed a rare Oval Office gathering of all U.S. presidents as an extraordinary event on Wednesday as the current occupant, President George W. Bush, reminded his predecessors and successor that the office "transcends the individual."

"I just want to thank the president for hosting us," the president-elect said, flanked by former President George H.W. Bush on one side and his son on the other.

Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, both smiling broadly, stood with them.

"All the gentlemen here understand both the pressures and possibilities of this office," Obama said. "For me to have the opportunity to get advice, good counsel and fellowship with these individuals is extraordinary."

In a swift photo opportunity, the current president wished Obama well before all five men headed to a private lunch that lasted about 90 minutes.

"I want to thank the president-elect for joining the ex-presidents for lunch," Bush said, even though he's not quite a member of that club yet.

"One message that I have and I think we all share is that we want you to succeed. Whether we're Democrat or Republican we care deeply about this country," Bush said. "All of us who have served in this office understand that the office itself transcends the individual."

He added: "We wish you all the very best, and so does the country."

Bush and Obama also met privately for roughly 30 minutes. That one-on-one meeting, coming just 13 days before Obama's inauguration, likely focused on grim current events, with war in the Gaza Strip and the economy in a recession.

It had been an entire generation since the nation last saw the tableau of every U.S. president together at the White House. The presidents have gathered at other locations over the years, most recently for the funeral of President Gerald Ford in Washington.

Obama suggested holding the gathering when he met Bush at the White House in November.

All parties seemed determined to keep details of what was discussed confidential.

Describing the lunch only in broad terms after it ended, Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs said: "The president and the former presidents had helpful advice on managing the office, as well as thoughts on the critical issues facing the country right now. The president-elect is anxious to stay in touch with all of them in the coming years."

Obama has sought to strike a balance as the power curve bends his way. Before taking office, he is publicly rallying Congress behind a massive economic stimulus plan. But he remains deferential to Bush on foreign affairs and will not comment on Israel's deadly conflict with Hamas on grounds that doing so would be dangerous for the United States.

"You can't have two administrations running foreign policy at the same time," Obama said at a news conference earlier in the day.

Vice President-elect Joe Biden also held a private meeting with former President Bush at the White House on Wednesday.

Considering the bond they hold in history, U.S. presidents gets together infrequently, particularly at the White House. And when they are in the same room, it is usually for a milestone or somber moment — a funeral of a world leader, an opening of a presidential library, a commemoration of history.

Not this time.

"It's going to be an interesting lunch," Bush told an interviewer recently. When asked what the five men would talk about, Bush said: "I don't know. I'm sure (Obama's) going to ask us all questions, I would guess. If not, we'll just share war stories."

They have plenty of those, political and otherwise. Their paths to power have long been entwined.

Carter lost the presidency to Ronald Reagan, whose running mate was George H.W. Bush. Bush later won election but lost after one term to Clinton. Then Bush's son, the current president, defeated Clinton's vice president, Al Gore. And this year Obama won after long linking his opponent, John McCain, to Bush.

Those campaign rivalries tend to soften over time as presidents leave the White House and try to adopt the role of statesmen — although Carter, even as an ex-president, has had some critical public words for the current president's foreign policy.

All five men were to pose for a group photo in the Rose Garden, but a January rainstorm scrapped that plan. So the noontime photo opportunity — the media's only glimpse of them — was moved indoors to the Oval Office.

The presidents and Obama were having lunch in a private dining room off the Oval Office, where no one else was expected to join them.

"All of us would love to be flies on the wall and listening to that conversation," White House press secretary Dana Perino said.

The rare presidential joint appearance also offered Bush, who ends his two terms deeply unpopular, to again show he is rising above the fray.

The last White House event to draw the former presidents was a November 2000 celebration in honor of the White House's 200th anniversary. But one of the former presidents, Ronald Reagan, who was afflicted with Alzheimer's, was unable to attend.

All the presidents were last at the White House in 1981: Richard Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan, who was president then. The three former presidents were there before leaving as part of the U.S. delegation to the funeral of Egypt's Anwar Sadat, who had been assassinated.

CNN: Gupta approached about surgeon general post

WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama has approached CNN's chief medical correspondent, Sanjay Gupta, to be the country's next surgeon general, the cable news network said Tuesday.

CNN said it has kept Gupta from reporting on health care policy and other matters involving the incoming Obama administration since learning he was under consideration for the post.

A Democrat with knowledge of the discussions over the surgeon general spot cautioned that there was not yet a final decision on who would fill the post. The person spoke on a condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media on the matter.

Obama's transition office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Gupta hosts "House Call" on CNN, contributes reports to CBS News and writes a column for Time magazine. He is a neurosurgeon and is on the faculty at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. During the Clinton administration, he was a White House fellow and special adviser to then-first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The surgeon general typically isn't heavily involved in shaping an administration's policy, but it can be a very effective bully pulpit. Past surgeons general have proved instrumental in battling tobacco and AIDS.

Having such a well-known TV personality could bring the surgeon general attention not seen since C. Everett Koop help the position under President Ronald Reagan. Koop is best known for pushing to make AIDS a public health issue rather than a moral issue, and Reagan faced pressure to fire him. Koop has said Reagan never interfered.

CNN said Gupta would not comment on the discussions and released a statement that said, "Since first learning that Dr. Gupta was under consideration for the surgeon general position, CNN has made sure that his on-air reporting has been on health and wellness matters and not on health care policy or any matters involving the new administration."

CNN: Gupta approached about surgeon general post

WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama has approached CNN's chief medical correspondent, Sanjay Gupta, to be the country's next surgeon general, the cable news network said Tuesday.

CNN said it has kept Gupta from reporting on health care policy and other matters involving the incoming Obama administration since learning he was under consideration for the post.

A Democrat with knowledge of the discussions over the surgeon general spot cautioned that there was not yet a final decision on who would fill the post. The person spoke on a condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media on the matter.

Obama's transition office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Gupta hosts "House Call" on CNN, contributes reports to CBS News and writes a column for Time magazine. He is a neurosurgeon and is on the faculty at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. During the Clinton administration, he was a White House fellow and special adviser to then-first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The surgeon general typically isn't heavily involved in shaping an administration's policy, but it can be a very effective bully pulpit. Past surgeons general have proved instrumental in battling tobacco and AIDS.

Having such a well-known TV personality could bring the surgeon general attention not seen since C. Everett Koop help the position under President Ronald Reagan. Koop is best known for pushing to make AIDS a public health issue rather than a moral issue, and Reagan faced pressure to fire him. Koop has said Reagan never interfered.

CNN said Gupta would not comment on the discussions and released a statement that said, "Since first learning that Dr. Gupta was under consideration for the surgeon general position, CNN has made sure that his on-air reporting has been on health and wellness matters and not on health care policy or any matters involving the new administration."

Richardson withdraws bid to be commerce secretary

WASHINGTON – New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson on Sunday announced that he was withdrawing his nomination to be President-elect Barack Obama's commerce secretary amid a grand jury investigation into how some of his political donors won a lucrative state contract.

Richardson's withdrawal was the first disruption of Obama's Cabinet process and the second "pay-to-play" investigation that has touched Obama's transition to the presidency. The president-elect has remained above the fray in both the case of arrested Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the New Mexico case.

A federal grand jury is investigating how a California company that contributed to Richardson's political activities won a New Mexico transportation contract worth more than $1 million. Richardson said in a statement issued by the Obama transition office that the investigation could take weeks or months but expressed confidence it will show he and his administration acted properly.

"I have concluded that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process," Richardson said. "Given the gravity of the economic situation the nation is facing, I could not in good conscience ask the president-elect and his administration to delay for one day the important work that needs to be done."

Richardson said he will remain as governor and told Obama, "I am eager to serve in the future in any way he deems useful."

The announcement came ahead of Obama's Monday meetings with congressional leaders on a massive economic recovery bill he wants lawmakers to pass quickly.

Obama said he has accepted Richardson's withdrawal, first reported by NBC News, "with deep regret."

"Governor Richardson is an outstanding public servant and would have brought to the job of Commerce Secretary and our economic team great insights accumulated through an extraordinary career in federal and state office," Obama said. "It is a measure of his willingness to put the nation first that he has removed himself as a candidate for the Cabinet to avoid any delay in filling this important economic post at this critical time. Although we must move quickly to fill the void left by Governor Richardson's decision, I look forward to his future service to our country and in my administration."

A person familiar with the proceedings has told The Associated Press that the grand jury is looking into possible "pay-to-play" dealings between CDR Financial Products and someone in a position to push the contract through with the state of New Mexico.

State documents show CDR was paid a total of $1.48 million in 2004 and 2005 for its work on a transportation program.

Richardson ran against Obama in the Democratic presidential primary, but withdrew after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary.

He is one of the most prominent Hispanics in the Democratic Party, having served in Congress and as President Clinton's ambassador to the United Nations and energy secretary. As governor, he has kept up an international profile with a specialty in dealing with rouge nations. Obama also considered him to be secretary of state.

CDR and its CEO, David Rubin, have contributed at least $110,000 to three political committees formed by Richardson, according to an AP review of campaign finance records.

The largest donation, $75,000, was made by CDR in June 2004 — a couple of months after the transportation financing arrangement won state approval — to a political committee that Richardson established before the Democratic National Convention that year.

In the Illinois case, Blagojevich is accused of trying to sell the Senate seat that Obama gave up to become president. Obama and two of his top aides have been interviewed by the U.S. attorney's office pursuing the case but have denied any knowledge of such a scheme and have not been accused by prosecutors of any wrongdoing.

Obama holds secret meeting with HRC

President-elect Barack Obama met Thursday with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) at his transition headquarters in Chicago as a growing chorus of advisers pushes her for secretary of state.

This would give him a “Team of Rivals” Cabinet that would allow him to focus on the domestic economy while Clinton traveled the world to shore up America’s image with allies.

A clue to the secret visit was contained in a note last night from the protective pool of journalists who follow Obama: “Several minutes before President-elect Obama's motorcade emerged from the basement garage beneath his transition headquarters, another unidentified motorcade of approximately three SUVs left the garage.”

Several officials described the visit to Politico on Friday.

Clinton said during her primary campaign against Obama that she was running, in part, to “restore America's standing in the world,” and she may get her chance to try. Several key Obama transition advisers argue that she would be “force multiplier” for the administration on the global stage.

Among those who like the idea: Bill Daley, an Obama adviser who was commerce secretary under President Bill Clinton.

With rumors swirling that she might join the Cabinet, Clinton said Monday night on the red carpet at Carnegie Hall in New York at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards: "I am happy being a senator from New York; I love this state and this city. I am looking at the long list of things I have to catch up on and do. But I want to be a good partner and I want to do everything I can to make sure his agenda is going to be successful."

Clinton plans to remain coy. She had an event in Albany, N.Y., on Friday but did not plan to answer questions.

The president-elect already has shown signs of valuing proven competence over longtime loyalty, diversity or interest-group wish lists.

“If you want to avoid an early stumble — and he just can’t afford them, for a million reasons — he’s got to have people who know what they’re doing,” a well-plugged-in Democrat explained.

One explanation for Obama’s willingness to consider Clinton for chief diplomat can be found in a January interview he gave to Katie Couric, anchor and managing editor of the “CBS Evening News.” As part of her “Primary Questions” series, Couric asked him what books besides the Bible he would consider essential if he were elected president.

“Doris Kearns Goodwin's book ‘Team of Rivals,’” Obama replied. “It was a biography of Lincoln. And she talks about Lincoln's capacity to bring opponents of his and people who have run against him in his cabinet. And he was confident enough to be willing to have these dissenting voices and confident enough to listen to the American people and push them outside of their comfort zone. And I think that part of what I want to do as president is push Americans a little bit outside of their comfort zone. It's a remarkable study in leadership.”

The once-laughable idea is plausible now in part because Obama is exceedingly confident now, in a way that only someone elected to the presidency of the United States can be. “He doesn’t need anybody right now — he’s on the cusp of becoming a world historic figure,” one adviser said. “This is a much different calculation [than picking a running mate]. He is completely and totally in the driver’s seat.” And during the general election, she campaigned tirelessly on his behalf throughout the country.

Even officials who like the idea threw up strong “caution” flags. Fresh off his electoral triumph, Obama does not feel he needs the Clintons. The president-elect has never liked the idea of Bill Clinton as a back-seat driver. The former president has had many tangled foreign business dealings that could complicate his wife’s entry into an administration that is promising transparency. And at most a few people, none of whom are talking, know what Obama really thinks about all this.

But some Obama advisers argue that Hillary Clinton would be an ideal fit if Obama concludes that he will have to focus his early days in office on the domestic economy, and will have to essentially outsource heavy-duty foreign travel to his secretary of state. Her celebrity and credibility would be a huge asset in his goal of reengaging the United States with allies. “You can send out John Kerry or Chuck Hagel,” said one adviser, mentioning some other candidates for secretary of state. “Sending Hillary Clinton out is better.”

The officials said Clinton becomes even more attractive if Obama retains President Bush’s last secretary of defense, Robert Gates. Some Obama advisers are advocated that course because he would provide cover for drawing down troops in Iraq: Gates has said he believes that is possible, and it would keep Obama out of a fight he can’t afford with Army Gen. David Petraeus, now the head of the U.S. Central Command.

An Obama adviser threw out one final rationale: It’s better to have the Clintons inside the tent than outside, causing trouble.

The Clinton camp refused to comment on the possibility. Senior Adviser Philippe Reines said: “Any speculation about Cabinet or other administration appointments is really for President-elect Obama's transition team to address.”

VP-elect Biden hopes to be a hands-on No. 2

WASHINGTON – Vice President-elect Joe Biden was all smiles Thursday when he paid a courtesy call the man he will succeed, Dick Cheney. But he has insisted he wants to be nothing like him. Biden has called Cheney "the most dangerous vice president we've had probably in American history" and said he couldn't name a single good thing Cheney had done.

But even if he won't acknowledge any similarities, there's one way that Biden wants to be like Cheney — a strong partner in governing the country.

Biden is proving to be a hands-on No. 2 to President-elect Barack Obama. He is carving out his own niche, specializing in foreign affairs, his area of expertise for decades in the Senate, and sticking close to Obama.

Past vice presidents have often been relegated to ceremonial roles, without major input on daily decisions. But the last two vice presidents, Cheney and Al Gore, have been extraordinarily involved and insisted on private weekly lunches with their bosses.

Biden has said he told Obama, before accepting the running mate slot, that he wouldn't want a peripheral assignment like reorganizing government, which Gore took on, along with other tasks. In a New Yorker interview last month, he said he told Obama: "I don't want to be a vice president who is not part of the major decisions you make."

Biden himself will have an experienced aide who can help his voice be heard in the White House. He chose former Gore chief of staff Ron Klain to fill the same job for him, Democrats said Thursday.

Biden will certainly have a special interest in the Iraq war, with his son scheduled to deploy there this month.

So far, Biden has been working closely with Obama. He has been in almost all the president-elect's meetings at his new government office space in Chicago and has been dispatched to make calls to several foreign leaders.

Biden was asked to smooth over a miscommunication following Obama's phone call with Polish President Lech Kaczynski last week. Kaczynski issued a statement saying Obama vowed to continue with President Bush's missile defense project. But Obama's advisers denied it, and the Polish foreign minister later said it was a misinterpretation on their part.

Biden called Kaczynski a couple of days later to explain that the Obama administration will assess the program before deciding whether to stick with it.

He also spoke this week with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Jordan's King Abdullah II, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Brown's predecessor, Tony Blair. And he spoke with Israel's foreign and defense ministers, along with Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a statement issued Thursday by the Obama transition team.

Biden has said he'd like to use his 36 years of experience in the Senate, including leadership of the Judiciary and Foreign Relations committees, to help push Obama's agenda in Congress. It's longtime insider's experience that Obama lacks and a role that has not been Cheney's focus.

Cheney has been forceful in the White House, while venturing to Capitol Hill occasionally to cast a tie-breaking vote or meet with GOP lawmakers.

On the campaign trail, Biden often lambasted Cheney. In a debate with Republican rival Sara Palin, Biden objected to Cheney's claim that the vice presidency is part of the legislative branch because of its largely ceremonial role as Senate president.

"The idea he's part of the legislative branch is a bizarre notion invented by Cheney to aggrandize the power of a unitary executive, and look where it has gotten us," Biden said. "It has been very dangerous."

When "CBS Evening News" anchor Katie Couric asked Biden to name the best and worst thing Cheney has done as vice president, he said he hasn't done much good, then offered admiration for his strength.

"But the thing I think he's really, really has done: I think he's done more harm than any other single high elected official in memory in terms of shredding the Constitution," Biden said. "You know, condoning torture, pushing torture as a policy, this idea of a unitary executive, meaning the Congress and the people have no power in a time of war, and the president controls everything. I don't have any animus toward Dick Cheney, but I really do think his attitude about the Constitution and the prosecution of this war has been absolutely wrong."

Despite the harsh words during the campaign, the Cheneys invited Biden and his wife, Jill, to the Naval Observatory, which is the official vice president's residence, for an hourlong tour Thursday. Biden said he had been in some of the first-floor rooms before. But it was his first look at much of the mansion that will be his first Washington residence after decades of commuting by train from Delaware.

Both couples were on their best behavior, at least during their greetings on the porch that reporters observed.

"Mr. Vice President, how are you doing," Biden said. Cheney replied, "Joe, how are you?" and offered his congratulations.

As reporters left afterward, a Secret Service agent could be heard telling another agent standing guard for the famously reclusive vice president, "I haven't seen press here since I've been here."

A statement from Cheney's office said the couple "enjoyed giving the Bidens a tour of the residence and wished them well as they make it their home in January."

Officials: Sen. Clinton eyed as secretary of state

CHICAGO – Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is among the candidates that President-elect Barack Obama is considering for secretary of state, according to two Democratic officials in close contact with the Obama transition team.

Clinton, the former first lady who pushed Obama hard for the Democratic presidential nomination, was rumored to be a contender for the job last week, but the talk died down as party activists questioned whether she was best-suited to be the nation's top diplomat in an Obama administration.

The talk resumed in Washington and elsewhere Thursday, a day after Obama named several former aides to President Bill Clinton to help run his transition effort.

The two Democratic officials who spoke Thursday did so on the condition of anonymity to avoid angering Obama and his staff. Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines referred questions to the Obama transition team, which said it had no comment.

Other people frequently mentioned for the State Department job are Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and New Mexico's Democratic governor, Bill Richardson.

Rahm's Return to the White House

People are still having problems spelling the name of our president-elect, and now Barack Obama has gone ahead and appointed as chief of staff Rahm Emanuel—searched in the past seven days as Ron, Rob, Rom, Ram, Rahn, Rham, and Rohm. We won't even go into the surname variations...although egregiously missing is his old moniker that the New York Times revived: Rahmbo.

However one spells the first Obama Cabinet member, the online frenzy for Emanuel surged an astonishing 75,473% on Yahoo! before he accepted the position. That number makes him the fastest moving search term in the past seven days on Yahoo!. Add up all his misspelled searches, and he pushes past lookups for "miley cyrus" and "thanksgiving."

The Search vetting process looked into his position as Illinois congressman, his bio, his Wikipedia entry, his religious affiliations, his nationality, his wife Amy Rule, his relationship with Israel, and (of course) his Clintonian legacy.

While his name has resonated in computers across all 50 states, the areas conducting due diligence most intensely include Delaware, Alabama, New York, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. Drill down to the cities, however, and the people who most want to know about Emanuel come from Victoria (Texas), Lake Charles (La.), Hattiesburg-Laurel (Miss.), Springfield (Mo.), and Chattanooga (Tenn.)

The Buzz had plenty to offer in Emanuel reminisces. The New York Times brought up the steak knife catharsis ritual. Both Defamer and Time offered fun facts, such as his ballet training, and how he inspired the Josh Lyman character on "The West Wing" (which, incidentally, bubbled up 56% in searches). The Huffington Post dug up an old Valentine's Day Politico blog that ran through his wicked political punch lines at a party.

In case all this rough stuff has worried people, NPR does talk about how his infamously short temper may have mellowed with age (he turns 49 on November 29), which would put him more in sync with Obama's calmer "change" mode. If not, at least the new antics could provide fodder for "The West Wing: The Next Generation."

Obama picks Clinton alum Emanuel chief of WH staff

WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama pivoted quickly to begin filling out his new administration on Wednesday, selecting hard-charging Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel as White House chief of staff while aides stepped up the pace of transition work that had been cloaked in pre-election secrecy.

Several Democrats confirmed that Emanuel had been offered the job. While it was not clear he had accepted, a rejection would amount to an unlikely public snub of the new president-elect within hours of an electoral college landslide.

With hundreds of jobs to fill and only 10 weeks until Inauguration Day, Obama and his transition team confronted a formidable task complicated by his anti-lobbyist campaign rhetoric.

The official campaign Web Site said no political appointees would be permitted to work on "regulations or contracts directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years. And no political appointee will be able to lobby the executive branch after leaving government service during the remainder of the administration."

But almost exactly one year ago, on Nov. 3, 2007, candidate Obama went considerably further than that while campaigning in South Carolina. "I don't take a dime of their money, and when I am president, they won't find a job in my White House," he said of lobbyists at the time.

Because they often have prior experience in government or politics, lobbyists figure as potential appointees for presidents of both parties.

On the morning after making history, the man elected the first black president had breakfast with his wife and two daughters at their Chicago home, went to a nearby gym and visited his downtown offices.

Aides said he planned no public appearances until later in the week, when he has promised to hold a news conference.

As president-elect, he begins receiving highly classified briefings from top intelligence officials Thursday.

In offering the post of White House chief of staff to Emanuel, Obama turned to a fellow Chicago politician with a far different style from his own, a man known for his bluntness as well as his single-minded determination.

Emanuel was a political and policy aide in Bill Clinton's White House. Leaving that, he turned to investment banking, then won a Chicago-area House seat six years ago. In Congress, he moved quickly into the leadership. As chairman of the Democratic campaign committee in 2006, he played an instrumental role in restoring his party to power after 12 years in the minority.

Emanuel maintained neutrality during the long primary battle between Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, not surprising given his long-standing ties to the former first lady and his Illinois connections with Obama.

The day after the election there already was jockeying for Cabinet appointments.

Several Democrats said Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, who won a new six-year term on Tuesday, was angling for secretary of state. They spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss any private conversations.

Kerry's spokeswoman, Brigid O'Rourke, disputed the reports. "It's not true. It's ridiculous," she said in an interview.

Announcement of the transition team came in a written statement from the Obama camp.

The group is headed by John Podesta, who served as chief of staff under former President Clinton; Pete Rouse, who has been Obama's chief of staff in the Senate, and Valerie Jarrett, a friend of the president-elect and campaign adviser.

Several Democrats described a sprawling operation well under way. Officials had kept deliberations under wraps to avoid the appearance of overconfidence in the weeks leading to Tuesday's election.

They said the group was stocked with longtime associates of Obama, as well as veterans of Clinton's White House.

Quite apart from transition issues, Obama's status as an incumbent member of Congress presents issues unseen since 1960, when John F. Kennedy moved from the Senate to the White House.

The Senate is scheduled to hold a postelection session in two weeks, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a news conference Wednesday to reinforce her call for quick action on a bill to stimulate the economy.

That places Obama in uncharted territory — a president-elect, presumably first among equals among congressional Democrats. Yet his and their ability to enact legislation depends almost entirely until Inauguration Day on President Bush's willingness to sign it.

Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, was elected to a new six-year term from Delaware on Tuesday and he must resign before he can be sworn in as vice president. Democrats are certain to hold his seat, following Jack Markell's election as governor.

There has been intense speculation that Biden's son, Beau Biden, is interested in ascending to the seat. But he is serving a one-year stint in Iraq as a member of the National Guard. In the interim, outgoing Gov. Ruth Ann Minner is seen among many Democrats as a likely appointee to hold the office until an election in 2010.

Obama also must resign his Senate seat before he can be sworn in as the 44th president. Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich will pick a replacement.

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Nedra Pickler reported from Chicago. AP writers Liz Sidoti and Jim Kuhnhenn contributed from Washington and Glen Johnson from Boston.