RTV Salutes: Jon Favreau

Check out today's article from the Washington Post on Jon Favreau, Barack Obama's primary speechwriter. At 27 years old, Jon is going to be the youngest White House chief speechwriter - ever! - when Obama is sworn in next month.

In many ways, Favreau is a typical 27 year old: during the campaign, he lived with six friends, kept up his Facebook account, and played Rock Band whenever he could. But, he's also responsible for helping to craft the words that moved millions of people during the 2008 election.

Having worked on Obama's best known speeches, including his Election Night victory speech and his acceptance address at the Democratic National Convention, Favreau's currently working on his biggest assignment yet: Obama's Inauguration speech on January 20th. Not that there's any pressure involved in that:

He went for a run to the Lincoln Memorial last month and stopped in his tracks when he imagined the mall packed with 3 million people listening to some of his words. A few weeks later, Favreau winced when Obama spokesman Bill Burton reminded him: "Dude, what you're writing is going to be hung up in people's living rooms!"

Favreau is an important, influential voice that has earned incredible access to and respect from the next President - proof that young people are ready, willing, and able to participate in the highest levels of the government.

So, Jon, we here at Rock the Vote salute you - keep being an awesome rep in the new Administration for young people across the country.

What You Need to Know: 12.18.08

Bush considering ‘orderly’ bankruptcy for autos
"The Bush administration is looking at “orderly” bankruptcy as a possible way to deal with the desperately ailing U.S. auto industry, the White House said Thursday as carmakers readied more plant closings and a half million Americans filed new jobless claims."

Obama Names Three to Top Economic Posts
"Pledging to create “a 21st century regulatory framework” to protect against future financial crises, President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday nominated three veteran financial regulators to top economic positions in his administration.

“We will crack down on this culture of greed and scheming that has led us to this day of reckoning,” Mr. Obama said in announcing the appointments at a news conference in Chicago. “We have been asleep at the switch.”"

Generals Propose a Timetable for Iraq
"A new military plan for troop withdrawals from Iraq that was described in broad terms this week to President-elect Barack Obama falls short of the 16-month timetable Mr. Obama outlined during his election campaign, United States military officials said Wednesday.

The plan was proposed by the top American commanders responsible for Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus and Gen. Ray Odierno, and it represents their first recommendation on troop withdrawals under an Obama presidency. While Mr. Obama has said he will seek advice from his commanders, their resistance to a faster drawdown could present the new president with a tough political choice between overruling his generals or backing away from his goal."

Obama defends choice of evangelical pastor
"President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday defended his choice of a popular evangelical minister to deliver the invocation at his inauguration, rejecting criticism that it slights gays.

The selection of Pastor Rick Warren brought objections from gay rights advocates, who strongly supported Obama during the election campaign. The advocates are angry over Warren's backing of a California ballot initiative banning gay marriage. That measure was approved by voters last month."

What You Need to Know: 12.17.08

Time Magazine's Person of the Year 2008: Barack Obama
"It is here that we find Barack Obama one soul-freezingly cold December day, mentally unpacking the crate of crushing problems — some old, some new, all ugly — that he is about to inherit as the 44th President of the United States. Most of his hours inside the presidential-transition office are spent in this bland and bare-bones room. You would think the President-elect — a guy who draws 100,000 people to a speech in St. Louis, Mo., who raises three-quarters of a billion dollars, who is facing the toughest first year since Franklin Roosevelt's — might merit a leather chair. Maybe a credenza? A hutch?"

Obama picks Vilsack, Salazar for Cabinet
"Barack Obama is on a pre-holiday roll to fill his Cabinet, with two more nominations in former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack for agriculture secretary and Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar to lead the Interior Department."

Bush Prepares Crisis Briefings to Aid Obama
"The White House has prepared more than a dozen contingency plans to help guide President-elect Barack Obama if an international crisis erupts in the opening days of his administration, part of an elaborate operation devised to smooth the first transition of power since Sept. 11, 2001.

The memorandums envision a variety of volatile possibilities, like a North Korean nuclear explosion, a cyberattack on American computer systems, a terrorist strike on United States facilities overseas or a fresh outbreak of instability in the Middle East, according to people briefed on them. Each then outlines options for Mr. Obama to consider."

Voting with Your Cell Phone?

Last week, Estonia approved a law making it the first country in the world to allow voting by cell phone. Designed to go into effect in time for their 2011 parliamentary elections, voters will be required to get free identification chips for their phones in order to participate in the electronic voting system.

Estonia is used to being on the cutting edge of voting technologies - it successfully held the first legally-binding general elections to include Internet voting in October 2005. But, I'm not sure how I would feel about this type of electoral reform in America. While our current system has its flaws (confusing ballot designs, malfunctioning touch-screen devices, insufficient machines for heavily-populated precincts, etc.), it seems that Internet and mobile phone voting would open up a whole host of new security problems that would be decidedly more difficult for the public to recognize than long lines at the polls or improperly designed ballots.

What do you think?

What You Need to Know: 12.16.08

Obama taps Chicago schools chief
"President-elect Barack Obama announced Arne Duncan, the head of the Chicago school system, as education secretary Tuesday and declared that failing to improve classroom instruction is "morally unacceptable for our children."

"When it comes to school reform, Arne is the most hands-on of hands-on practitioners," Obama said, making the announcement at a school that he said has made remarkable progress under Duncan's leadership."

Obama: Aides 'did nothing inappropriate'
"President-elect Barack Obama said Monday a review by his own lawyer shows he had no direct contact with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich about the appointment of a Senate replacement, and transition aides "did nothing inappropriate."

Obama said he is prepared to make the review public, but decided to hold off because prosecutors asked for a delay and "I don't want to interfere with an ongoing investigation.""

Kennedy Seeks to Prove Qualifications for Senate Bid
Caroline Kennedy, the deeply private daughter of America’s most storied political dynasty, will seek the United States Senate seat in New York being vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Ms. Kennedy ended weeks of silence with a series of rapid-fire phone calls to the state’s leading political figures, including Gov. David A. Paterson, in which she emphatically and enthusiastically declared herself interested in the seat, according to several people who received the calls.

It's official: Obama elected 44th president
Presidential electors have formally elected Barack Obama the nation's 44th president.

Electors gathering in state capitols across the country have pushed Obama above the 270 electoral votes needed to win, according to a tally by The Associated Press. Obama takes office Jan. 20, becoming the nation's first black president.

What You Need to Know: 12.15.08

Obama to announce energy posts as Blagojevich questions linger
"Obama likely is to name Steven Chu, a physicist who runs the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, as his energy secretary, three Democratic officials close to the transition team said last week. Chu won the 1997 Nobel Prize in physics and is highly respected in energy circles.

Obama also is expected to name Carol Browner, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in the Clinton administration, as the newly created "climate czar" inside the White House.

Energy is one aspect of the president-elect's goal to create 2.5 million jobs by 2011. The plan aims to put Americans to work updating the country's infrastructure, making public buildings more energy-efficient and implementing environmentally friendly technologies, including alternative energy sources."

'Bizarre moment' dominates Bush's trip
"President George W. Bush wrapped up a whirlwind trip to two war zones Monday that in many ways was a victory lap without a clear victory. A signature event occurred when an Iraqi reporter hurled two shoes at Bush, an incident the president called "a bizarre moment."

Bush visited the Iraqi capital just 37 days before he hands the war off to his successor, Barack Obama, who has pledged to end it. The president wanted to highlight a drop in violence and to celebrate a recent U.S.-Iraq security agreement, which calls for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011."

Ill. House speaker launches impeachment panel
"The speaker of the Illinois House is taking the first step toward possibly impeaching embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Speaker Michael Madigan announced Monday that he's appointing a special committee to review the case and recommend whether Blagojevich should be impeached."

Few mysteries found in Minnesota Senate ballots
"Jesus, Bob Dylan and Mickey Mouse will play a part in determining Minnesota's next senator. So will voters who scrawled the same name for every local race. And so will people who marked their choice not just with a darkened oval but with an X, too — maybe for emphasis, or maybe for a do-over.

Those ballots by people who took creative liberties, as well as thousands of others being challenged, are critical in the tight battle between Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and his Democratic challenger, Al Franken. A state board begins meeting Tuesday to decide their fate."

Toward A Better Registration System
"Imagine an election in which registration is automatic, voters cast their ballots online, and more than half the votes are in before Election Day.

It may seem like a pipe dream to Washington lawmakers preoccupied with economic and national security woes. But state and local election officials are already envisioning a radically different future for American elections."