EARLYBIRD

Friday, November 14, 2008 8:30 AM

Top Transition Stories - 11/14

Changing Of The Guard

Foreign leaders have beat down President-elect Barack Obama's door offering advice since his election, from invitations to visit their countries to suggestions on how to change American policy (New York Times).

At transition headquarters on Sixth Street, "Clintonites are everywhere" (Politico).

"Life for the newly chosen president and his family has changed forever" and the security constraints being put on the Obamas are considerable (New York Times).

Obama has cobbled together a diverse team of economic advisers, including "fair traders, deficit hawks, Wall Street executives, corporate moguls and labor advocates" (Washington Post).

"Bundlers who raised millions of dollars for" Obama's "White House bid are starting to land significant posts on his transition team" (Washington Post).

"The most talked-about tech job in government" -- the new technology czar post -- "is one that never before existed" (Los Angeles Times). But Obama is remaining mum on what that position will look like (Washington Post).

"Two well-known names in education -- Washington education lawyer Judith Winston and Stanford University education professor Linda Darling-Hammond -- are heading President-elect Barack Obama's transition team at the Education Department" (Wall Street Journal).

Obama is considering naming an "auto czar" to help with the crises at the Big Three automakers (Boston Globe).

Handicapping The Field

Hillary Rodham Clinton's name is increasingly being used in the same sentence as "Secretary of State" (Politico).

Intense backlash from women's groups may have knocked Larry Summers, who was canned at Harvard in part because of controversial comments he made about women in the sciences, off the short-list for Treasury secretary (Politico).

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D), a former head of Goldman Sachs, is being considered for the top job at the Treasury Department (Wall Street Journal).

By a 3-1 margin, economists say Obama should keep Ben Bernanke at the helm of the Federal Reserve after his term expires in 2010 (Wall Street Journal).

Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean is apparently out of the running for Health and Human Services secretary (Politico).

Meet You In The Lobby

The pharmaceutical lobby is planning a TV ad blitz to counter Obama's expected push to control the price of prescription drugs (Washington Times).

"It's clear times have changed in Washington when the nation's biggest gun-rights lobby -- long considered Republican-leaning -- points out the Democrats on its team and only half-jokingly talks about hiring more" (AP).

The Big Day

More than 1 million revelers may attend Obama's inauguration (AP).

The Armed Forces Inaugural Committee, the organization in charge of collecting applications from bands hoping to play in the inaugural parade, said Thursday that it was receiving 10 applications an hour and had more than 400 so far" (Washington Post).

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif, lauded eBay for blocking the sale of inauguration tickets on its Web site (The Hill).

Even Hollywood A-listers are having a tough time scoring inauguration ceremony tickets (Los Angeles Times).