Ben Smith’s Twitter feed is truly a joy to behold.
I’ve got this newfangled Friendbar (or something) on top of my screen, and the boy is relentless. From him we learn:
* Via the New York Post, Marc Mukasey, son of the Bush administration attorney general capable of stringing a sentence together, is considering a Republican run for the Senate (the GOP smells Kristen Gillibrand’s blood, and Rudy Giuliani is also mulling a run.) Mukasey, a partner in Giuliani’s firm, is waiting for the boss to decide — and might also consider a run for state attorney-general.
* Via Lynn Sweet at the Chicago Sun-Times, John Podesta, Clinton administration chief of staff, thinks Rahm Emanuel is doing a bang up job as the job’s current incumbent. He’s "very strong" Podesta says.
But we knew this. Rahm, as we’ve pointed out, can fly.
Ben and Laura Rozen also have a fun insidery rundown on Politico’s news site of who’s in and who’s out national security-wise.
I thought the most interesting tidbits are that Iran hawk Dennis Ross’ star is rising:
Ross, Clinton’s former Middle East peace envoy, quietly abandoned the State Department for what has become a senior role developing Iran and wider Middle East strategy at the White House — sometimes to the seeming disadvantage of Middle East envoy George Mitchell pursuing an exhausting shuttle diplomacy mission to try to get the re-launch of Israeli Palestinian peace talks.
And that Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is marching so closely to the administration, that he’s considered part of the team:
There has been no rancor toward the administration public or private expressed by Kerry, though he’s recently acknowledged what everyone already knew: That he’d coveted the post of Secretary of State. He has emerged as a powerful and gracious player, ensuring that Congress and the White House are aligned on the central issues of foreign policy, and served as a key intermediary with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the administration’s bid to salvage that country’s election.
