119 Rooms, 70,000 Square Feet and One Lucky Australian

The Obamas were told there would be no room at Blair House before Jan. 15. Former Australian leader John Howard, left, apparently made reservations first. (By J. Scott Applewhite -- Associated Press)

Several minorities are said to be serious contenders to replace Richardson. Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), who turned down Obama's offer to be U.S. trade representative, is said to be back in the mix for Commerce. Latino advocates also are lobbying for Gilbert Casellas, a vice president at Dell Computer and chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the Clinton administration. Casellas has a wealth of private- and public-sector management experience and offers an added distinction: He would be the first Latino of Puerto Rican descent to serve in a Cabinet job.

"What they're looking for is somebody with some governing experience and some private-sector experience," Brent Wilkes, executive director of the League of United Latino American Citizens, said of Obama's transition team. "There was a lot of interest in the possibility of Gil Casellas."

Other Latino contenders include George Muñoz, who ran the Overseas Private Investment Corp. under Clinton and now works in the private sector, and businesswoman Linda Alvarado.

"We hope that the Obama team will see this still as an opportunity to set the historical precedent and have three Hispanics in the Cabinet," said Janet Murguía, president of the National Council of La Raza.

Gay advocates are pushing for Fred Hochberg, an entrepreneur who sits on the board of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and served as acting administrator of the Small Business Administration under Clinton. "He is the community's best hope for the commerce secretary position," Dison said.

Obama could check another box by tapping another African American, someone like former Time-Warner chief executive Richard D. Parsons, for the post. We're hearing that prior vetting would be a substantial plus.

Mondays Aren't All Bad

Not exactly another day at the office Monday for WilmerHale partner David W. Ogden. He was nominated to be deputy attorney general. Baby Natalie Sylvie Ogden, weighing in at 8 pounds 2 ounces, showed up at 7:04 p.m. (Natalie's mom, Anne Harkavy, is also a lawyer at the firm.) It would have been his late father's 84th birthday. And he won a major case in federal court in Miami blocking a $100 million judgment by a Nicaraguan court against his client, Shell Oil, and another company.

With Philip Rucker