A Dignified Departure?

Charles Babbington writes for the Associated Press: "In a 10th-floor office a few blocks from the White House is a self-described government in waiting, ready to push detailed proposals for the economy, Iraq and scores of other issues if Barack Obama becomes president.

"The Center for American Progress, formed five years ago by top aides to former President Clinton, could become Washington's most influential think tank overnight."

Keith Koffler writes for Roll Call that Obama "is being advised by a long roster of former aides to President Bill Clinton, a sign that the putative outsider would be ready for inside-Washington hardball, in a way that few newly elected presidents have been, should he win on Nov. 4."

Peter Baker and Jackie Calmes wrote last week in the New York Times: "Obama's plans appear more extensive than in the past and more advanced than those of Senator John McCain, his Republican opponent. Mr. McCain has also assigned confidants to prepare for a transition but instructed them to limit their activities as he tries to rescue his foundering campaign, Republicans said."

Dan Eggen blogs for The Washington Post: "President Bush suggested today that one of the candidates -- he didn't say which one -- was sizing up the White House for new drapes.

"Following a press availability in the Oval Office, most correspondents had filed out when Associated Press radio reporter Mark Smith had a brief conversation with Bush, according to a White House pool report.

"'I caught Bush's eye,' Smith recounts in the report. 'He said, "Hey, how ya doin'?" And I said, "Anybody measuring the drapes, sir?"'

"At that point Bush laughed, paused a beat and replied: 'Sounds like it.'

"Bush did not identify the drape-measurer by name. But Republican nominee John McCain has repeatedly argued in recent days that Democratic candidate Barack Obama is already 'measuring the drapes' for the White House, in part because of widespread polling that shows Obama in the lead and because Obama's transition operation is more expansive than McCain's."

Not Attending the Summit?

Jeremy Pelofsky reports for Reuters: "The Bush administration said on Wednesday it does not expect the winner of the November 4 U.S. presidential election, whether Democrat Barack Obama or Republican John McCain, to attend the summit on the financial crisis on November 15.

"'I know that (White House Chief of Staff) Josh Bolten, the other day . . . said that he had heard from the campaigns that they don't plan to participate in person, but that they would be providing input,' said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino. . . .

"She defended the meeting despite the likely lack of attendance by the incoming president.