Emanuel tells GOP leaders that their voices will be heard
The incoming White House chief of staff met yesterday with Senate Republican leaders and pronounced an era of possible cooperation.
Rahm Emanuel said he has also met individually with top House Republicans at the direction of President-elect Barack Obama to make clear he values their input on the economic crisis and other challenges facing the country.
"We would like and welcome their ideas on a host of fronts, be that in the area of education, healthcare, taxes, energy policy, national security," Emanuel told reporters.
"And this is all an attempt because, as President-elect Obama has repeatedly said, the challenges for the country are large, the problems we face of a serious magnitude. There is enough area and enough good will for ideas from both parties to solve those challenges."
Emanuel, a former congressman from Illinois, developed a reputation for sharp elbows - and the nickname "Rahmbo" - for some of his dealings with Republicans.
GLOBE STAFF
GOP's favorability ratings are low in new survey
If the GOP was looking for a silver lining after devastating losses across the board in the Nov. 4 election, it won't find it in a survey out yesterday.
The Gallup poll found that 34 percent of Americans view the party favorably, and 61 percent see Republicans unfavorably.
That unfavorable number is the highest for the party since the question was first asked by Gallup in 1992, and it's significantly less love for the GOP than a poll in mid-October, which put the split at 40 percent favorable and 53 percent unfavorable.
Democrats continue to ride high: 55 percent view the party favorably, and 39 percent unfavorably.
That compares to 53 percent positive and 42 percent negative last month.
While 91 percent of Democrats have a good view of their party, the poll found 78 percent of Republicans view their party well.
Among independents, 47 percent rate the Democratic party favorably, but 32 percent do so with the GOP.
To recover, 58 percent of Republicans want the party to move in a more conservative direction, while 12 percent say it should become less conservative.
The new survey was conducted Nov. 13-16 and has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
GLOBE STAFF
Ohio official gets heat for 'Joe the Plumber' research
TOLEDO, Ohio - An agency director improperly used state computers to find personal information on "Joe the plumber," a government watchdog said yesterday.
There was no legitimate business purpose for the head of Ohio's Department of Job and Family Services to order staff to look up the records, but investigators weren't able to determine whether the searches were politically motivated, said the report from state Inspector General Tom Charles.
The findings have been forwarded to the county prosecutor's office.
Governor Ted Strickland suspended the agency director, Helen Jones-Kelley, for a month without pay after reviewing the findings. He rejected a request to fire her.
The report looked into 18 background checks into Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, who became a household name in the final weeks of the presidential campaign after asking President-elect Barack Obama about his tax plan at a campaign stop near Toledo. Reporters quickly found out that Wurzelbacher didn't have a plumber's license and owed back taxes to the state.
Jones-Kelley has said the search of Wurzelbacher's records were part of routine checks her agency conducts when someone suddenly emerges in the spotlight, but the inspector general found no policies or procedures to support that statement.
Strickland placed Jones-Kelley on leave this month over separate allegations that a state computer or state e-mail account was used to assist in political fund-raising for Obama's campaign. The inspector general's report concluded that she improperly used state e-mail to engage in political activity.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Obama beat McCain in Fla. with early, absentee votes
MIAMI - More Floridians voted for John McCain than Barack Obama on Election Day, but the Democrat sealed his victory in the state by winning more early and absentee votes.
An Associated Press study of 94 percent of the state's total shows that McCain beat Obama by almost 5 percentage points on Nov. 4, but Obama trumped McCain by 11 percentage points in early and absentee balloting.
Overall, Obama beat McCain 51.4 percent to 48.6 percent in Florida, becoming the third Democrat in 11 presidential elections to carry the state.
The results reflect the Obama campaign's heavy emphasis on early voting in critical states such as Florida, which had the most electoral votes of any swing state - 27 - and decided the presidency for President Bush in 2000.
ASSOCIATED PRESS 