Pressing Sarah

At the Republican Governor's Conference in Miami, it might as well be reconfigured into the Sarah Palin Conference. After Barack, she's the biggest political star in the country.

At a short press conference, she was asked what she's doing since the last governor's get-together.

“I had a baby, I did some traveling, I very briefly expanded my wardrobe, I made a few speeches, I met a few VIPS, including those who really impact society, like Tina Fey,” she said.

And yes, she spoke again of “Joe the Plumber,” the Ohio man who briefly dominated the McCain-Palin campaign and its talk about taxes.

Ms. Palin thanked the people who attended her rallies, including young women she hopes she has influenced.

“I am going to remember all the young girls who came up to me at rallies to see the first woman having the privilege of carrying our party’s VP nomination,” she said. “We’re going to work harder, we’re going to be stronger, we’re going to do better and one day, one of them will be the president.”

That raised again the question surrounding Ms. Palin since the election ended: will she run in 2012?

“The future is not that 2012 Presidential race, it’s next year and our next budgets,” she said. It is in 2010, she said, that “we’ll have 36 governors positions open.”

Obamedy

Barack was loose, and clearly quite comfortable with his new role as the king in waiting. Some, however, are already getting upset. His first attempt at humor, with a light poke at Nancy Reagan, is already being called a cheap shot - and you have to wonder why Barack went there.

Many, however, will enjoy his attempts at not taking himself too seriously, even if they aren't particularly funny. This mutt joke was a botched one.

Barack Presser

Barack held his first press conference today. While starting off by saying that there's only one president, and that his turn to take the ball up the court doesn't arrive for a couple of months, Barack seemed at the same time to be establishing his position on the court.

In his first news conference since Election Day, President-elect Barack Obama said the United States is ''facing the "greatest economic challenge of our lifetimes."

Obama met with his economic advisers Friday, and flanked by his advisers, Vice President-elect Joe Biden, and White House Chief of Staff appointee Rahm Emanuel, Obama met the press for the first time since Nov. 4. "Immediately after I become President, I will confront this economic crisis head-on by taking all necessary steps to ease the credit crisis, help hardworking families, and restore growth and prosperity," he said.

"First, we need a rescue plan for the middle class that invests in immediate efforts to create jobs and provides relief to families that are watching their paychecks shrink and their life savings disappear," Obama continued. He called for an extension of insurance benefits and a new stimulus package.

"I would like to see a stimulus package sooner rather than later," Obama said. He said if no stimulus package is passed during the lame duck session of Congress, one will come immediately after his inauguration.

It doesn't appear that Barack has any instinct to take a hard line on auto industry bailouts.

Obama also called for attention to the woes of small businesses and the auto industry.

"I would like to see the administration do everything they can to accelerate the retooling assistance that Congress has already enacted," Obama said. "In addition, I have made it a high priority for my transition team to work on additional policy options to help the auto industry adjust, weather the financial crisis, and succeed in producing fuel-efficient cars here in the United States. I have asked my team to explore what we can do under current law and whether additional legislation will be needed for this purpose."

Barack Press Conference

4:56 - Barack ends press conference. Says he still wants debate to take place, but I sense that he knows it's not going to happen.

CNN - Dems instantly on attack. Schumer - the last thing we need in these delicate negotiations is the injection of presidential politics." Schumer thinks McCain was weird, and he hasn't been on capital hill for so long that he can't be helpful.

4:52 - in response to question on matching McCain in suspending campaign and advertising, Barack said he plans on debating Friday night.

Is a joint statement still a good idea? Barack still thinks it could serve an important purpose.

"I proposed putting out the joint statement, he concurred with that."

Barack indicates that McCain was on television with his decisions faster than Barack expected based on their phone call, but then was conciliatory, saying we're both running our own campaigns and he's glad to be a party to rising above politics.

Barack presidential - the problem is big, the problem can be solved. "We'll make sure we get through this immediate emergency."

4:50 - McCain called Barack back in response to the joint statement inquiry and said he thought they should both return to Washington, perhaps even meet with the President. But Barack again hinted that McCain moved faster than Barack expected after their conversation. Barack said he's talked often with key players in Washington, such as Sec Paulson.

Barack non-committal on return to Washington. Says he's available to go anywhere at any time if needed, but he doesn't want to infuse Washington with presidential politics. "Presidents are going to have to deal with more than one thing at a time."

It may be necessary for both candidates to be present at some point to send the message that something's got to be done.

445 - Barack is speaking, explaining that today's actions by McCain were preceded by his call to McCain this morning suggesting that they issue a joint statement regarding the Wall Street crisis. He also added that his call to McCain was instigated by GOP Senator Tom Coburn, who called Barack to say that a joint statement would be appropriate.

Barack laid out terms he thinks must be part of the emergency legislation.

Barack's statement did not include mention of the debate. This was left to the Q & A, and the first statement addressed Friday's debate. Barack's answer began with a rehashing of the events of the morning outlined above, suggesting, perhaps, that he'd been sandbagged by McCain. Then he added that the American people need to hear from the candidates about this "mess." No need to postpone the debate, "in my mind, it's more important than ever...."

4:15pm Update - It appears that Obama, who will speak this hour, believes that he can't afford to follow McCain's lead, and instead wants a showdown. With the White House issuing a statement in support of McCain's decision, Harry Reid has made a statement calling for the candidates to hold their debate, saying they'd only be a distraction in Washington.