Washington Post: President Obama is considering asking Sen. John F. Kerry to serve as his next defense secretary, part of an extensive rearrangement of his national security team that will include a permanent replacement for former CIA director David H. Petraeus.
Although Kerry is thought to covet the job of secretary of state, senior administration officials familiar with the transition planning said that nomination will almost certainly go to Susan E. Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
John O. Brennan, Obama’s chief counterterrorism adviser, is a leading contender for the CIA job if he wants it, officials said. If Brennan goes ahead with his plan to leave government, Michael J. Morell, the agency’s acting director, is the prohibitive favorite to take over permanently. Officials cautioned that the White House discussions are still in the early stages and that no decisions have been made….
Monday: The President has no public events scheduled in observance of Veterans Day
Tuesday: Attends meetings at the White House
Wednesday: Holds a news conference in the East Room. He will also meet with business leaders at the White House
Thursday: The President will travel to the New York City area to view the storm damage, talk with citizens who are recovering from the storm and thank first responders who put their lives at risk to protect their communities
Friday: The President will meet with Congressional leaders of both parties at the White House to discuss the action needed to be taken to keep the economy growing and reduce the deficit
NYT: President Obama, emboldened by his decisive re-election and lessons learned over four years in office, is looking to the renewal of budget talks with Republicans this week as a second chance to take command of the nation’s policy debates and finally fulfill his promise to end gridlock in Washington, associates say.
As he prepares to meet with Congressional leaders at the White House on Friday, aides say, Mr. Obama will not simply hunker down there for weeks of closed-door negotiations as he did in mid-2011 …. He will travel beyond the Beltway at times to rally public support for a deficit-cutting accord that mixes tax increases on the wealthy with spending cuts.
…. with the election campaign over, the campaign for the Obama legacy begins: Mr. Obama will keep his grass-roots organization in place to “have the president’s back,” as its members like to say, on the budget negotiations and other issues in the second term. Democrats concede that the network has not been a particularly effective legislative lobby to date. But they argue that when it was activated to pass payroll tax cuts and low-interest student loans, the pressure made a difference.
…. His first trip outside Washington to engage the public will come after Thanksgiving, since Mr. Obama is scheduled to leave next weekend on a diplomatic trip to Asia.
Now, I don’t want to go on about this – well, that’s a complete lie, I do – but thanks to a very kind TOD lurker called Mandy, I’ve finally seen another comment left here by Scout Tufankjian – one that settles an ugly exchange between me and Bobfr for once and for all:
Bob? I accept your apology which I’m sure you’ll post soon – don’t worry about it, we can, hopefully, move on from this.
Scout? I ♥ you! Rest well after the campaign, you deserve it.
The Obama Diary 
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