Daily Digest
Obama Presidency’s Chicago Impact
IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Tourism: The Land of Lincoln will enjoy another
”presidential halo effect” on its tourism industry, ob-
servers say. The Chicago Convention and Tourism Bu-
reau predicts increased interest in South Side areas tied
to Obama and in Springfield, where he announced his
candidacy. European tourist agencies are already mak-
ing inquiries, said Mark Theis, executive vice president
of the bureau. Still, the tourism bump may be smaller
than it was for other recent presidents, said hospitality
expert Bjorn Hanson of New York University’s Tisch
Center. ”When President Bush Sr. went to Maine it
had a significant boost to tourism because of scenes of
him in his boat, fishing,” he said. ”I don’t foresee too
much of Barack Obama water-skiing behind a boat on
the lake.”
More on Barack Obama
Rebecca Romijn On Pregnancy: ”I’m A
Beached Whale!”
In this week’s Page Six Magazine - Rebecca Romijn,
pregnant with twin daughters on the way, opens up
about fertility drugs, maternity sex appeal and her split
from ex-husband John Stamos.
On using medical intervention to get pregnant:
”We did not do IVF... A year ago, we tried [the
fertility drug] Clomid for a couple of months unsuc-
cessfully. But by the second month, I was like, ’Ahhh!
I hate this!’ I think when you start messing with your
own hormones, it’s crazy-making.”
On her body during pregnancy:
”I can’t move anymore...I’m a beached whale! ...I
have not been without a bra this entire pregnancy. I
refuse. I’m not taking any chances. I’m determined to
keep the puppies up!”
On speculation that the cause of her 2004 divorce
was that she did not want children:
”There is absolutely no truth to that. That [story]
was completely made up. I desperately wanted kids.
I was never a girl who dreamed about what her wed-
ding day would be like, but I’ve always dreamed about
decorating my baby’s nursery.”
On husband Jerry O’Connell’s fathering skills:
1
I knew early on he would be a fantastic dad. He’s
a pragmatic, smart, savvy, enthusiastic person. He re-
ally lives his life with tremendous integrity, and he’s a
healthy person in every single way.”
On parenting:
”I’ve just surrendered to the fact that [parenting]
will be the hardest thing I’ll ever do. I know my life
will never be the same - but in the best way possible.”
Reese Schonfeld: Final Poll of Cable
Television News Viewers – Comparison
to Actual Results
To start with the positive, the Cable Television News
Viewer Poll (CTNVP) predicted all the results accu-
rately, both overall and in all demographic groups.
To state the negative, the poll predicted that Obama
would do better than he did in every category.
In the final overall vote, cable news viewers favored
Obama by 11, he won by 6. The previous week, we had
Obama ahead by 6, and would’ve been dead on, but last
week’s numbers jumped. I did cover my butt by saying
that the final numbers might’ve been a statistical fluke,
and there were.
In the demos, my comparisons are with the CNN
”Vote by Age” statistics and their demos do not match
the Nielsen demos, so the comparisons are not exact.
Nevertheless, here it goes:
CTNVP predictions
18-34s- 75 Obama–25 McCain 18-49s- 66 Obama–
34 McCain 25-54s- 64 Obama–36 McCain Fogies for
McCain–Over 50
CNN actuals 18-29s- 66 Obama–32 McCain 30-44s-
52 Obama–46 McCain 45-64s- 49 Obama–49 McCain
Over 64- 49 Obama–53 McCain
What have I learned from all this: Cable news view-
ing is at least indicative, if not perfectly predictive, of
the way Americans will vote on Election Day. The com-
parisons between viewing and voting among 18-34s and
55s and over were reliable. It seems that the 35-54
year-olds watching cable news are not representative of
the general population. Those voters split almost 50-50
between Republicans and Democrats, while the viewers
were overwhelmingly Democratic. Maybe conservative
35-54s have given up the media, especially TV, entirely.
They’re not angry enough to watch Fox, but too fed up
with the prattle to watch either CNN or MSNBC. Four
years from now, I’ll keep this in mind and try again.
As for myself, I am satisfied with the results of the
2008 election – one candidate had, during his campaign,
clearly forfeited any claim to the Presidency; and while
the other has yet to establish his claim; it’s time to give
”change” a chance.
More on Election Results
Obama To Make First Public
Appearance With Economic Advisers
Friday
CHICAGO mdash; Barack Obama planned his first
public appearance since his presidential victory for Fri-
day a meeting with economic advisers to discuss the
nation’s financial woes that Americans listed as their
top concern on Election Day.
Obama plans to talk to the news media Friday af-
ternoon following the meeting, aides said. He and his
wife, Michelle, will visit the White House on Monday
at President Bush’s invitation, aides said. Obama’s
schedule Thursday includes meetings with top U.S. in-
telligence officials preparing him to be commander in
chief and transition team leaders tasked with building
his entire administration in 10 short weeks.
Obama advisers said he was selecting the leaders of
the new government with a sense of care over speed,
with no plans to announce Cabinet positions this week.
The president-elect asked Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel
to be White House chief of staff, but Emanuel said he
was weighing the demands of the job on his family.
No announcement on the chief of staff position was ex-
pected Thursday, said an Obama adviser.
Other White House officials were being lined up, in-
cluding Robert Gibbs as the likely pick for press secre-
tary, said several Obama aides. Gibbs has been Obama’s
longtime spokesman and confidant and was at Obama’s
side from his 2004 Senate campaign through the long
days on the presidential campaign trail.
Obama planned to stay home through the weekend,
with a blackout on news announcements so that he and
his staff can get some rest after a grueling campaign and
the rush of their win Tuesday night. He is planning a
trip to Hawaii in December to get away with his family
before their move to the White House and to honor his
grandmother, who died Sunday at her home there.
Obama began Thursday as he almost always does,
with a workout. Later, he planned to visit with the
transition team he officially announced Wednesday but
had been under way for weeks. Officials had kept delib-
erations under wraps to avoid the appearance of over-
confidence in the weeks leading to Tuesday’s election.
He also planned to head to the FBI office in Chicago,
a secure location for him to receive his first president’s
2
daily brief. The document is mostly written by the Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency and includes the most critical
overnight intelligence. It is accompanied by a brief-
ing from top intelligence officials that typically lasts 45
minutes to an hour, although Obama’s first is expected
to be longer.
In offering the White House post to Emanuel, Obama
turned to a fellow Chicago politician with a far differ-
ent style from his own, a man known for his bluntness
as well as his single-minded determination. Emanuel,
who was a political and policy aide in the Clinton White
House, told Chicago’s WLS-TV that he was honored to
be considered but needed to weigh the impact on his
family.
”I have a lot to weigh: the basis of public service,
which I’ve given my life to, a career choice. And most
importantly, what I want to do as a parent,” Emanuel
said in an interview aired Wednesday. ”And I know
something about the White House. That, I assume,
is one of the reasons that President-elect Obama would
like me to serve. But I also know something about what
it means to a family.”
The economy was the overwhelming concern on the
mind of voters Tuesday, according to Associated Press
exit polls. More than six in 10 voters picked the econ-
omy as the most important issue facing the nation.
Four in 10 said their family financial status was
worse than four years ago the highest number to report
that in a presidential race since at least 1992. Nine in 10
said the economy is in bad shape and nearly the same
number said they are worried about the economy’s di-
rection.
Associated Press Special Correspondent David Espo
in Washington and AP reporter Beth Fouhy in Chicago
contributed to this report.
More on President Obama
John McNamara: How Obama Upended
My Life of Diminished Expectations
and Cynical Regret
I have to say, I’ve been disgusted by most presiden-
tial candidates in my lifetime, bored by the rest and
only impressed by one, Clinton. But with Clinton, you
sensed calculation was the primary motor and every-
thing else – his compassion, leadership, et al – were all
in service of that.
With Obama, I kept waiting for him to finally reveal
himself as one of the two types we’ve all come to know
and loathe – the knucklehead or the sociopath... Jerry
Lewis or Richard III. Reagan, brilliantly, was both –
with the emphasis on Jerry. Clinton also conjoined
the two – with maybe a tip to Richard, while the two
Bushes tried hard for the same splice but never finished
reading the play and seemed gleefully suited to clown-
ing anyhow.
Up and down the long campaign trail, Obama was
tested so we might finally stamp him as one or the other
and get on with our lives of diminished expectations
and cynical regret. And he just kept... rising. It was
and is incredible. Though I admit I won’t really relax
for a while.
We are the children of bullets in 1963 and 1968;
of Watergate; of fake small town morning in America
happy psycho Actor President and so on and on and on.
The best I ever dared to hope for was another shrewd,
liberal, narcissist who’d govern with a reptilian brain
but a human heart.
I never expected to see someone in that job who I
feel is not only smarter, kinder, and more hard-working
than me (trust me – not a high bar) but inspires us all
to be more like him. To actually stop and ask, with
zero irony, how would Obama handle this setback or
that insult? He would assess, be compassionate, strong,
wise, deal with it directly, as if the whole world were
listening... and rise.
Is it possible that the worst presidency of a republic
can lead directly to the best? As I watch Obama rise,
my hopes rising with him, I can only believe what my
head and heart finally say in unison:
Yes.
More on Barack Obama
Obama, Giannoulias Clash On The
Court
Barack Obama’s favorite campaign stress reliever,
basketball, was a source of tension between the candi-
date and his friend and frequent playing partner, Illi-
nois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, before the Iowa
Caucuses, Newsweek reports in its exhaustive ”Secrets
of the 2008 Campaign”:
Obama has always been fiercely competitive and not
above stacking his team with the best players. This led
to at least one loud argument on the court with his
friend Alexi Giannoulias, the Illinois state treasurer, in
the tense days before the Iowa caucuses. Obama had
loaded his team with Love and some other hot shots,
and Giannoulias’s team was losing badly. ”So I got
mad and started yelling at him–’I want to win too!’
” recalled Giannoulias. ”And it got under his skin.”
Obama responded, with rare heat, ”I don’t care who I
play with. I’ll play with anybody! You want to switch
teams? We can switch teams if you want!” Giannoulias
declined, out of pique more than anything, he recalled.
”And then he just gave me this smile,” Giannoulias
said, mimicking Obama’s signature smile, teeth flash-
ing, eyes crinkled, chin slightly tucked in, a surprising
gleam of warmth, guaranteed to disarm.
3
The on-court tension quickly ebbed, as Giannoulias
remained an Obama basketball regular and was among
those who played in Obama’s final campaign trail game
on Election Day.
Watch video of Giannoulias discussing that game.
More on Barack Obama
Tom D’Antoni: A Moment Which Will
Last a Lifetime
How many I’ll-never-forget-where-I-was-when’s are
happy memories? Think about it. From 9-11 on back
to Pearl Harbor, since we’ve had instant mass commu-
nication, none of those moments are happy.
Last night was happy, and we’ll never forget it.
We had some friends and family over last night.
From 11 p.m., when I heard Olbermann announce that
Obama had won, until the middle of the afternoon to-
day, I have been speechless. Me! I get paid for words.
Obama had it exactly right. The night belonged to
us. People of good will never gave up trying to make a
better world and, in the words of Allen Toussaint’s Yes
We Can!:
Make this land a better land
Than the world in which we live
And help each man be a better man
With the kindness that you give.
I’m white. I know what this election means to me,
but I was listening to national African-American talk
radio this morning and one-after-another, callers were
agreeing to a remarkable concept...maybe white folks
weren’t so bad after all.
Funny concept to some. Serious as death to others.
Serious as lynching.
We’re all looking at each other, and I mean every-
body, in a new way today. Here in the People’s Repub-
lic of Portland Oregon, there’s a quiet sense of relief,
although last night, on my block there were a lot fire-
works exploded and much banging on pots. I know that
these feelings are shared by people of good will all over
the world.
How long will that last? Stay tuned.
But it’s still fresh. And if feels good. And I’m
beginning to be able to talk.
I can say this........WE WON!
Read more reaction from HuffPost bloggers to Barack
Obama’s victory in the 2008 presidential election
More on Obama Election Day
Despite ”Oprah Effect,” Kindle Sales
Won’t Meet Expectations, Analyst Says
 Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney downgraded Ama-
zon’s stock to ”Hold” from ”Buy” in his latest report,
despite a surge in shares since Q3 earnings report which
he says is partially due to Oprah’s recent endorsement
of the Kindle.
He cites poor sales data from other online vendors
and doesn’t seem to think the O-Factor is enough to
raise Kindle sales above his previous estimates this hol-
iday season.
Oprah’s 10/24 public endorsement (’It’s absolutely
my new favorite thing in the world’) served as a mate-
rial stock catalyst,” he writes. ”We stand steadfastly by
our ’08 380K Kindle unit forecast. But also by our con-
clusion that it won’t be material to AMZN ’til 2010.”
Read the full story here
-or-
::MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer: Oprah Endorses
Amazon’s Kindle ::How Much Will The Oprah Bump
Do For Kindle?
More on Oprah
Malia And Sasha’s DC School: Where
Will They Go?
More on President Obama
Paige Donner: Greening Hollywood:
Staples Goes Solar
California’s Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger trekked
up to the rooftop of the STAPLES Center to commem-
orate the final solar panel installation of the total 1,727
photovoltaic solar panels that now grace the roof of the
Laker’s home court venue.
Lee Zeidman, STAPLES Center General Manager;
Timothy J. Leiweke, AEG President and CEO; Gov-
ernor Schwarzenegger; Steve Kircher, CEO of Solar
Power, Inc.
”Everyone these days talks about some states that
are red, other states that are blue, we here in California
are more interested in building a green state. That is
what this is all about here today,” he said, and joked,
”The outcome of the Celtics and Lakers would have
been different if we had these solar panels two years
ago!”
AEG and Solar Power Inc. worked together to in-
stall the photovoltaic panels on the Staples Center rooftop
which will provide significant environmental benefits
and is part of AEG’s overall sustainability initiative.
The 345.6 kilowatt system will provide environmental
offsets over the next 25 years which include the elimina-
tion of over 10,000 tons of CO2, 27-plus tons of sulfur
dioxide and over 33 tons of nitrous oxide, a principal
4
greenhouse gas. The net clean energy benefits of the
system equates to the environmental benefits of 170
acres of mature trees.
A view of some of the over 1,700 Solar Panels re-
cently installed atop STAPLES Center’s roof.
AEG is the world’s largest presenter of live sports
and entertainment events; They own and/or control
twelve sports franchises. They are also currently de-
veloping entertainment districts such as L.A. Live, Lon-
don’s O2 and adjacent to The O2 World Arena in Berlin.
LADWP, Mayor Villaraigosa’s office and LA City
Council are working closely together and also with large
stakeholders such as AEG to facilitate this implemen-
tation of solar generated power for our city. The Green
Energy-Good Jobs Initiative was recently introduced
which, when fully implemented, would produce 400 megawatts
of solar power, roughly 3 percent of the total power
generated by the Los Angeles Department of Water
and Power (LADWP). That’s the equivalent of remov-
ing 400,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions from L.A.
air and would provide power to more than 100,000
LADWP customers.
”Los Angeles has long been envied for our sunny
weather, and now we are taking the first step toward
an aggressive plan to put that sun to work for us cre-
ating clean energy and good jobs,” said Eric Garcetti,
LA City Council President. Sponsored by Working Cal-
ifornians, the Green Energy-Good Jobs Initiative is one
component of LADWP’s effort to reduce its dependence
on coal-based power. L.A.’s goal as a city is to create
20 percent of our power from renewable energy sources.
The new investment tax credit (ITC) signed into
federal law on October 3rd, has everyone in the indus-
try excited. The new ITC eliminates a 2,000 cap on the
residential incentive which comes into effect in January.
So homeowners who wait until January can save 9,000
instead of 2,000 on a 30,000 system. The 18 billion
tax incentives package extends the 30-percent solar tax
credit for eight years for residential and commercial in-
stallations and allows power companies to benefit from
the credit for the first time.
”I can’t tell you how exciting it is to be part of one of
the most important global movements that impacts so-
ciety in our lifetime,” said Steve Kircher, CEO of Solar
Power Inc. and added, ”Homeowners are now able to
finance their solar systems directly through their prop-
erty tax.” Solar Power Inc. supplies the pv solar panels
and offers easy installation with their proprietary Sky-
Mount (TM) mounting system. Indeed, the Governor
simply snapped the last panel into place atop the Sta-
ples Center rooftop.
Solar Is Affordable
The perception of solar energy as an expensive form
of renewable energy is no longer valid. The Governor
had the following to say on the topic of affordability:
”With our Million Solar Roofs Plan, people, home-
owners, get a tax incentive which is around 5000 which
is really helpful. And people will find out very quickly According to an economic study released last week
that by installing solar you will bring down the costs by the University of California at Berkeley and Next
of energy and this will pay back the investment very 10, California’s green policies will create as many as
quickly. So you will actually get your energy much 403,000 jobs in the next 12 years and household incomes
more cheaply. will increase by 48 billion.
The question really is how do we produce solar pan- More on Green Energy
els and solar technology cheaper? And that’s the same
thing as it was with cell phones. That the more you
produce, the cheaper they will get, and the more they
will be affordable. We see already the costs coming Microsoft BizSpark Embraces Startups
down, and this is why it was important to me to chal- With Free Software, Services
lenge businesses like for instance, here, the STAPLES
Center, or the State University system, the prisons, the
hospitals, also SoCal Edison, to make deals with land-
lords of the various different warehouses and big build-
ings, government buildings, to really blanket the roofs
ATamp;T Fuze dummies popping up in
of these buildings with solar panels.
stores
The more solar panels we have to produce, the cheaper
they will become, the costs will come down and the
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds Sprint beat ’em
more affordable they will then be for everybody. So it
with the Touch Pro, but that doesn’t mean a throng of
is like the cell phone. It used to cost 1500 for a cell
ATT customers aren’t going to be delighted to hear
phone and now they’re down to 50. That’s the idea.
that the Fuze is now shipping to stores – sort of. Retail
I’m proud of California. I’m proud of the model we
locations are receiving dummy Fuzes now, which don’t
have created for the rest of the world. Go STAPLES
do much good if you’re trying to store contacts, make
Center and Go Lakers!” concluded Governor Schwarzeneg-
appointments, or place calls, but at least give us a solid
ger.
indication that retail availability ain’t too far off. Sorry,
”Today’s installation is another example of AEG’s
Tilt – you had a good run, but our lust definitely lies
commitment to investing in energy saving technologies
elsewhere at this point.ATT Fuze dummies popping up
and measures for all of our venues worldwide,” said
in stores originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05
Timothy J. Leiweke, President and CEO of AEG.
Nov 2008 13:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of
Timothy J. Leiweke, AEG President and CEO; Gov-
feeds.Readnbsp;|nbsp;Permalinknbsp;|nbsp;Email thisnbsp;|nbsp;Co
ernor Schwarzenegger.
”We’re going to continue to be in the forefront of
this industry and we’re going to continue to look for
ways to make our facilities green not only in this city
but the rest of the state and all the other AEG facil-
ities we’re involved with,” said Lee Zeidman, General Unconscious communication as ”honest
Manager of STAPLES Center and Nokia Theater L.A. signals”
Live.
Eric Hafter, President of Solar Power, Inc. says that http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0262162563?ie=UTF8tag
solar is open to everyone now. 20linkCode=as2camp=1789creative=390957creativeASIN=0262162
”The savings off of your energy bill will be greater
than the cost of the system with full financing. It’s
open to everyone now. If you have good exposure for
your rooftop, then you could have a solar system in and
literally lower your costs from day one and never put Watch CNN Live and Full-screen with
money out. So the perception of solar as super expen- VLC [Streaming Television]
sive, we’re well past that. The system is completely eco-
nomic. This system is absolutely an economic choice,” You can watch a feed of cable network CNN live on
he said. the station’s web site in a Flash player, but it won’t let
SolarCity, the largest U.S. residential installer claims you watch full-screen. For Windows users, gHacks has
that their installed costs for their photovoltaic solar published the direct URL for the stream that you can
systems are between 14 cents and 25 cents per kilo- access via Windows Media Player. But users on any
watt hour, including government subsidies. Their solar platform can use free, open-source VLC to play the
modules are supplied by First Solar. For Southern Cal- stream. Download and install VLC, then select File gt;
ifornians especially, a system that turns sunlight into Open Network. Select HTTP/FTP/MMS/RTSP from
electricity makes perfect solar sense. the list of protocols on the left, and paste the rtsp://

5
URL from gHacks in the text area at the top. Now you
can watch CNN live, full-screen and commercial free as
the returns come in. Watch CNN Live [gHacks]

Obama Presidency’s Chicago Impact

IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Tourism: The Land of Lincoln will enjoy another
”presidential halo effect” on its tourism industry, ob-
servers say. The Chicago Convention and Tourism Bu-
reau predicts increased interest in South Side areas tied
to Obama and in Springfield, where he announced his
candidacy. European tourist agencies are already mak-
ing inquiries, said Mark Theis, executive vice president
of the bureau. Still, the tourism bump may be smaller
than it was for other recent presidents, said hospitality
expert Bjorn Hanson of New York University’s Tisch
Center. ”When President Bush Sr. went to Maine it
had a significant boost to tourism because of scenes of
him in his boat, fishing,” he said. ”I don’t foresee too
much of Barack Obama water-skiing behind a boat on
the lake.”
More on Barack Obama