Harry Reid vs. President-Elect Obama?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:
Dirty Harry
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is making it clear that congressional Democrats will not bow to President-elect Obama. Reid tells The Hill newspaper "I don't believe in the executive power trumping everything... if Obama steps over the bounds, I will tell him... I do not work for Barrack Obama. I work with him."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Reid also said the president-elect should have told lawmakers about the selection of CIA director-designate Leon Panetta ahead of time. He said incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel "would be the first to admit that he didn't tell enough people on this."
Meanwhile, a day after what many analysts called the "Roland Burris circus" rolled up to Capitol Hill — embarrassing Democratic leaders after they refused to seat Burris — Reid is proclaiming that Tuesday was a great day for his party. He says in a news release: "Yesterday was a terrific day to be a Democrat... a true testament to all the hard work you put in to ensure a Democratic victory last November."
Hot Seat
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}As congressional Democrats deal with simmering tensions on Capitol Hill, New York Democrats are fighting a battle of their own. The New York Times reports a top aide to State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is urging officials not to embrace Caroline Kennedy as a replacement for Senator Hillary Clinton, even though Cuomo said he was staying out of the competition. Clinton will vacate her Senate seat if she is confirmed as secretary of state.
Sources — who spoke on the condition of anonymity –— tell The Times that Joseph Percoco said, "Don't you think it should be someone who understands upstate? Shouldn’t it be somebody who knows New York better?"
A top union official says Percoco suggested to him that Cuomo wanted the job saying, "You should, wink-wink, nudge-nudge, know that he kind of wants it."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Cuomo spokesman denies any effort to undermine Kennedy’s Senate ambitions.
Similar Taste
We told you Tuesday that Pepsi’s new logo is causing a stir because it closely resembles President-elect Obama's campaign artwork. But the soft drink company is not the only business that appears to try piggyback on the Obama success.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ice-cream maker Ben & Jerry's is renaming its butter pecan ice cream "Yes Pecan!” — which sounds a lot like Mr. Obama's campaign slogan "Yes We Can." The company's founders endorsed the senator in February. The Ben & Jerry's Web site describes the renamed flavor as "amber waves of buttery ice cream with roasted non-partisan pecans."
Call Off the Dogs
And finally, an annual sled dog race in Frazee, Minnesota has been canceled. It’s been called off twice before because of a lack of snow. But this time, the race has been abandoned because there is too much snow.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}There are reports of record snowfall from across the country this winter — a blow to global warming theorists. And Frazee is no different. Organizers say there is so much snow that they cannot prepare the tracks. The cancellation is a blow to the town since the event attracted up to 3,000 visitors last year.
— FOX News Channel's Zachary Kenworthy contributed to this report.