I called around for reaction to the unflattering comments UAW Ron Gettelfinger made this morning about Alabama’s auto industry.

Gov. Bob Riley shot back:

“Alabama’s automotive assembly plants are models for efficiency and cost effectiveness for rest of the nation and the world—and we are proud of that. Every state I know of, including Michigan, has incentives to attract major economic projects, so that’s obviously not the issue.  The real reason companies keep locating in Alabama is the quality of our workforce and the exceptional products they make. With all due respect to Mr. Gettelfinger, great workers making great products is a proven recipe for success in Alabama—and it doesn’t require a bailout.”

Did you miss all the fun this morning? You can read the blog post I did immediately after the conference here, read the New York Times article about the conference here and/or see the video for your very own self here (the portion regarding state incentives for automakers begins at 3:32).

Incidentally, I spoke by phone earlier with Alabama House Minority Leader and State Rep. Mike Hubbard, who also chairs the Alabama Republican Party. His reaction boiled down to a general belief that it is Gettelfinger’s union—and the $70/hour pay rates they have managed to squeeze out of the Big Three—that is “choking the life out of” the domestic auto manufacturers.

I expect a formal statement from Hubbard later today.

Also, I am awaiting reaction from U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, who, as ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, has had a lot to say about this bailout—and none of it has been positive. I expect that his reaction to Gettelfinger’s comments will be similarly ... um, disapproving.

I have also invited Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Joe Turnham to weigh in. I’ll let you know what I hear from him.

As I said this morning, Gettelfinger has picked a fight with this issue that he’s simply not in a position to win. You don’t save your own hide by tearing up someone else’s hide. I’m pretty sure Gettelfinger’s comments today will not do much to endear him to the lawmakers who hold his members’ fates in their hands.

Well, as it turns out, anonymous sources aren’t always right.

As a follow-up to this morning’s post about Chicago businesswoman and philanthropist Penny Pritzker being President-elect Barack Obama’s top pick for Secretary of Commerce, Pritzker has said today that she is taking herself out of the running.

From CNN:

Pritzker said that she “never submitted any information for the vetting process to begin” and that “while there were discussions, I was never formally offered the position.

“I have obligations here in Chicago that make it difficult for me to serve at this time.”

Pritzker was Obama’s national campaign finance chairwoman and had been mentioned as the leading candidate to become Obama’s secretary of commerce. She is the chairwoman of TransUnion, a national credit reporting agency.

In a written statement her office issued Thursday, she said, “I think I can best serve our nation in my current capacity: building businesses, creating jobs and working to strengthen our economy.”

Pritzker noted that “it has been my great privilege to serve in the Obama campaign. I look forward to helping our new president in every way possible and am excited about the future under his leadership.”

CNN reports in the same story that U.S. Sen. John McCain has thrown his full support behind Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano for homeland security secretary. McCain said today that Napolitano’s “experience as the former U.S. attorney for Arizona, Arizona’s attorney general, and as governor warrants her rapid confirmation by the Senate, and I hope she is quickly confirmed.”

Napolitano had better get busy on that paperwork. 

Mike Huckabee isn’t wasting any time.

He’s got a new television show.

He’s got a new book.

He’s making the rounds on the television talk shows to talk about the book.

And just 16 days after America elected Barack Obama after a grueling 21-month presidential campaign, Mike Huckabee is taking his book tour to Iowa.

Coincidence that the book tour will take the former presidential candidate to the state that’s home to the first-in-the-nation presidential contests?

Nah.

Candidates love to pre-campaign with books. It gives them a reason to get out there and talk to people without having to admit that their ego won’t let them just sit around for two years.

John McCain did it with “Faith of my Fathers.” And hey—it worked for Barack Obama, who did it with “Dreams from my Father” and “The Audacity of Hope.”

There’s a power struggle, an ideological struggle within the Republican Party. Is it a return to traditional conservatism that will return the GOP to power? Or is it a new kind of conservatism that’s needed?

Huckabee represents the latter.

We talked way back in March how the Dallas Morning News’ editorial endorsement of Huckabee would resonate long after the 2008 election cycle.

US News & World Report has given Huckabee’s Republicanism a name: Conservative populism.

It’s conservative social values, yes. But it’s also a stronger emphasis on environmental responsibility.

It’s a commitment to low taxes, yes. But it’s also a departure from the all-taxes-are-bad-taxes mantra to which so many Republicans have married themselves for so long.

Huckabee talked a lot about “common sense” during his presidential campaign. And now he’s brought that theme to his book, “Do the Right Thing: Inside the Movement that’s Bringing Common Sense Back to America.”

SIDEBAR: I would have advised Huckabee against that first part of the title. “Do the right thing”? Is that “right” as in correct, or “right” as in Republican? See the problem here? Come to think of it, if we’re looking at prior presidential candidate authorship as a pattern, maybe Huckabee ought to have worked something about his father into the title. END SIDEBAR

Anyway, Huckabee’s book tour will take him through a good number of states where the GOP is strong.

Nothing like getting the base all jazzed up, and getting a few digs in on your potential opponents—most notably, Mitt Romney, with whom Huckabee shares no love lost—in the meantime.

Here’s the bottom line: There’s a battle brewing over the soul of the Republican Party. Victory in the 2012 primaries—and the path, perhaps, for the GOP over the next 20 years—will be determined in Republican clubs over lunches and dinners over the next two years. Who can build the party? Who can make inroads with the party faithful? Who will be able to articulate a vision for what the GOP needs to be, and who can inspire disillusioned Republicans to work to make that vision a reality?

Mike Huckabee says, “Yes, I can.”

This is going to be a quick post.

In a desperate attempt to salvage some sort of deal in Congress to bail out the Big Three automakers, United Auto Workers president Ron Gettelfinger is trashing the auto industry that the State of Alabama has built.

He just ticked off a list of incentives that Hyundai, Toyota and Mercedes were offered in exchange for locating their businesses here in Alabama.

I will try to find the clip for you on CNN.com, because that’s where I’m watching it.

Gettlefinger appears to be making the argument that if Alabama can offer foreign automakers incentives to come to America, then the federal government can bail out the domestic automakers.

Apples and oranges.

No, not oranges. Foxes. Apples and foxes.

Thanks to the shamelessness of journalists who don’t have any qualms whatsoever about using anonymous sources, we’re learning more about President-elect Barack Obama’s Cabinet choices.

You already know that Hillary Clinton is being vetted for Secretary of State.

Former assistant attorney general Eric Holder is reportedly Obama’s pick for attorney general. “Folks in the know who won’t give their names” say his appointment is all but a done deal, and that the Obama transition team is simply waiting for the vetting to conclude before making the announcement.

Holder served as assistant AG in Bill Clinton’s administration under AG Janet Reno. I haven’t Wikied Holder, but I expect that in addition to his musings on racial profiling, interrogation tactics and Marc Rich being dragged up in his confirmation hearings, he’ll probably be asked a thing or two about a boy named Elián and an incident known simply as Waco.

I had said here last week that I expected Obama to pick Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano for attorney general. I got Napolitano right, but not in the right spot: Obama is reportedly eyeing her for Secretary of Homeland Security, along with former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle for Health and Human Services chief and Penny Pritzker for commerce secretary.

Here is an exact copy of my reaction when I saw that news:

????

First, I’m not sure what being governor of Arizona has to do with homeland security. Wait a minute—enforcing immigration law, you say? I’ll give you that Napolitano has lots of experience with immigration law, but her record is very much a mixed bag. Expect this to be an issue in her confirmation hearings.

Why wouldn’t Obama go with U.S. Rep. Jane Harman, a noted intelligence authority? She would bring the same demographic Napolitano would (presuming that that’s a consideration for Obama), and she has a lot more and a lot better experience.

Then we have Tom Daschle.

“Folks in the know who won’t give their names” say that Daschle has worked out a deal such that he won’t just be implementing the Obama health care plan; he’ll be the point man on writing it.

Hmm.

I wasn’t really politically aware yet when Hillary Clinton (see above) spearheaded her husband’s health care initiatives in his first term, so I don’t know a lot about how Daschle played in to its doomed fate. But I do know that the initiative itself was a high-profile failure.

You can read some about Daschle’s record here, and you can check out a book he wrote about the health care crisis here. (Check out some of the folks who provided “advance praise” for Daschle’s book.)

So I’m not sure what to think about Daschle’s pick. I guess I just have to be satisfied that it’s not this guy.

Interestingly, Daschle’s wife is a lobbyist. But not just any lobbyist! A lobbyist who is a partner in a firm that does work for clients on—guess!—HEALTH CARE! She’s reportedly given her notice and will open her own lobbying firm, to focus on transportation, by the end of the year.

Finally, we have Pritzker, whose qualifications to lead the Commerce Department seem to be that she A) founded a retirement community, B) founded an airport parking business, C) chairs a credit reporting agency and D) is a philanthopist. Subqualifications include that she is from Chicago and—oh, yes—she ran Obama’s finance committee, which shattered all conceivable records in presidential fundraising.

Pritzker’s bio says that she “delegates day-to-day management, but is always available as a coach and advisor.”

Oh, good. For a minute there, I was thinking this appointment might be a payback.

As some have already noticed, we have a bunch of people from the Clinton Administration lining up to serve with Obama. Is that change? I guess it is—from the current administration.

In addition, we have folks with lobbyist ties filling the ranks. I thought we were beyond that, too.

I know what you’re thinking. So what if people served with Clinton; if they have good experience and they are good at what they do, why not?

And as far as lobbyists go, it’s nearly impossible to populate an administration without people who are former lobbyists or who have lobbying ties.

I know. But no one twisted Obama’s arm and forced him to promise change and an administration where lobbyists would no longer write the rules.

Stay tuned for more on Obama’s Cabinet picks. 

Hey guys, take a minute and check out the new web poll below.

I want to know how you feel about the Big Three bailout. You can add your own answers—or just vote and submit your thoughts as a comment to be displayed here. 

Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) has conceded the defeat of his re-election bid to Democratic challenger Mark Begich, the mayor of Anchorage.

Begich’s win makes 58 for the Democrats—two shy of the promised land of a filibuster-proof majority.

All eyes now turn to Minnesota, where GOP incumbent Norm Coleman and former “Saturday Night Live” comic Al Franken are going at it in a recount of the tightest contest in the nation.

Out of 2.9 million votes cast, Coleman’s razor-thin lead is down to 174 votes—and shrinking. Lawyers for the two camps are staking out their positions on questionable ballots that may or may not be counted—and with observations like these, that’s no surprise.

Count on this one to get even nastier, folks.

Meanwhile, Georgians—and anyone who lives in a state that borders Georgia and shares a media market with the Peach State—will settle the last remaining contest of the 2008 cycle on Dec. 2, when GOP incumbent U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss faces off with his Democratic challenger, State Sen. Jim Martin. This race has drawn lots of high firepower from across the nation; John McCain even made his first post-race political appearance in Georgia on Chambliss’s behalf.

This race, and perhaps the fate of the filibuster-proof majority, will hinge on turnout, turnout, turnout. Who can get their voters to the polls when there’s only one race on the ballot?

Hang on to your hats, fellow political junkies. It’s going to be a bumpy two weeks.

And when it’s all said and done, the Democrats may not need Joe Lieberman after all.