Just 180 votes separated Sen. Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken as of Saturday night, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

With the U.S. Senate recount still incomplete, attorneys on both sides have already armored up for the next pitched battle: over whether to reexamine thousands of rejected absentee ballots.

With Republican U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman clinging to a reed-thin lead over DFL challenger Al Franken -- 180 votes as of Saturday night -- the issue of how and when absentee ballots should be counted has election law experts everywhere closely tracking the Minnesota recount drama.

In a race this tight, the difference could come down to clerical errors on absentee ballots or even a challenge of Minnesota's law governing such ballots.

The St. Paul Pioneer-Press also looks at the battle over rejected absentee ballots, which could decide the election:

One of the closest elections in U.S. Senate history is hurtling toward a critical juncture in its ongoing recount this week, as the campaign of Democratic challenger Al Franken opens a new legal front in its battle to break a virtual tie with Republican Sen. Norm Coleman.

On Wednesday, the Minnesota State Canvassing Board will hear arguments from Franken's camp for why previously rejected absentee ballots should now be counted.

Coleman ended the initial count with an advantage of just 215 votes out of nearly 3 million cast, and has held a slim lead thus far in the recount.

In the Headlines

"Obama Eyes $500 Billion in Stimulus; Paulson Weighs Ramping Up Aid Again" (Jonathan Weisman, Deborah Solomon and John Hilsenrath, Wall Street Journal) - Aides to President-elect Barack Obama and President George W. Bush are rushing to craft measures to shore up financial markets and prevent a policy vacuum from further harming the economy during the transition of power between the two men.

"U.S. Offers Citigroup Expansive Safety Net" (Neil Irwin and David Cho, Washington Post) - The government said last night that it will provide a multibillion-dollar backstop for Citigroup, revamping emergency efforts yet again to head off the failure of a company more deeply intertwined with the financial system than nearly any other.

"Initial Steps by Obama Suggest a Bipartisan Flair" (Jeff Zeleny, New York Times) - In the third week of his transition to power, President-elect Barack Obama is working to build a cordial relationship with Republicans by seeking guidance on policy proposals, asking for advice on appointments and hoping to avoid perceptions of political arrogance given the wide margins of his victory.

"Closing Guantanamo prison may be the easy part for Obama" (Julian Barnes and David Savage, Los Angeles Times) - President-elect Barack Obama's vow to close the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, cheered human rights organizations and civil libertarians, but could force the new administration to consider a step those groups would abhor.

On the Morning Shows

Morning Joe - Obama economic adviser Austan Goolsbee, on the Obama bailout figure: "It needs to be as big a number as it needs to be. ... We don't know what the state of the economy is going to be at that exact moment."

After another rough week on Wall Street, Americans wake up this morning to find there's been yet another late night weekend scramble by federal regulators to shore up a struggling financial giant. According to news reports, the result is the approval of a "radical plan" to save Citigroup that involves a $20 billion infusion of cash and backstopping some $306 billion of the company's toxic debt.  Welcome to another week in the brave new world of the economic crisis.

Amid this austere backdrop, Barack Obama is set to announce his economic team this morning at 11 am central time in Chicago. Among the folks who the new president is tapping to help pull the US economy out of the ditch are Tim Geithner, Larry Summers, Peter Orszag, and Austan Goolsbee.  Geithner, whose name was leaked on Friday as Obama's pick for Treasury, has been lauded as a smart choice by folks across the ideological spectrum.

The talk now is all about stimulus, with Democrats pushing to ready a $500-$700 billion spending package for President Obama to sign immediately upon taking office on January 20.  The stimulus will reportedly include massive infrastructure spending, an infusion of cash into green technology, and Obama's campaign pledge for targeted tax cuts for the midle class.

And, of course, there are the struggling automakers, who've been told to come back to Congress with their hat in one hand and a plan in the other.  Former Michigan Senator and Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham makes the case for bailing them out in today's New York Times.

On the same page, Bill Kristol argues that the dirty little secret is that we're all "flying blind" in the current crisis. Despite the pronouncements of economists of all stripes, Kristol writes, "The markets are spiraling down, and our leading experts don't have much of a clue as to what to do."

The one consensus, which continues to survive despite the less than stunning results of the initial $700 billion bailout passed by Congress a few weeks back, is that taking action is better than doing nothing.  So Americans can expect to continue to see their government engaged in the political equivalent of a Chinese fire drill, running to and fro throwing vast sums of money anywhere they think might help stave off further economic pain.  As I said, welcome to another week in our brave new world.

That's what the NYT is reporting:

Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to give up her Senate seat and accept the position of secretary of state, making her the public face around the world for the administration of the man who beat her for the Democratic presidential nomination, two confidants said Friday...

Mrs. Clinton came to her decision after additional discussion with President-elect Barack Obama about the nature of her role and his plans for foreign policy, said one of the confidants, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the situation.

We'll have to wait for further confirmation.

Obama taped a video message for the European Olympic Committees XXXVII General Assembly, making a direct plea for Chicago to win the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

You can watch the video here, and read the press release from Obama's transition team:

WASHINGTON – Today, President-Elect Barack Obama delivered a taped video message to the European Olympic Committees (EOC) XXXVII General Assembly meeting in Istanbul, Turkey on behalf of the Chicago 2016 bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

President-Elect Obama has been a longtime supporter of Chicago's bid for the 2016 Games. During today's EOC General Assembly meeting, the Chicago 2016 delegation presented their vision for the 2016 Olympic Games and gained feedback on Chicago's bid to host the Games.

In the video message, President-Elect Obama said, “In the coming years, my administration will bring a fresh perspective on America's role and responsibilities around the world. But if we are to truly meet our shared challenges, we must all work together. By uniting the world in a peaceful celebration of human achievement, the Olympic Games reminds us that this is possible.

“The United States would be honored to have the opportunity to host the Games and serve the Olympic Movement,” President-Elect Obama continued. “As President-Elect, I see the Olympic and Paralympic Games as an opportunity for our nation to reach out, welcome the world to our shores, and strengthen our friendships across the globe.”

ABC News's Tapper reported on the video this morning.

From CNN:

Two sources close to the Obama transition team tell CNN retired Marine Gen. Jim Jones has emerged as President-elect's leading choice to become national security adviser in the White House. The sources said Jones has been given the impression by the President-elect that the job is his if he wants it. But the officials said there are still private discussions underway and no final decision has been made.

In his quest for the chairmanship, Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) has won the support of at least three subcommittee chairmen on the Oversight and Government Reform committee, his office announced today. Towns, who's served on the Oversight committee since coming to Congress in 1982, finally publicly announced his interest Wednesday in chairing the full panel. His office had refused to comment on the potential vacancy prior to then.

Reps. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), Danny Davis (D-Ill.) and William Lacy Clay (D-Mo.), all Oversight subcommittee chairmen, publicly backed Towns today in an open letter. "Ed Towns maintains good relations with committee members from both sides of the aisle, and we expect that he will be quite effective in enacting important government reforms in cooperation with the Obama Administration," they wrote.

The chairmanship became officially vacant yesterday when Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who took the lead at the committee following the 2006 elections, was elected chairman of the Energy and Commerce committee. With Waxman's exit, Towns holds the most seniority on the oversight panel, followed by Reps. Paul Kanjorski (D-Penn.), Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Elijah Cummings (D-Md.). The latter two had expressed deep interest in the job, although according to Towns' office no challenge has been announced.

"I am excited about the opportunity to pursue constructive oversight and a legislative reform agenda that the chairmanship offers," said Towns, in a statement released today. "I plan to work in close cooperation with Speaker Pelosi and the elected leadership of the caucus in the 111th Congress."

Well, take it for what it's worth but this is the reported response from Clinton to the SoS slot, via Ben Smith:

A Democrat close to Hillary says that the reported ambivalence about taking State was real.

She "said 'no' then 'yes,'" I'm told.

Again, I think that this wasn't supposed to be as hard as it's proving to being.

The New York Times today reports on "options" for Hillary were she not to accept the SoS spot:

The discussions about an enhanced position for Mrs. Clinton are factoring into her deliberations over joining the cabinet, the officials said. Mrs. Clinton, the junior senator from New York, is wrestling with whether to abandon her independence to become the nation's top diplomat or remain in a chamber where lack of seniority limits her influence....

Mrs. Clinton asked to join the Senate Democratic leadership after the Nov. 4 election, and party leaders began trying to figure out a way to accommodate her without dislodging any of the current leaders, Democratic officials said. The conversations, they added, preceded Mr. Obama's approach to her about becoming secretary of state and are on the table if she turns the job down....

But driving her consideration, friends said, is a sense of disenchantment with the Senate, where despite her stature she remains low in the ranks of seniority that governs the body. She was particularly upset, they said, at the reception she felt she received when she returned from the campaign after collecting 18 million votes and almost becoming the first woman nominated for president by a major party.

One of Hillary's considerations, were she to take SoS, is what would she do after her tenure, which doesn't necessarily equate to the end of Obama's administration. Could be a dead end for her. On the other hand, the Senate offers some future, as tedious as it might be, for her to continue. Wrangling for an increased place in that august body then seems like a smart move.

In the Headlines

"Obama plans to nominate Clinton for secretary of state after Thanksgiving, his aides say" (Nedra Pickler, AP) - President-elect Barack Obama plans to nominate Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state after Thanksgiving, a new milestone for the former first lady and a convergence of two political forces who fought hard for the presidency.

"Detroits Bid for Aid Fails -- For Now" (David Herzenhorn, New York Times) - Democratic Congressional leaders on Thursday said that the executives of America's foundering automakers had failed miserably in persuading Congress or the public that $25 billion in aid from the government would be well spent and they gave industry leaders 12 days to come back with plans showing otherwise.

"Waxman expected to advance Obama's climate agenda as new energy committee chairman" (Janet Hook and Richard Simon, Los Angeles Times) - Defeating another political titan, Rep. Henry A. Waxman, the liberal Los Angeles power broker, captured a House post Thursday that will put him at the center of efforts to advance President-elect Barack Obama's proposals to curb global warming, develop alternative fuels and expand health insurance coverage.

"Obama to delay repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell'" (Rowan Scarborough, Washington Times) - President-elect Barack Obama will not move for months, and perhaps not until 2010, to ask Congress to end the military's decades-old ban on open homosexuals in the ranks, two people who have advised the Obama transition team on this issue say.