Jay Carney

In the rest of the country, it may be just another movie, but in Washington, Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" has become a political Rorschach test. It seems as if every pundit in the capital has gone to see the masterful biopic about our 16th president, and - surprise - they all found something to support their views about contemporary politics. The analogies are hard to resist. The movie is set in the first months after Lincoln won a second term, facing an unruly lame-duck Congress.

WASHINGTON - Susan Rice would seem to have everything going for her: close ties to President Obama, charter membership in the Washington foreign policy establishment, and seasoning after four years as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. But her path to becoming America's top diplomat looks increasingly rocky. White House officials circulated word three weeks ago that the former Rhodes scholar was Obama's top pick to succeed Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton when she steps down next year.

President Obama toured New York's devastated coastline and beach communities Thursday morning, joining local and state officials to survey the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, the country's second-costliest natural disaster behind Hurricane Katrina. Obama left Joint Base Andrews in Maryland and landed in New York with New York Sens. Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, where he then boarded Marine One for a helicopter tour of New York City and Staten Island, according to pool reports.

WASHINGTON - Three days after his reelection, President Obama said he was ready to reach a long-delayed budget deal with Republican congressional leaders, but reiterated that the wealthy must pay more in taxes, a stance he argued was validated by voters. "This was a central question during the election," Obama said. "It was debated over and over again. And on Tuesday night, we found out that the majority of Americans agree with my approach. " Obama struck a conciliatory tone in his appearance Friday in the White House's East Room, saying that he was ready to start building consensus and that he would meet with congressional leaders next week.

WASHINGTON -- President Obama told his team he wants them “leaning forward” in their response to the storm that has battered a wide swath of the country, including thinking about creative ways to end power outages quickly.   In a Situation Room meeting that lasted more than an hour Tuesday, Obama told national security and emergency management officials to make sure the federal government is doing everything it can to help people affected by the storm, a White House official said.

ORLANDO, Fla. _ With weather worsening in Washington, President Obama will skip a Monday morning rally with former President Bill Clinton, opting to return to Washington early to keep tabs on Hurricane Sandy. White House spokesman Jay Carney announced the schedule change Monday, blaming "deteriorating weather" in Washington. He said the president would return to "monitor the preparations for and response" for the storm. Obama is determined to manage the federal response to the storm from the White House, rather than the campaign trail.

WASHINGTON -- President Obama expressed confidence Monday that state and local officials were prepped and ready for all that Hurricane Sandy would deliver, but asked for cooperation and patience from East Coasters getting pounded by the massive storm. “Right now the key is to make sure the public is following instructions,” Obama told reporters in the White House. “I'm confident that we're ready. But I think the public needs to prepare for the fact that this is going to take a long time for us to clean up. The good news is we will clean up and we will get through this.” Obama spoke after meeting with top security and emergency officials in the situation room, where he was briefed on the trajectory of the hurricane and the coordination of the federal and state efforts to minimize damage.

WASHINGTON - President Obama issued a proclamation Monday making October National Cyber Security Awareness Month. But with cyber security proposals stuck in Congress, the Obama administration is moving to do more than create an awareness month. The White House, as first reported by the Associated Press , began to draft an executive order after the shutdown of the Obama-approved Cyber Security Act of 2012 in the Senate in August . “We are very cognizant that in some industries there exist already regulatory authorities that can be used for cyber security,” Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said at the National Journal's Cyber Security Summit.

NEW YORK - A stack of international problems piling up six weeks before election day has been competing with the campaign for President Obama's time. Critics were quick to note on Monday which side appears to have won this week. As Obama headed to New York for the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, the president has no meetings with other leaders scheduled during his day and a half in New York. The low-intensity approach to the gathering was only underlined by the sitdown the president did make time for - an interview with the women of ABC's daytime talk fest “The View.” The choice of a light diplomatic load seemed to reflect the Obama administration's attempt to tightly control its message and keep up the campaign momentum as the president appears to be making strides toward winning reelection.

WASHINGTON -- It was the rare day Wednesday when both President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden were together at the White House, considering the stepped-up pace of the presidential campaign that now has at least one if not both principals on the road during the week. As such, their shared schedule was tight: the presidential daily briefing in the morning, a meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and ultimately a one-on-one lunch -- their 100th since taking office, according to a review of the public schedules for both men. It's often said that the most precious commodity a president has is his time, and thus gaining a block of it on his schedule is no small feat.