Stevens falls farther behind rival in race

ANCHORAGE — Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, a stalwart of Alaska politics who was convicted of felony charges last month, fell further behind his Democratic rival on Friday, and most of the remaining ballots come from parts of the state that have favored the challenger.

Mark Begich, the two-term mayor of Anchorage, increased his lead from 814 votes to 1,022 as state election workers counted 17,100 ballots. Begich had 47.4 percent of the vote to Stevens' 47.0 percent.

The 25,000 remaining votes will be counted Tuesday. They come mostly from Anchorage and the surrounding area, where Begich is leading, and from the state's southeastern panhandle, where he was doing even better.

Stevens, 84, is seeking his seventh term in the Senate, where he has served since 1968. Last month he was convicted by a federal jury in Washington, D.C., of lying on Senate disclosure forms to conceal more than $250,000 in gifts and home renovations from an oil-field-services company.

Former rivals eyed for secretary of state

WASHINGTON — President-elect Obama has interviewed primary-election rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bill Richardson for secretary of state, according to Democratic officials who revealed his secret meetings with both as he weighed the decision on bringing former foes into his new administration.

Obama met with Richardson on Friday afternoon, a day after conferring one-on-one with Clinton at his Chicago office, said several Democratic officials.

Obama also plans to meet there Monday with his Republican opponent, John McCain, but advisers to both said they don't expect Obama to consider McCain for an administration job.

The meeting with Clinton sparked a burst of speculation that Obama would transform the former first lady into one of his top Cabinet officials and the nation's chief diplomatic voice. But where she stands in contention for the post came into question as other Democrats, also speaking on condition of anonymity about the private discussions, said Richardson also was brought in.

Obama friend to be his senior adviser

WASHINGTON — President-elect Obama is naming his longtime friend and supporter Valerie Jarrett to be his White House senior adviser.

Jarrett, who hired Michelle Obama for a job in the Chicago mayor's office years ago, is one of the president-elect's closest friends and advisers. Her name has been floated for several top administration jobs. But Obama settled on the senior adviser role, said a person close to the president-elect who declined to be identified.

A White House senior adviser can handle a range of duties. President Bush's top political aide Karl Rove held the title in the current administration.

President-elect plans YouTube videos

CHICAGO — President-elect Obama plans to tape a weekly address not just for radio listeners, as presidents have for years, but for YouTube Internet viewers, too.

Connecting the White House hearth to the American home, Franklin Roosevelt talked to the people through the radio, with crackling broadcasts delivered near a crackling fire. Presidents Kennedy and Reagan mastered television. For Obama, who built a big part of his campaign on the Internet, it's YouTube.

Obama recorded a four-minute address Friday at his transition office in Chicago. It will be posted today through a YouTube link on his transition Web site, www.change.gov. He will continue to do the videos after he takes office Jan. 20.

Seattle Times news services