In order to facilitate real time information exchange, an environment which accommodates seamless data transfer is needed. This data could be in the form of audio, video or text files often coming from different sources. This whole concept is termed as digital convergence. A truly collaborative AV environment is possible, thanks to the proper technology.

To truly harness the potential of this no barrier environment, it is essential to apply collaborative AV technology in a useful and user-friendly way. Thorough knowledge of designers and integrators in building and implementing a collaborative AV system plays an important role in this. For building a collaborative AV system, it requires –

• A powerful video wall controller
• Interactive technologies
• A well-designed interface
• An experienced integrator to bring it all together

Video Wall Controller and AV Collaboration

Video wall controller acts as a focal point in a collaborative AV environment. It accepts inputs of various video formats, and provides output to different displays devices like LCD, plasma or front end rear projectors. The advantage of a video wall controller is that one single video controller, concurrently can operate with various devices located at different location. It can also cover the devices of an entire building. High definition video capture is also possible (up to 60 frames per second). In addition, a video wall controller displays standard Windows applications on any of the device thereby making it possible the convergence between Windows applications and the video wall.

Video and Audio Distribution

Once the video wall controller is configured and set, the video system needs to be designed so as to converge onto the video wall controller. It is important that all video content be sent to the video wall controller. Matrix switches and signal repeaters are used for this purpose. Once this operation is perfected, it’s easy to derive the video signal as a whole or in parts to any other device connected to the video wall controller.

Audio is to be sent via an audio matrix switch or a zoned audio system so that any audio source can be selected as per the requirement.

Interactive Technologies for AV Collaboration

A truly collaborative AV environment requires a variety of devices to share the information between users.  This is what lends flexibility of a video wall controller that truly drives any AV collaboration.

Systems and Platforms

Video wall controllers are not bound by any particular system or platform. They can accommodate a variety of technologies running on different operating systems to render the display anywhere in the building.

Teleconferencing

Teleconferencing is one of the prime usages of collaborative AV environments. New generation video wall controllers are able to handle multiple MPEG4 video streams (a codec commonly used by video conferencing devices) to be streamed simultaneously. Latest video wall controllers can handle this, including feeds in DVI and VGA formats.

Digital Whiteboards

Another great addition to collaborative AV environment is a digital whiteboard and large touch panel display. Routing signals from these devices to a video wall controller ensures that the video rendered on them is also available on other displays. Basic IT setup comprising of Microsoft Exchange Server or other applications (Google Apps) that allow multiple users to work on the same file are very useful here.

AV and IT Convergence

An ideal AV collaborative environment is one where all components like vide, audio and text files, converge and run seamlessly together. This ensures that the data is available for all end users in an abstract manner. In short, the users will experience easy real time sharing of all data and displays simultaneously, no matter how many types of them are needed. Such a collaborative environment requires a single and simple interface which has access to all the components of the system, namely video wall controller, display devices and audio system, teleconferencing platform, and even shared-file systems on individual PCs.

One way to creating a converged AV interface is to build a single touch panel control panel that is connected to a serial processor or a basic micro-controller capable of commanding all the hardware. Programmed to send multiple commands to multiple devices at the push of a single button, such control panels allows preconceived scenarios to be built into the collaborative AV system.

However, it is design and implementation that is the most crucial aspect of the custom interface whether it is, or it is not a touch panel.  Proper design allows easy access to all functions even for the first time users; a hallmark of a truly successful AV collaborative system.

Conclusion

Numerous AV collaboration systems exist in the market today, and singling each one of them is an exhaustive task. Any environment that requires real time information sharing from more than a single source can benefit from this collaborative technology. A few of the areas, where such technology is used include NOCs (network operation centers) command and control centers, traffic surveillance and corporate board rooms.

Advances in technology, particularly in the realms of digital convergence over the last few years, have further broken all barriers to AV collaboration. Designers and integrators now are burdened with the task of applying this collaborative technology in the most useful ways possible. However, to do and to achieve this, a clear understanding of the above concepts is required. In addition, they also require a thorough understanding of the requirements for the implementation of a collaborative AV system.

The idea of prohibiting members from designating funding for specific projects in their states or districts is popular with reform-minded deficit hawks, but it has traditionally been opposed by some congressional veterans trying to steer funds to constituencies back home.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, a longtime defender of earmarks, announced Monday that he would vote for the ban.

“I’m not wild about turning over more spending authority to the executive branch, but I have come to share the view of most Americans that our nation is at a crossroads,” McConnell said on the Senate floor. The “only way we will be able to turn the corner and save our future is if elected leaders like me make the kinds of difficult decisions voters are clearly asking us to make.”

But McConnell also expressed his own personal conflict on the issue.

McConnell backs banning earmarks

“Make no mistake, I know the good that has come from the projects I have helped support throughout my state. I don’t apologize for them,” McConnell said. “But there is simply no doubt that the abuse of this practice has caused Americans to view it as a symbol of the wasted and the out-of-control spending that every Republican in Washington is determined to fight.”

President Barack Obama responded with a statement welcoming McConnell’s “decision to join me and members of both parties who support cracking down on wasteful earmark spending, which we can’t afford during these tough economic times.”

But the president added, “We can’t stop with earmarks as they represent only part of the problem.”

As Republicans voted in their caucus, Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri said she wants the full Senate to vote on a binding moratorium that would include Democrats, too.

“The arguments against this, every single one of them, I just don’t think pass the smell test,” she said about senators who oppose a ban.

But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, later indicated disagreement with McCaskill. Reid defended earmarks Tuesday, telling Capitol Hill reporters he has “an obligation to the people of Nevada … not to some bureaucrat with green eyeshades.”

“I think (an earmark ban is) a tremendous step backward,” Reid said. “It just gives more power to the executive. … I am not in favor of delegating my constitutional responsibility to the White House.”

Nevertheless, McCaskill’s push puts pressure on Senate Democrats, many of whom agree with Reid, to get behind a ban, which has taken on increased political significance in light of Tea Party gains in the midterm elections.

McCaskill is working with Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma on an earmark-ban amendment they might add to a food safety bill that’s expected to be on the floor later this week. She is working with Democratic leaders to schedule a vote.

The ban would come in the form of a change in Senate rules, an aide to Coburn explained. Senators would be allowed to raise points of order against bills with earmarks, which would be binding.

“If these things (earmarks) are so good, will someone tell me how they’re decided,” a spirited McCaskill asked reporters. “Little cards getting handed around in caucus. There is not an open process. Who decides who gets the most money and on what basis is that decided?”

McConnell, who unexpectedly lent his support to the ban, said in a speech this month to the Heritage Foundation that “you could eliminate every congressional earmark and you would save no money.”

That’s because earmarks don’t represent extra spending. They represent spending that lawmakers have already approved for federal agencies. And earmarks typically account for less than 1 percent of the budget.

For the earmark ban to reduce spending, “you have to lower the spending authorizations by the same amount,” said Maya MacGuineas, fiscal policy director at the New America Foundation.

It’s typically up to federal agencies to decide how their money gets allocated to projects in states, cities and counties, and those decisions are made through an application-and-review process, except when earmarks are involved.

Definitions of earmarks vary widely, and agencies catalog them differently. But typically an earmark is defined as a slice of agency money that a lawmaker or the president requests be set aside for a specific project.

So earmarks are not subject to the same review process, and they are often slipped into unrelated spending bills at the last minute without most people’s knowledge.

The notion that earmarks are wasteful bridges to nowhere is misleading.

Residents of a state or city may not view federal dollars earmarked to help them improve their transit system as a waste.

The problem is that the earmark system is based on “political muscle rather than merit,” said Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan spending watchdog group.

The earmark issue is one of several the lame-duck session of the Democratic Congress is expected to tackle.

The session convened Monday, with members preparing to make decisions on a host of contentious issues that could have major political ramifications for Obama and the incoming Republican House majority.

At the top of the agenda: whether to extend the Bush tax cuts for families making more than $250,000 a year. Republicans contend that failure to extend the cuts for everyone would be a mistake in a weak economy. Obama considers such a move a roughly $700 billion budget-busting mistake, but he recently suggested he’s willing to compromise.

If Congress fails to act, all the cuts will expire at the end of the year.

In addition to the tax cuts, the lame-duck Congress also has to consider expiring cuts in the estate tax and decide what to do about a bill that is keeping the government running but is set to expire December 3.

Other items on the agenda include:

– A possible repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy barring gays and lesbians from serving openly in the armed forces.

– Ratification of the nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia.

– A child nutrition bill backed by first lady Michelle Obama.

– The Dream Act, which would create a path to citizenship for young illegal immigrants if they attend college or serve in the military.

CNN’s Alan Silverleib, Dana Bash, Ted Barrett, Deirdre Walsh and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report

Earmarks get ax from GOP senators

Whether they can pass any of these measures, which include funding the government and extending Bush-era tax cuts, is an open question. If they can’t, the bills will die or be punted over to the new Congress

At this point, congressional Democrats, who are still licking their wounds and assessing the fallout from Election Day, are split on key policies, and they’re not ready to begin negotiations with Republicans.

“We have a whole bunch of people who want to talk about what happened,” said a top Senate Democratic leadership aide who said those discussions will begin in earnest Tuesday when Senate Democrats gather for their weekly policy lunch. “Folks want to have a chance to assess where we are and where we’re going” before settling on the nettlesome details of tax and spending levels.

Meanwhile, a senior Senate Republican leadership aide predicted “only the bare minimum” will get passed in the lame-duck session. Republicans, the aide said, will be content to wait for Democrats to sort out what they want to do. After all, the GOP will have more control over any of the issues that are held over to the new Congress.

House freshmen arrive for orientation

Will N.C. lawmaker challenge Pelosi?

More clarity, particularly on the issue of taxes, could come Thursday when President Obama plans to meet with bipartisan congressional leaders at the White House. Obama, who has long opposed extending the lower Bush tax rates for wealthier Americans, suggested recently that he’s open to compromises on extending, at least temporarily, the tax rates for all Americans regardless of their income level.

For more on the battles ahead, check out CNN’s White House blog, The 1600 Report

New members/same leaders

While Congress has many legislative priorities for the lame-duck session, much of the focus will be on planning for the new Congress.

Beginning Monday, Capitol Hill will be flooded by an especially large class of newly elected members of the House and Senate. Many of them won with support from the Tea Party, which is pushing for dramatic change in the Washington’s priorities, especially when it comes to tackling debt and the deficit.

But before those new lawmakers can change Washington, they must sit through an extensive weeklong orientation that will teach them the arcane and complex rules of legislating. They will learn the basics of how to set up their offices, hire staff and what ethics rules they must follow. Then they’ll jockey with each other to win key committee assignments and compete in a lottery for the best office space.

One of the first orders of business for new and returning lawmakers is voting for their party leaders. Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio is expected to become the new House speaker, and Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia will become the House majority leader.

House Democrats appear prepared to keep House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California in their top job — minority leader — and a deal struck by Pelosi over the weekend averted a nasty battle for the remaining leadership positions. But one conservative Democrat, Rep. Heath Shuler of North Carolina, has said he will challenge Pelosi if she does not step aside.

“To be able to put Speaker Pelosi as minority leader is unacceptable for our party, to move our party forward in a moderate direction,” Shuler said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” though he acknowledged he didn’t have enough support to win.

Democrats will meet Wednesday to vote on the slate of candidates, and rank-and-file members will decide then whether they will accept the exact same leadership team that lost them majority control.

The Senate Democratic leadership will stay largely intact, although Democrats will have to pick a new head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee who will face the daunting task of defending as many as 23 seats in the next election — many in purple states that split their support between the two parties — while just nine Republican-held seats will be up.

Senate Republicans will keep their current leadership team. But GOP senators face a tough vote Tuesday on whether to give up earmarks entirely, a policy House Republicans already have in place and are expected to maintain in the new Congress. The idea is popular with many reform-minded senators but opposed by a number of senior members who believe steering funds to home state projects is one of their key prerogatives. Aides said the outcome of the vote is too close to call.

Leftover business

In addition to the expiring Bush tax rates, the reductions in the estate tax are also expiring. That means if Congress does not act, the estate tax rate, which this year is zero, will return next year to 55 percent on assets of more than $1 million, close to where it was before the cuts were adopted in 2001. One bipartisan Senate proposal would cap the tax at 35 percent on assets over $3.5 million, but serious negotiations haven’t started on the issue yet, aides from both parties said.

Congress must quickly decide what to do about government funding before a temporary bill that’s keeping the government running lapses December 3. House Republicans are pressing for a nearly yearlong extension but want the funding reduced to 2008 levels. A Senate Democratic leadership aide called that “flat-out unacceptable” but said Democratic senators would be open to discussing reduced spending.

Senate Democrats have a number of other bills they would like to pass but acknowledge GOP opposition will make that difficult. Because the lame-duck session will only last a few weeks, Democrats said they can’t afford to take up controversial bills that will take a long time to debate.

One example is the repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that bans openly gay men and lesbians from serving in the armed forces. The repeal is attached to the annual defense authorization bill, something that typically wins bipartisan support, but often after weeks of floor debate. Because many Republicans oppose lifting the ban and are unwilling to agree to a time limit for debate, it’s unlikely the defense bill will come up this year, aides from both parties said.

Also in the Senate, Democrats said they will try, but doubt they can win approval for, a nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia, the extension of unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless and funding for the settlement of a discrimination suit by black farmers.

One bill Senate Democrats hope they can get through is a long-stalled food safety measure that faces a key test vote Wednesday.

The House is expected to vote on several bills that are Democratic priorities, although none is expected to become law. They include a measure to give Social Security recipients a $250 payment to make up for not getting a cost-of-living adjustment this year because inflation is so low; a child nutrition bill that Michelle Obama has pushed; and a targeted immigration reform — the “Dream Act” — which would allow children of illegal immigrants to become citizens if they attend college or serve in the U.S. military.

Some less controversial bills will likely get through, the aides said. They include: a short-term extension of the so-called “doc-fix,” so that doctors who treat Medicare patients won’t see a reduction in their payments; and adjustments to the Alternative Minimum Tax so that more middle-income families won’t get hit with a higher tax bill next year. Several other less controversial expiring tax measures also are expected to be approved.

Americans frequently said they are eager for lawmakers in Washington to compromise with each other. The most interesting aspect of the lame-duck session might not be what bills Congress does or doesn’t pass, but how well Democrats and Republicans work together in the wake of this month’s stunning election. Will lawmakers use the lame-duck session to find compromises, or will they use it to highlight their differences and begin to position themselves for the next election?

Will Congress settle differences or scores?

Politicos have called her another Sarah Palin — she’s a conservative Tea Party candidate who supports small government, lower taxes, and Second Amendment rights.

However, that’s not why her star power may be on the rise.

House GOP leadership sources also have told CNN that they are planning to add a new leadership spot for a freshman member. Noem confirmed she is indeed interested and she appears to have the backing of key Republicans, according to two GOP leadership sources.

Having her in this position could help the new House Republican majority with two issues: bringing someone associated with the Tea Party movement into the leadership fold and adding another woman.

However, during her campaign for the state’s sole at-large U.S. House seat, Noem maintained a certain amount of distance from the Tea Party, and avoided inflammatory statements, according to some political experts in the state.

Though she welcomed Tea Party support, “She resisted attempts — and certainly the other side attempted — to put her in that radical camp, the Sarah Palin/Tea Party camp,” said Sioux Falls Argus Leader political reporter Jonathan Ellis.

Tea Party issues aside, Noem has been criticized often over the past year for her lack of a four-year college degree and her less-than-stellar driving record which has been widely reported to include 20 speeding tickets, six court notices for failure to appear and two arrest warrants.

Republican head of the class

On the topic of her secondary education, South Dakota State University political science professor Gary Aguiar said that she took classes at several schools in the state, but quit years ago to help out on the family farm after her father’s death. She eventually returned and was most recently studying political science at SDSU.

Her education was put on hold, however, before she ran for Congress.

“In some situations [politicians new to Washington] who didn’t have college experience sort of felt out of their element and weren’t able to grasp all of the complexities of policy,” said Aguiar, who also served as Noem’s academic adviser.

“I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

Federal guidelines prohibit him from discussing a student’s performance in class, but he describes the Congresswoman-elect as “genuine,” “down-to-earth,” “hard-working” and “intelligent.”

“She’s able to grasp difficult ideas very easily,” he said. “She asks questions. She challenges people — pretty much what you’d want in a member of Congress.”

Noem was elected to South Dakota’s state House of Representatives in 2006, and has been the assistant majority leader the past two years. Her time serving as a state lawmaker even earned her internship credit at SDSU.

“I said [to her], ‘You’re already serving. Why don’t you get credit for it and just write a little paper at the end?’ ” Aguiar said.

AnnRae Herr runs a local coffee and sandwich shop in Watertown, South Dakota, a shop she purchased from Noem’s mother.

“Kristi would come back like every other weekend and help out with payroll,” Herr said of Noem’s work at the shop. Noem was always “level-headed and calm,” she said.

Herr express confidence in Noem as a representative of her state.

Noem is “a good listener [and] she asks good questions,” so if she were thrown in the deep end she’d “learn to swim real fast,” said Herr.

“I think she’d really, really spend the hours to learn what needed to be done. … I’ve always gotten the impression that ‘good enough’ isn’t part of her vocabulary, no matter what she’s doing.”

Noem’s driving record is not a factor for Herr, and she laughed at the notion that Noem has been compared to Sarah Palin.

“Hmm, OK well, yea they are both female, and yes they are both cute and are go-getters for their state,” but other than that, Herr said, she’s not sure about the comparison.

Staunch Democrat and fellow South Dakotan Timothy Wilka also makes a distinction between Noem and Palin.

“I think [Kristi Noem] is more articulate than Sarah Palin, which isn’t saying much unfortunately,” Wilka said. “[But] she is a pretty good public speaker.”

But Wilka said Noem is still “not analytical enough or educated enough to really understand the legislative process.”

“The speeding tickets never bothered me because everybody does that,” Wilka said.

“What bothered me was the failures to appear in court and warrants for her arrest. I just think that’s very irresponsible.”

Still, she won the election, and Wilka said he “wishes her well.”

But not only did she win, she beat out incumbent Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, a woman who, in 2008, won almost 70 percent of the vote and was re-elected by one of the largest margins in the state’s history. Some pundits chalk Noem’s win up to the fact that it was simply an anti-incumbent year.

One issue for Noem that never played out much in the campaign, but could come back to haunt her involves reports that Noem’s ranch has received millions of dollars in federal subsidy money. Noem and her husband Bryon also own and operate an insurance company, which offers, among other things, crop insurance. That and federal subsidies have been labeled wasteful by the establishment GOP, who’ve said in the past that taxpayers should not be footing the bill for farmers.

Her husband Bryon defended the insurance subsidies to CNN saying they’re “providing legitimate services” to farmers of the state.

“We’re just trying to make a living in South Dakota,” he said.

Kristi Noem declined an interview for this profile.

CNN’s Kevin Conlon and Dana Bash contributed to this report.

Is Kristi Noem South Dakota’s Sarah Palin?

Rough crowd

Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel — better known in some political quarters as “Rahmbo” — found himself the target of an incoming egg during a stop Wednesday in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, NBC Chicago reports. The egg missed Emanuel, who is expected to make an official announcement soon that he’s running for mayor — and the egg thrower remained unidentified, the TV station reported.

Not a fan

More trouble for Emanuel: His tenant Rob Halpin — who reportedly refuses to move from a house he’s been renting from Emanuel — said he will run for mayor of the Windy City, according to a column by John Kass in the Chicago Tribune.

Halpin’s refusal to leave could hurt Rahm’s candidacy, too: “Now Emanuel’s campaign is expected to be challenged in the courts, a legal maneuver backed by guys on the South Side who are part of the stop-Rahm movement,” Kass wrote. “And Halpin’s talk of candidacy highlights the argument that Rahm is not a resident.”

Time to build an addition on the house perhaps?

‘Real World’ Rehoboth Beach?

Christine O’Donnell — the Tea Party-backed Republican who came up short in Delaware’s Senate race — appeared Wednesday on the “Tonight Show With Jay Leno.” Now that her schedule is free, O’Donnell said plenty of big opportunities are knocking on her door.

“The offers have been interesting,” she told Leno. “Anything from a book deal to a reality show.”

Notable quotable

“The Pentagon says it doesn’t know who was responsible for launching a missile off the California coast. They don’t know. Meanwhile Sasha and Malia [Obama] can’t believe the awesome new video game they just found in the White House.” — Jimmy Fallon

From the Twitterverse

Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Illinois, tweeted during his trip to South Korea, where negotiations for a U.S.-South Korea free-trade agreement are under way. Roskam may be working on a difficult subject, but he took time out to rib President Obama on his love for the teleprompter:

@PeterRoskam: The Teleprompters arrived safely, awaiting POTUS. #Korea http://plixi.com/p/56169133

Can’t see divorce from my house

In a new People magazine article, Sarah and Todd Palin shoot down tabloid rumors that they are on the verge of a $20 million divorce settlement.

“I call Todd on the cell phone [from the grocery checkout] and I say, ‘Todd, you won’t believe this cover!’ And he says, ‘Twenty million? Write me a check,’ ” Palin recounted to the magazine. “He’s good about laughing some of that stuff off.”

The picture you need to see

Someone missed his mark.

In this Getty Images photo, the caption notes, “Obama is moved to the correct spot by South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak and his wife, Kim Yoon-Ok, for a photo during the official reception ahead of the G20 Working Dinner on November 11, 2010, at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul.”

Headline of the day

“Chuck ‘Loko’ over caffeine” — New York Post story on Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York.

Late-night laughs

Stephen Colbert: “Things are terrible right now so they [congressional Republicans] are planning to make some bold changes. Yes — extending the existing tax cuts will create jobs. Because the only way out of this mess is to keep things exactly as they are.”

Conan O’Brien: “President George W. Bush has not been in the news for a long time. The day I come back on the air after a 10-month absence he returns — with a book.”

Jay Leno: “While in Indonesia, President Obama said he is making progress toward ending people’s misunderstanding about Muslims — like the fact that he isn’t one.”

David Letterman: “Bush says he’s happy and spends a lot of time down there at his ranch in Texas. He’s glad to be out of the Oval Office. And here’s why he’s glad to be out of the Oval Office: because he does not have to think all the time. And I’m thinking, ‘Wait … that was him thinking all the time?’”

Jon Stewart: “I can’t believe that cutting through our national security bureaucracy to find out something that may not have actually happened [the mysterious rocketlike cloud in California] takes longer than an hourlong cable news shift.”

Political Circus: ‘Rahmbo’ dodges egg

The address at the University of Indonesia was considered a highlight of Obama’s two-day stop in the southeast Asian nation where he spent four years of his childhood.

As the nation with the largest Muslim population in the world, Indonesia was chosen as the site for Obama to further address U.S. relations with the Islamic world following his speech on the topic last year in Cairo, Egypt.

He referred specifically to the Cairo speech of June 2009, noting he called there “for a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world — one that creates a path for us to move beyond our differences.”

“I said then, and I will repeat now, that no single speech can eradicate years of mistrust,” Obama said. At the same time, he promised that “no matter what setbacks may come, the United States is committed to human progress.”

Volcano may cut Obama Jakarta trip short

Obama touts importance of Indonesia

Gallery: Barack Obama’s Indonesian childhood

Obama’s trip to Asia

America “is not, and never will be, at war with Islam,” Obama insisted. “Instead, all of us must defeat al Qaeda and its affiliates, who have no claim to be leaders of any religion — certainly not a great world religion like Islam.”

Indonesia has been rocked by terror attacks such as bombings on Bali in 2002 and 2005, and Obama noted the nation’s progress “in rooting out terrorists and combating violent extremism.”

However, Muslims staged rallies across Indonesia on Sunday to protest the American president’s visit, and about 20,000 people attended the demonstrations, a spokesman for a protest group said.

“We don’t see the differences between Obama and (former U.S. President George W.) Bush. They both oppress Muslims. They both have blood on their hands,” said Ismail Yusanto, a spokesman for the Muslim group Hizbut Tahrir. “That’s why we reject Obama and we don’t believe that he’s reaching out to Muslims.”

In his speech Wednesday, Obama reflected on his years in Indonesia, referring to how he and his family were warmly accepted. He got cheers when he sprinkled sayings from the local Malay language, such as “Selamat Datang” — a greeting of welcome — and the national motto “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika,” which means “unity in diversity.”

Noting that Malay is one of hundreds of languages of the archipelago nation, Obama lauded Indonesia for its spirit of inclusiveness despite its diverse population and history of dictatorship.

“But even as this land of my youth has changed in so many ways, those things that I learned to love about Indonesia — that spirit of tolerance that is written into your constitution, symbolized in your mosques and churches and temples standing alongside each other; that spirit that is embodied in your people — that still lives on,” he said.

Now, Obama said, he returned as the U.S. president seeking “a deep and enduring partnership” with Indonesia, “because as vast and diverse countries; as neighbors on either side of the Pacific; and above all as democracies — the United States and Indonesia are bound together by shared interests and shared values.”

“America has a stake in an Indonesia that is growing, with prosperity that is broadly shared among the Indonesian people — because a rising middle class here means new markets for our goods, just as America is a market for yours,” Obama said.

The U.S. leader called for Indonesia’s continued development and warned that would require “a refusal to tolerate the corruption that stands in the way of opportunity,” along with a commitment to transparency and protecting the freedom being honored on the Heroes’ Day holiday Wednesday marking Indonesian independence.

“Our nations show that hundreds of millions who hold different beliefs can be united in freedom under one flag,” Obama said. “And we are now building on that shared humanity — through the young people who will study in each other’s schools; through the entrepreneurs forging ties that can lead to prosperity; and through our embrace of fundamental democratic values and human aspirations.”

CNN’s Tom Cohen contributed to this report.

Obama: Indonesia model of religious tolerance

But can they deliver on that promise without cutting entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security and angering older voters?

Seniors voted last week by an almost 60-40 split for Republican House candidates, after splitting evenly between Democrats and Republicans in the 2006 midterms. And voters 65 and older made up 24 percent of those casting votes last week.

Read more about exit polling on seniors

Check out exit polls from the 2006 midterm elections

Republicans, who will control the House in the next Congress, have vowed to cut spending in the federal budget, and entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare make up more than half of the budget. Significant cuts can’t happen without addressing these programs.

Changing those programs will be nearly impossible, with advocacy powers like AARP and other seniors’ groups resisting change.

The Arena: How to fix the economy

Perry: Let states decide Social Security

GOP strategist Ron Bonjean found that out when fellow Republicans, notably President George W. Bush, pushed a plan in 2005 to privatize Social Security and implemented changes to Medicare.

The reason Social Security reform failed was because “Americans were not fully educated in what the systemic problems were,” said Bonjean, the former chief of staff to the Senate Republican conference and director of communications for then-Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert.

“Seniors seriously objected to any attempt to change it,” he added.

And seniors resisted change again this year, opposing health care reform, polls showed. Republicans hammered the Obama administration and congressional Democrats on their health care reform law and have vowed to repeal it.

It was a message that caught on with seniors, political analyst Jennifer Donahue said.

“Health care reform played a large factor. … The Obama administration appears to have gone too far too fast on health care, and especially in the minds of older voters, who already have government health care available to them.”

She added that one reason seniors favored Republicans this cycle was because of the endless attack ads on the new law.

Statistics show that anti-health care reform advocates spent $94 million on ads nationwide this year, while the other side spent $19 million.

While repealing the health care reform law will be next to impossible, the sensitive subject is one that may keep seniors wary of Democrats, Donahue added.

Will the GOP take on entitlements?

In the meantime, don’t expect Republican leaders to start changing or slashing entitlements right away, Bonjean said.

“I don’t see it as a top priority for Republicans going into the next Congress,” he said. “I think they’ll start creating a conversation, which needs to be had. Before you try to solve a problem, it will be important for Americans to understand what the problems are.”

Their primary focus will be on the economy and “low-hanging fruit” items in the budget that can be cut.

“Republicans are going to focus on growing the economy, creating jobs, repealing the health care law and cutting nondiscretionary spending. They may look at waste, fraud and abuse within the Medicare program, but their No. 1 priority is to jump-start the economy and repeal the new health care law,” Bonjean said.

Donahue added that even if Republicans float the idea of cutting entitlement programs, they have political cover.

“I think the Republicans have a little bit of cover because they know that a [Democratic] Senate and President Obama won’t cut Medicare,” she said. “So they can try to cut it and fail and that’s their safety net.”

Eventually, though, Congress will need to tackle the growing problems with these programs, which are pressing on the country’s fiscal health.

Bonjean hinted that entitlement change won’t come until the problems get really bad. Americans don’t like to deal with problems, he said, until they are “front and center and almost in a crisis level — like the economic situation we’re in right now.”

“When Medicare and Social Security get to such a point where it will be unsustainable, I think that’s when Americans will force Congress to do something about,” he added. “That’s the way the country works.”

What can Democrats do?

“To try and attract seniors is actually to make movement towards the center,” Donahue said. “And that is a dilemma for the Democrats right now because in order to attract younger voters, they actually have to move to the left.”

Democrats in recent history have had a hard time attracting seniors, so it comes as no surprise that they would face an uphill battle in this year’s election.

“Seniors have been a problem for the Democrats for at least a decade,” CNN polling director Keating Holland said. “Seniors routinely voted Democratic in House elections in the 1970s and 1980s, but starting in 1994 they trended toward the GOP and except for 2000, that trend has held up ever since. So there is some long-term pattern going on — it’s not a recent development.”

And it was certainly seen in the 2008 presidential election, when Barack Obama lost the senior vote to Republican presidential candidate John McCain. Obama was put over the top by support from independents, younger voters and baby boomers.

“For Democrats to have succeeded with older voters this cycle, they would have really had to court them,” Donahue said. “They didn’t do that. Where Republicans I think had the most energy and seemed like the most effective agent of change this cycle.”

CNN’s Rebecca Sinderbrand and Rebecca Stewart contributed to this report.

GOP walks budget-cutting line with seniors

When the Republicans gained majority power in the House of Representatives Tuesday, the man poised to lead them was brought to tears.

That evening, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, who will soon become the new speaker of the House, told supporters, “I spent my whole life chasing the American dream.”

With tears forming and his voice quavering, Boehner recounted details of his life growing up in southwestern Ohio: “I started out mopping floors, waiting tables and tending bar at my dad’s tavern. I put myself through school, working every rotten job there was and every night shift I could find.”

While it’s a story of humble beginnings — Boehner worked as a janitor in college — it’s a long way from the image many have of him today, as a Washington insider known for a ubiquitous tan, an unstoppable smoking habit and fiery speeches on the House floor.

One of Boehner’s friends, Jerry Vanden Eynden, who has known the 60-year-old, 10-term congressman since seventh grade, told CNN Boehner’s career continues to surprise childhood friends.

“It was nothing that any of us would ever have expected,” said Vanden Eynden, president of a Cincinnati, Ohio, candle company. “We would have expected him more to be successful in business, the way he was, more than get into the political field.”

“I can’t say that there was anything that made him outstanding to me in grade school. He was just one of the guys,” Vanden Eynden said.

Boehner is the second of 12 children.

“The thing I remember most about going to his house was there was always diapers on the line,” recalled Vanden Eynden. “No matter what time of year it was, they were either outside or inside, but his mom always had cloth diapers. There were so many kids running around.”

Who is John Boehner?

Boehner is the first in his family to graduate from college. Earning a degree in business from Xavier University, Boehner eventually became president of Nucite Sales, a plastics and packaging company. Boehner began his political career in the 1980s, serving in the Ohio state legislature. He won his first congressional race in 1990.

Twenty years later, longtime friends reject the idea that he has turned into a Washington elitist who’s too chummy with lobbyists.

Dan Danner, president and CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business and himself a registered lobbyist, has known Boehner since he first ran for Congress. He said the image of an insider as someone who is “co-opted by the system” and becomes “someone that you weren’t when you came here” doesn’t describe the congressman.

“You know, I think he’s still John Boehner,” he said.

“There’s no substitute for having run a business,” Danner said. “It’s completely different if you’ve only signed the back of a paycheck and you’ve never signed the front.”

During Boehner’s time in Congress, he’s also earned a reputation among reporters and colleagues as having a laid-back demeanor and a penchant for wisecracks. On Thursday, when questioned by ABC’s Diane Sawyer about the possibility of a “Slurpee summit” with President Obama, Boehner responded, “I don’t know about a Slurpee. How about a glass of merlot?”

“We were angels, and that’s the way we’ll keep it,” said Vanden Eynden when asked if Boehner learned to joke around while attending an all-boys high school in Ohio.

And while friends don’t recall Boehner as someone who easily sheds tears, they say the recent public displays of emotion are genuine.

“It’s sincere,” said Vanden Eynden. “I think he’s seeing that he has a chance to realize that dream, that goal that he put out there.”

Friends say Boehner not D.C. ‘insider’

Fightin’ words

Radio host/jack-of-all-trades Ryan Seacrest lashed out on his website at Meghan McCain after she criticized President Obama’s decision to appear on Seacrest’s show before Tuesday’s election.

Seacrest fought back on his nationally syndicated radio show. “She thinks ["On Air with Ryan Seacrest"] is just lowbrow,” he said. “I just want to be clear — it is the lowbrow show she wanted to be on twice to come promote her stuff.”

As he says on “American Idol” — Seacrest out.

Like a scene from ‘Gone with the Wind’

From Friday’s White House pool report from political website The Daily Caller: “At 9:48 POTUS and FLOTUS exited the south Portico and boarded Marine One. POTUS wore no coat over his suit, but FLOTUS wore a fashionable tan or light brown coat. POTUS put his hand on FLOTUS’ back as they walked and looked over at her, appearing to say something. And with that, the first couple was off for southeast Asia.” (The abbreviations stand for “president of the United States” and “first lady of the United States.”)

Watch where you put that hatchet

Former Delaware Senate rivals Chris Coons and Christine O’Donnell took part Thursday in a time-honored tradition in the state by burying the hatchet — literally, The Delaware News Journal reports.

Time to make the coffee

The New York Daily News reports on former President George W. Bush’s daily ritual since leaving the White House, saying his “internal alarm clock” makes him wake up before 5 a.m. And he’s taken on a more domestic role by making coffee for his wife, Laura. When outside, it’s all adventure: “He hits dirt-bike trails around Dallas regularly.”

First chef of New York?

New York governor-elect Andrew Cuomo’s girlfriend — cooking sensation Sandra Lee — won’t be taking on the title of first lady or any official duties, the Daily News reports. Cuomo’s staff says Lee “would never expect any taxpayer dollar to support the contributions she makes nor would she want to burden the state in any way.”

Notable quotable

“Tuesday night, voters completely rejected the efforts of a charismatic African-American. … Rick Fox is off ‘Dancing with the Stars.’” — NBC’s Jay Leno

The picture you need to see

From Getty Images: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton receives a Hongi (Maori greeting) during a welcome ceremony at New Zealand’s Parliament on Thursday.

Headline of the day

From Reuters:“Putin to Bush: My dog bigger than yours”

Late-night laughs

David Letterman: “[Sarah Palin] says she wants limited government. … Does she mean fewer elected officials? Or few elected officials who will resign in the middle of their term? I think limited government will be perfect for her limited abilities.”

Jon Stewart mocking the White House press corps: “Uh, Mr. President, Tom Patterson, UPI. Do you suck? Quick follow-up: do you suck so bad you don’t even know how sucky you are? I would like your answer in the form of ‘you suck.’”

Jimmy Fallon: “In his new book, George W. Bush says he considered dropping Dick Cheney from the 2004 ticket because he wanted to demonstrate he was in charge — not Cheney. But then Cheney nixed the idea, so it went back to normal. He didn’t do it.”

Political Circus: McCain vs. Seacrest

Just two months ago, the incumbent Republican conceded her party’s primary to little-known Tea Party-backed Joe Miller. Shortly after, Murkowski dove into the middle of Republican infighting by launching a write-in bid to retain her seat.

Party leaders criticized her decision. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who endorsed Miller, called Murkowski’s revived campaign “a futile effort on her part.” The last U.S. senator to win on a write-in campaign was Strom Thurmond in 1954.

“They said it couldn’t be done,” Murkowski told CNN as the results came in late Tuesday. “We looked at that, and we said if it can be done anywhere, it can be done in Alaska, and let’s prove the rest of the country wrong.”

Aware of the intricacies of a write-in win, Murkowski cautioned that “we’re not done yet. There’s still a lot out more there; we know that.”

Alaska counts write-in ballots

Ballot count to determine Alaska race

Cold victory walk an Alaskan tradition

Murkowski: We are not done yet

The votes for write-in candidates outnumbered those for both Miller and Scott McAdams, the Democratic candidate.

But the outcome of the general election might not be known for days because officials need to determine which write-in votes actually went to Murkowski.

She was one of 161 people who filed the paperwork necessary to qualify as a write-in candidate, according to the Alaska Division of Elections.

As of Wednesday night, with 78 percent of precincts reporting, the write-in candidates were leading the pack with 41 percent of the vote. Miller had 34 percent, and McAdams trailed with 24 percent.

CNN has projected that the Democratic candidate will finish in third place but has not yet called the race for Murkowski or Miller.

Despite Murkowski’s excitement, Miller’s campaign remained optimistic Wednesday, saying, “This campaign is not over!”

“Previous write-in campaigns in Alaska have demonstrated that as much as 5 [percent] to 6 percent of returned ballots have not met the standard to be counted as a valid vote,” the campaign said in a statement.

“Candidates who mount a write-in campaign opt for an uphill battle. At this point, without a single write-in ballot counted, Lisa Murkowski has no claim on a victory.”

Another fellow Alaskan running as a write-in is Lisa M. Lackey, whose presence on the ballot may complicate things for Murkowski.

Under state law, for a write-in vote to be valid, the name written on the ballot must match the name as it is listed on the write-in candidate’s declaration of candidacy. In Murkowski’s case, the law requires her supporters to write “Lisa Murkowski” or “Murkowski” for the vote to be counted.

However, in the event a voter misspells or abbreviates a candidate’s name, such as “Lisa M.” instead of “Lisa Murkowski,” the Division of Elections would determine the voter’s intent “on a case-by-case basis,” according to division director Gail Fenumiai.

With two potential “Lisa M’s” as write-in candidates, determining the intent of a voter who writes in “Lisa M.” on his or her ballot would be much more difficult.

Matt Felling, an anchor for KTVA-TV in Anchorage, said the race could prove to be the “highest stakes spelling bee in American political history.”

“Now we are going to find out how many people can put nine letters together that somewhat resemble Murkowski,” he told CNN.

Miller’s campaign blasted the Division of Elections’ standards as “extraordinarily ambiguous.”

On election nights, the Division of Elections tabulates the total number of write-in votes cast — not a breakdown by candidate.

The Division of Elections only calculates the number of write-in votes for specific candidates if the total number of write-in votes cast is more than the number of votes received for any candidate, or if the total number of write-in votes comes in a close second to the top vote-getter.

Before the Division of Elections can start tabulating the write-in votes for specific candidates, all of the ballots cast have to be counted, including absentee ballots, early votes and questioned ballots.

The lieutenant governor’s office and the Division of Elections plan to count all absentee ballots next Tuesday and move on to the hand count of the write-in votes the following day. The count of the write-in ballots is expected to take about three days.

The count was moved up from the original date of November 18 to provide election results in “a timely manner,” according to Renee Limoge, spokeswoman for Alaska Lt. Gov. Craig Campbell.

Miller told CNN he would challenge the decision to count the votes earlier than planned. He also said that as of Wednesday, he had not heard from the national GOP, which backed his candidacy.

Murkowski said she intends to caucus with the Republicans should she return to the Senate.

“I’m not my party’s nominee, but I am a Republican,” she said.

With a victory, Murkowski would avenge her August primary loss to Miller in the latest chapter of a feud with his main backers and her long-standing tension with Palin.

Murkowski was first appointed to her post by her father, then-Gov. Frank Murkowski in 2002. Palin defeated him in the 2006 GOP gubernatorial primary.

CNN’s Drew Griffin, Jason Hanna and Robert Yoon contributed to this report.

Murkowski’s fate: High stakes ‘spelling bee’