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Monday's Campaign Round-Up, 1.2.17

Today's installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
Today's installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.* The White House announced this morning that President Obama will deliver a farewell address a week from tomorrow in Chicago. (The Wall Street Journal reported the other day that presidential farewell addresses are "unusual." That's not even close to being true.)* A new Gallup poll shows that when it comes to seven key metrics, Americans are far less confident in Donald Trump than any recent president-elect.* With only 18 days remaining until Inauguration Day, Trump still has several key administrative posts without an announced nominee, including two cabinet positions: Secretaries of Agriculture and Veterans Affairs.* According to people who've spoken to the president-elect, Trump is intent on drafting "the entirety" of his inaugural speech himself. No one should believe this.* Trump also intends to have a shorter inauguration. An inaugural committee spokesperson said last week the president is "going to have a shortened parade, and he's going to go into the White House and get some work done before he goes to the [inaugural] balls."* A member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir resigned late last week so that she won't have to perform at Trump's inauguration. "I could never look myself in the mirror again with self-respect," Jan Chamberlin wrote in a resignation letter.* In a bit of a surprise, Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) has decided to run for re-election, skipping Nevada's open gubernatorial race. The 2018 cycle looks dreadful for Senate Democrats, but look for the DSCC to go after Heller aggressively in the increasingly blue-ish state.* And John Bolton said Friday he sees the Obama administration's new sanctions against Russia as insufficient, arguing that the United States needs to do more to "make the Russians feel pain." The odds of Bolton receiving a prominent post in the Trump administration are moving closer to zero.