memeorandum: Writers welcome a literary president-elect (Hillel Italie/Associated Press)

1:15 PM ET, November 6, 2008

Top Items:

Exclusive: Gibbs will be WH press secretary — Robert Gibbs, a top aide to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on his campaign and in his Senate office, will be named the White House press secretary, a top Democratic official said. — Gibbs was usually the senior official on Air Obama, the campaign plane.

Discussion: Washington Post, Jonathan Martin's Blogs, Think Progress, The Swamp, JammieWearingFool, TPM Election Central, Donklephant, Gawker, Flopping Aces, Booman Tribune, The E&P Pub, Mother, May I Sleep … and Wonkette

The Politico:

EXCLUSIVE: Emanuel accepts White House job — Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), a wily, aggressive West Wing strategist under President Bill Clinton, has accepted the post of White House chief of staff for President-elect Barack Obama, Democratic officials tell Politico.

Discussion: Political Punch and The Raw Story

News-Talk 1110 WBT:

Obama adds symbolic NC victory to White House win — President-elect Barack Obama has won North Carolina, adding 15 electoral votes to his wide victory and a symbolic triumph in a state that hadn't voted for a Democrat in more than a generation. — The Associated Press declared …

Discussion: Associated Press, Firedoglake, Agence France Presse and Reuters

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

GOP in dire straits — Thumped convincingly in consecutive election cycles, the Republican Party now finds itself in its worst straits since the rise of the conservative coalition — a minority party without the White House, fewer seats in the House and Senate, only 21 governors and full control of just 14 state legislatures.

Discussion: Real Clear Politics

Jerusalem Post:
Obama names Emanuel chief of staff

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:

Internal Battles Divided McCain and Palin Camps — PHOENIX — As a top adviser in Senator John McCain's now-imploded campaign tells the story, it was bad enough that Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska unwittingly scheduled, and then took, a prank telephone call from a Canadian comedian posing as the president of France.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, MSNBC, Washington Monthly, Democracy in America, Taylor Marsh, Right Wing Nut House, Slate, FOX Embeds, Daily Kos, Below The Beltway, The Gun Toting Liberal, Swampland, Eunomia, Gawker, Bark Bark Woof Woof, War and Piece, CNN and Towleroad

Michelle Malkin:

The McCain campaign's classless cowards; Update: Palin reacts — Scroll down for updates...1:29am Eastern Palin holds press conference in Anchorage after arriving late on her flight from Arizona...refuses to comment on gossip spread by unnamed sources and “small, bitter” people saying …

Erick Erickson / www.redstate.com:
Operation Leper — RedState is pleased to announce it is engaging …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Matthew Yglesias, No More Mister Nice Blog, Salon, Right Wing News, The Mahablog, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Think Progress, Sadly, No!, The American Conservative and The Edge of the American West

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish: The Civic Responsibility Of Carl Cameron

Matt Corley / Think Progress:
Kristol Attacks Anonymous McCain Aides Dishing To The Press …

Discussion: New York Post, Campaign Silo and The Washington Independent

CNN:
McCain aide disputes sources, denies firing

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The New Republic and TPM Election Central

The Huffington Post:
Palin Didn't Know Africa Is A Continent, Says Fox News Reporter (VIDEO)

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Think Progress, The E&P Pub, TBogg, The Washington Independent, BlondeSense, Gothamist, Classical Values, AMERICAblog News, No More Mister Nice Blog and Hoffmania!

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
The Scheuneman-Kristol Axis — Scheuneman was always a McCain man.

Discussion: Bob Cesca's Goddamn … and Below The Beltway

CNN:
Sources: McCain aide fired for ‘trashing’ staff

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, ATTACKERMAN, Pajamas Media, Political Machine, Top of the Ticket, Majikthise, Pam's House Blend, 24Ahead, Firedoglake, Rising Hegemon and MoJoBlog

Jeremy Brilliant / WALV-TV:

Obama campaign workers angry over unpaid wages — Updated: — Indianapolis - Lines were long and tempers flared Wednesday not to vote but to get paid for canvassing for Barack Obama. Several hundred people are still waiting to get their pay for last-minute campaigning.

Discussion: Moonbattery, Gateway Pundit, Wizbang, Flopping Aces and Don Surber

Washington Wire:

Roy Blunt Expected to Leave House Leadership — Susan Davis and Brad Haynes report on Congress. — House Republican Whip Roy Blunt, the No. 2 GOP leader in the House, won't seek another term in leadership after his party's losses in a second straight election, according to a senior House aide.

Discussion: Weekly Standard and www.redstate.com

Ryan Grim / The Crypt's Blogs:
Blunt steps down — House GOP whip Roy Blunt is stepping down …

Discussion: Swampland and On Deadline

Patrick O'Connor / The Politico:
For GOP, Boehner and chaos remain

Discussion: The Swamp, Washington Monthly and The Crypt's Blogs

Washington Post:
Young Republicans Jockey in the House

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!

Roger Simon / The Politico:

McCain at ease after loss — On the day after his victory, Barack Obama faced a world in financial crisis, shooting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a nation that expected him to deliver on all his promises. — John McCain faced a barbecue. — “I got nine racks of ribs,” McCain told his closest aide and co-author, Mark Salter.

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Wonkette

Michael Scherer / Time:
McCain Aide Mark Salter Reflects on the Defeat

Discussion: The Caucus, Outside The Beltway and Los Angeles Times

Agence France Presse:

‘Impeach Obama’ groups pop up on Facebook … Barack Obama has not even been sworn in yet as the 44th president of the United States but groups are springing up online calling for his impeachment. — On Facebook, an “Impeach Barack Obama” group has attracted more than 700 members …

Discussion: Runnin' Scared, Wake up America, Wizbang, Booman Tribune, First Draft, Don Surber, The Reaction and Breitbart.tv

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

An answer to Proposition 8: Repealing DOMA — The most potent ingredient making Tuesday's election bittersweet is the apparent passage of Proposition 8 in California. It's one thing for a state to decide in advance not to allow same-sex marriages. It's another thing entirely to watch …

Discussion: Jules Crittenden and Group News Blog

Marcus Wohlsen / Associated Press:
Exit poll: Black voters back Calif. marriage ban

Discussion: www.redstate.com, Michelle Malkin, JammieWearingFool and Don Surber

Eugene Volokh / The Volokh Conspiracy:
Is California's Repeal of Same-Sex Marriage an Unconstitutional “Revision” by Initiative?

Discussion: Democratic Strategist

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:

Emanuel Accepts — President-elect Barack Obama and newly installed White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. AP Photo/Alex Brandon — Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel has, as expected, accepted the job as chief of staff to President-elect Barack Obama, according to informed Democratic sources.

Jim Lindgren / The Volokh Conspiracy:
Rahm Emanuel: Time for a new contract with America.

Discussion: Outside The Beltway and Reason

Hillel Italie / Associated Press:

Writers welcome a literary president-elect — NEW YORK - Last winter, Nobel laureate Toni Morrison received a phone call from Sen. Barack Obama, then the underdog to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. — Obama had contacted Morrison to ask for her support.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and Sweetness & Light

Noelle Crombie / Oregonian:

Sen. Gordon Smith calls to concede to Jeff Merkley … Republican Gordon Smith, who has represented Oregon in the U.S. Senate for the last 12 years, this morning called Jeff Merkley, his Democratric challenger, to concede their race. — Jon Isaacs, an aide to Merkley …

Discussion: MoJoBlog, Daily Kos, TPM Election Central, BlueOregon and Newshoggers.com

Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:

How the President-Elect Did It — The new voters changed the game. — Intense and gripping, the 2008 election was also historic. The son of a Kenyan immigrant and an American mother has risen to the presidency of history's most powerful nation. Who was not moved by the sight …

Discussion: Commentary and Spin Cycle

Mike Soraghan / The Hill:

Dems lower expectations — Democratic leaders are tamping down on expectations for rapid change and trying to signal they will place a calm hand on the nation's tiller. — “The country must be governed from the middle,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday.

Discussion: New York Times, QandO, Hot Air, Jules Crittenden, The Politico, Riehl World View, Hullabaloo, Connecting.the.Dots and Flopping Aces

Timothy Noah / Slate:

A guide to key appointments Obama should resist. — With Barack Obama's presidential victory in the bag, speculation has begun about who he'll appoint to his Cabinet. Actually, it began some time ago. Russell Baker of the New York Times many years ago invented a spectral figure called …

Discussion: The Corner and Don Surber