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Sources: McCain aide fired for ‘trashing’ staff — (CNN) — Randy Scheunemann, a senior foreign policy adviser to John McCain, was fired from the Arizona senator's campaign last week for what one aide called “trashing” the campaign staff, three senior McCain advisers tell CNN.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Top of the Ticket, MoJoBlog, American Street, The Other McCain, Spin Cycle and PrestoPundit
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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 …
Discussion:
The RBC, Fox News, Little Green Footballs, The Other McCain, Gateway Pundit, Macsmind and Riehl World View

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.

TRYING TO BURY HER — Part of me thinks I shouldn't be watching Fox News reporter and sometimes fabulist Carl Cameron dishing the McCain campaign's dirt on Sarah Palin. But well, when Mothra goes up against Godzilla, how can you not watch? Here's Cameron telling Fox's Shep Smith …
Discussion:
Kevin Drum

McCain's verdict on Palin: more trouble than a pitbull — The British ambassador reveals what the defeated presidential candidate really thinks of his running mate — So now we know what John McCain really thinks of his running mate Sarah Palin - and that's not just because of the awkward …

Operation Leper — RedState is pleased to announce it is engaging …

Losing California: Last night I stood in the heart of San Francisco's Castro district, the epicenter of the gay-rights movement. Around me were thousands of people cheering and dancing for Barack Obama's victory and for the promise it brings gay America. Meanwhile, on a large screen …
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Oh, No, You Don't — Heart-breaking news this morning …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Slog, Reason, Guardian, Democracy in America, The Anonymous Liberal, ACSBlog and AMERICAblog News

Obama considers stars for Cabinet — President-elect Barack Obama is strongly considering Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Environmental Protection Agency, a Cabinet post, Democratic officials told Politico. — Obama's transition planners are weighing several other celebrity-level political stars …
Discussion:
Liberal Values, Gristmill, The New Republic, The Volokh Conspiracy, Overlawyered, Hot Air and PoliGazette
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Rahm Emanuel, Larry Summers, Robert Gates lead buzz for Obama cabinet roles

EXCLUSIVE: Podesta Announces He Will Not Be Joining New Obama Administration


Oregonian projection: Merkley defeats Smith to take U.S. Senate seat — Democrat Jeff Merkley has leapt from Oregon's statehouse to the U.S. Senate, ousting two-term Republican Gordon Smith after an expensive, high-stakes contest that will help shift the balance of power in Washington.
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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:
Hullabaloo
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The McCain Belt — Interesting map available on the NYT home page shows the places where McCain did better than Bush did in 2004: — You can see why John McCain's principled stand against higher taxes on the wealthy would have a special resonance in this region.
Discussion:
The Mahatma X Files, his vorpal sword, The Daily Dish, Gene Expression, Daily Kos and Facing South


Hackers and Spending Sprees … The computer systems of both the Obama and McCain campaigns were victims of a sophisticated cyberattack by an unknown “foreign entity,” prompting a federal investigation, NEWSWEEK reports today. — At the Obama headquarters in midsummer …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, TBogg, Brilliant at Breakfast, MyDD, Balloon Juice, Daily Kos, Political Machine, Ben Smith's Blogs, BlondeSense, Washington Monthly, Wonkette, TalkLeft, TPM Election Central, Spin Cycle, The Washington Note, Liberal Values, The Daily Dish, Silicon Alley Insider, Philly.com, Below The Beltway, Outside The Beltway and No More Mister Nice Blog

Obama unoffical winner in North Carolina — Democrat Barack Obama is the unofficial winner in North Carolina, but the victory over Sen. John McCain won't be sealed until provisional ballots are counted and certified next month. — Unofficial returns show Obama ahead by 13,746 votes.

EMANUEL ACCEPTS TOP SLOT IN OBAMA WH — From NBC's Andrea Mitchell — A senior Obama advisor confirms to NBC News that Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel has accepted the job of Chief of Staff for the Obama White House. — *** UPDATE *** In an email to NBC News, Emanuel spokeswoman Sarah Feinberg denies …
Discussion:
Political Punch, MoJoBlog, Daily Kos, The Corner, www.redstate.com, Hot Air, www.redstate.com, Washington Monthly and PoliGazette


Guy Fawkes Day — Revellers celebrate Guy Fawkes Day. In 1605 Fawkes unsuccessfully attempted to commit the infamous act of terror of blowing up King James I and the Houses of Parliament. — The English, among other talents, are adept at nurturing their grudges.
Discussion:
Jules Crittenden


David Frum: Republicans face fraught choice between two roads to revival — In the wake of yesterday's bruising result, the Republican party faces an excruciating and divisive choice between two very different futures. — The first choice is the choice on display at the excited rallies that cheered Sarah Palin all through the fall.
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, StephenBainbridge.com, www.redstate.com, Newshoggers.com and David Frum


Suddenly, it may be cool to be an American again — VIENNA, Austria - She was a stranger, and she kissed me. Just for being an American. — It happened on the bus on my way to work Wednesday morning, a few hours after compatriots clamoring for change swept Barack Obama to his historic victory.

106-year-old that Obama cited has led active life in Atlanta — ‘Now I see that things can change,’ Ann Nixon Cooper says — About 11 a.m. Wednesday, Ann Nixon Cooper emerged from her second-floor bedroom, descended the stairs of her stately Atlanta home to the kitchen and enjoyed …