Top Items:
Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:
RNC asks Steele to replace Mehlman — Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, whose party just lost both chambers of Congress, will leave his position in January, and the post as party chief has been offered to Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele.
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Huffington Post:
CENSORED BY CNN: BILL MAHER SUGGESTS RNC CHAIR MEHLMAN IS GAY.... From CNN: … Partial transcript of Bill Maher's Live appearance on Larry King Live: — BM: A lot of the chiefs of staff, the people who really run the underpinnings of the Republican Party, are gay.
Mark / CNN Political Ticker:
Mehlman likely to leave RNC — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Several Republican sources tell CNN that Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman is all but certain to step down at the end of the year, and the White House already is searching for a replacement or replacements to lead the party into the 2008 presidential campaign cycle.
John / AMERICAblog:
CNN tells YouTube to pull down video outing GOP party head Ken Mehlman — I just got a cease-and-desist letter from YouTube, see below, regarding my CNN footage I posted. The footage, you'll recall, was from Larry King Live last night in which Bill Maher outed Republican Party chair Ken Mehlman as gay.
Liz Sidoti / Associated Press:
Mehlman to step down from RNC post — WASHINGTON - Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, whose party lost both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections, will step down from his post when his two-year term ends in January, GOP officials said Thursday.
CNN:
Webb promises 'diplomatic solution' in Iraq — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Less than an hour after Virginia Republican Sen. George Allen conceded and the U.S. Senate was handed to the Democrats, Jim Webb addressed a cheering crowd. — Before he spoke, Webb waved a pair of combat boots in the air …
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Christine Hauser / New York Times:
Concession in Virginia Race Tips Balance — Senator George Allen of Virginia conceded today that he lost to the Democratic challenger, Jim Webb, ending the last undecided Senate contest and giving Democrats control of the full Congress for the first time in a dozen years.
Discussion:
DownWithTyranny!
Steve Clemons / The Washington Note:
LINCOLN CHAFEE OPPOSING JOHN BOLTON OFFICIALLY: BOLTON CONFIRMATION PROCESS DEAD, DEAD, DEAD — Word has just reached me from a well-placed source that the White House has continued to push John Bolton's confirmation prospects as US Ambassador to the United Nations despite the election outcome.
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Caren Bohan / Reuters:
Bush makes push for approval of UN envoy Bolton — President George W. Bush will make a push to get confirmation for John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations before power in Congress shifts to the Democrats, the White House said on Thursday. — The White House formally renewed …
David Stout / New York Times:
Bush to Ask Lame Duck Congress to Confirm Gates — The White House said today that it would seek Senate confirmation of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's successor in the lame duck Congress that is about to reconvene, and that it would seek confirmation of United Nations Ambassador John R. Bolton as well.
Noah Shachtman / Popular Mechanics:
Rumsfeld Reaction: 4 Policy Battles That Could Shape Our Military — When President Bush appointed former CIA Director Robert Gates (right) to the Defense Secretary post today, several of Donald Rumsfeld's pet projects began to enter the political crossfire.
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Michelle R. Smith / Associated Press:
Chafee unsure of staying with GOP after losing election — PROVIDENCE, R.I. —Two days after losing a bid for a second term in an election seen as a referendum on President Bush and the Republican Party, Sen. Lincoln Chafee said he was unsure whether he'd remain a Republican. — "I haven't made any decisions.
Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
Democrats Turned War Into an Ally — The presidential advisers Karl Rove, left foreground, and Dan Bartlett, right, as President Bush spoke Wednesday at a news conference. Republican strategists displayed tentativeness on the Iraq war. — On a warm night in mid-September …
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, Firedoglake, Washington Post, Hullabaloo, This Modern World and Simianbrain
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CBS News:
"He certainly was a reporter's reporter." — (CBS) Veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Ed Bradley died Thursday at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan of complications from leukemia. — Bradley joined the staff of the venerable news magazine 26 years ago. His consummate skills as a broadcast journalist …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Debbie Schlussel, Balloon Juice, Scared Monkeys, LA Observed, Attytood and Lost Remote
Kirk Johnson / New York Times:
In Statehouses, Too, Democrats Post Sizable Gains — Democratic gains in Congress and governorships were matched on Tuesday by a surge involving state legislatures, where more than 275 seats and nine chambers switched from Republican to Democratic hands. — The victories, combined …
Rose Garden / White House:
President Bush Meets with Cabinet — THE PRESIDENT: Earlier this week the American people went to the polls, and they cast their ballots for a new Congress. The American people made their decision; I respect the results, and so does my Cabinet. I want to congratulate the Democrat leaders …
Jeff Stein / CQ.com:
Gates' CIA Past Could Haunt Him in Confirmation Hearings — President Bush's pick to replace Donald H. Rumsfeld with former CIA Director Robert Gates is an odd one, considering it's almost certain to revive festering questions about the Bush administration's handling of pre-war intelligence on Iraq.
Steven M. Teles / The RBC:
The Sequence — Now that the bubbles are starting to go flat on the campaign champagne, Democrats need to start thinking—and quick—about what their agenda is and what sequence it ought to be dealt with. If I'm the Democrats, I actually go a bit slow on investigations …
Digby / Hullabaloo:
Southern Comfort — Many of you probably read Tom Schaller's postings throughout the blogosphere on TAPPED, The Gadflyer and Daily Kos. He has also written a book called "Whistling Past Dixie" where he makes the case for a non southern strategy. It's a very interesting thesis that makes a basic point …
Kate Ackley / Roll Call:
Out-of-Work GOP Aides Face Tough Road Ahead — The hundreds of Republican staffers — not to mention more than a few Members — who will lose their jobs in the next few weeks are going to face a hostile marketplace on K Street as unemployed Republicans flood the market.
Discussion:
The Sundries Shack
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