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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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.
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.
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.
Glenn Greenwald / Unclaimed Territory:
Extremely odd behavior from the Washington Post re: the President's Rumsfeld lie — It is now conclusively clear that President Bush lied last week, several days before the election, when he vowed definitively to reporters that Donald Rumsfeld would remain as Defense Secretary for the next two years.
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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.
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 …
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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Alexander Mooney / CNN Political Ticker:
Senior staffer: Allen 'not emboldened to fight this' — WASHINGTON (CNN) — As the canvassing continues in Virginia, Sen. George Allen, R-Virginia, is sequestered in his home, "shell shocked," and going through "a nightmare," during this period of limbo, a senior Allen staffer tells CNN.
Christine Hauser / New York Times:
Concession in Virginia Race Tips Balance
Concession in Virginia Race Tips Balance
Discussion:
DownWithTyranny!
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.
Oskar Garcia / Associated Press:
McGovern to Meet With Congress on War — George McGovern, the former senator and Democratic presidential candidate, said Thursday that he will meet with more than 60 members of Congress next week to recommend a strategy to remove U.S. troops from Iraq by June.
Times of London:
Handover to Iraqi Army 'set for the end of next year' — American and Iraqi officials have set a date for giving Iraq's forces responsibility for security across the country. — Under a plan to be presented to the UN Security Council next month, the Iraqi Government would assume authority …
Discussion:
Discourse.net
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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
Associated Press:
NY congressman says no offense intended with Mississippi remark — JACKSON, Miss. - A Democratic congressman from New York says he wasn't trying to insult Mississippi in published remarks Thursday, but a Republican colleague from Mississippi says Rep. Charles Rangel should apologize to the state.
Mark Leibovich / New York Times:
Harry Reid, an Infighter With a Sharp Jab — Harry Reid began Election Day with 50 situps and 80 push-ups (very red state of him) and 40 minutes of yoga (very blue state of him). — He spent most of the momentous day in his Senate office, waiting. Just after 2 p.m., he finally heard some actual news …