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.
Discussion:
QandO, The Moderate Voice, Don Surber, Alabama Liberation Front and Shakespeare's Sister
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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.
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.
Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
Troops Fear The Loss Of Rumsfeld — American troops concerned with the loss of Donald Rumsfeld spoke to Martin Fletcher of the Times of London, worried that the new Secretary of Defense would pull them out of Iraq before they could complete the mission: … The American troops believe in the mission they serve.
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C. J. Chivers / New York Times:
Marines Get the News From an Iraqi Host: Rumsfeld's Out. 'Who's Rumsfeld?' — Hashim al-Menti smiled wanly at the marine sergeant beside him on his couch. The sergeant had appeared in the darkness on Wednesday night, knocking on the door of Mr. Menti's home.
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.
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.
Discussion:
Riehl World View, Cold Fury, Blogs for Bush, Silent Running, No More Mister Nice Blog, Redstate and TigerHawk
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Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:
Removal of Rumsfeld Dates Back to Summer — Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld walking back to his motorcade Thursday after touring the Eisenhower Museum in Abilene, Kan. — President Bush was moving by late summer toward removing Donald H. Rumsfeld as defense secretary, people inside and outside the White House said Thursday.
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Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Video: Allen concedes to Webb; Update: Webb video added — Coming soon. Allen is speaking now and has just congratulated Webb on his victory. I understand that Webb will speak somewhere shortly after Allen is done. We'll have video of that here too, hopefully. — Standby.
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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.
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.
Dafna Linzer / Washington Post:
Bolton May Not Return As U.N. Envoy — Key lawmakers said yesterday they would block the nomination of John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations, all but killing chances for him to remain in the post past December. — For nearly 20 months, President Bush has tried, unsuccessfully …
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Caren Bohan / Reuters:
Bush makes push for approval of UN envoy Bolton
Bush makes push for approval of UN envoy Bolton
Discussion:
Hot Air, Associated Press, Fox News, The Washington Note, Atlas Shrugs, Flopping Aces and Outside The Beltway
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.
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 …
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Only a Minor Earthquake — How serious is the "thumpin' " the Republicans took on Tuesday? Losing one house is significant but hardly historic. Losing both houses, however, is defeat of a different order of magnitude, the equivalent in a parliamentary system of a vote of no confidence.
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 …