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 …

Bittersweet  —  As thrilled as I am that the country has begun to shake off the curse of the GOP, this still hurts: … And naturally, the first words out of many of the gasbags' mouths were that this means the country is still “center-right” and that there is no mandate for progressive change.

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

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.

Reid, Lieberman to meet  —  (CNN) — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will likely meet later this week with Joe Lieberman to discuss whether the Democrat-turned-Independent will be stripped of his Senate committee chairmanship, a senior Democratic leadership aide tells CNN.

Let's Make Sure We Keep it Clean in Oregon, Shall We?  —  Matt Lewis of Town Hall has caught wind of some questionable activity out in Oregon, where the tight, contested Senate race between Jeff Merkley and Gordon Smith is going to a recount this week.

Stevens Says Victory Is at Hand  —  Embattled Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens' (R) campaign stopped just short of declaring victory Wednesday afternoon, releasing a statement declaring it is “almost mathematically impossible” for Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (D) to win the Senate race as vote tallies stand.

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.

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.

Election 2008: what really happened  —  After a quick look at the election results and exit polls (from www.cnn.com), some thoughts:  —  1. The election was pretty close.  Obama won by about 5% of the vote, consistent with the latest polls and consistent with his forecast vote based on forecasts based on the economy.

The Treatment of Bush Has Been a Disgrace  —  What must our enemies be thinking?  —  Earlier this year, 12,000 people in San Francisco signed a petition in support of a proposition on a local ballot to rename an Oceanside sewage plant after George W. Bush.

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.

Notes from the collapse  —  This morning, after having absorbed the substantial victory of Barack Obama, I noticed a couple of interesting items in the data.  Barack Obama certainly won this race, but he won it with just a little more votes than George Bush won in his re-election bid, and the turnout models came up short.

The Man in the Arena  —  McCain concedes.  —  John McCain seemed oddly self-assured as he walked to the podium to deliver the final address of his 2008 presidential campaign—a concession speech.  He wore a blue suit, a light blue shirt and a gold tie that matched his wife's dress.

No mandate for Obama, no lopsided Congress  —  WASHINGTON — The national election Tuesday was not only historic for the election of the first African-American president in the nation's history but also for how little the avalanche of Democratic votes changed the political alignment in Congress.

Obama Administration Survival Guide  —  Welcome To The Loyal Opposition  —  The nation awakens today to a grim day (although less grim than it might have been, as the late Senate races come in and the prognosis for a decent-sized GOP resistance looks much better).  But America has endured worse.

Obama to Name Napolitano, Peña, Daley to Transition Team  —  In addition to the three people who will be running President-elect Barack Obama's transition team — former White House chief of staff John Podesta, Obama family friend/businesswoman Valier Jarrett, and Obama campaign chief …

Not the end of the world  —  It's easy to let yourself go in despair and start thinking things like “We are well-and-truly f**ked” or “This is the worst of all possible outcomes”.  But it isn't true.  —  I think this election is going to be a “coming of age” moment for a lot of people.

History on Cuba - Hidden in Plain View - In Florida's Election Returns  —  Florida gave us all a gift last night.  —  In the election returns, hidden in plain view, is license for President-elect Obama to fundamentally rethink U.S. policy toward Cuba and expand on his incremental approach.