EXCLUSIVE: Emanuel accepts White House job  —  Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), a wily, aggressive West Wing strategist under President Bill Clinton, has accepted the post of White House chief of staff for President-elect Barack Obama, Democratic officials tell Politico.

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.

Obama campaign workers angry over unpaid wages  —  Updated:  —  Indianapolis - Lines were long and tempers flared Wednesday not to vote but to get paid for canvassing for Barack Obama.  Several hundred people are still waiting to get their pay for last-minute campaigning.

Obama adds symbolic NC victory to White House win  —  President-elect Barack Obama has won North Carolina, adding 15 electoral votes to his wide victory and a symbolic triumph in a state that hadn't voted for a Democrat in more than a generation.  —  The Associated Press declared …

Sen. Gordon Smith calls to concede to Jeff Merkley … Republican Gordon Smith, who has represented Oregon in the U.S. Senate for the last 12 years, this morning called Jeff Merkley, his Democratric challenger, to concede their race.  —  Jon Isaacs, an aide to Merkley …

McCain at ease after loss  —  On the day after his victory, Barack Obama faced a world in financial crisis, shooting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a nation that expected him to deliver on all his promises.  —  John McCain faced a barbecue.  —  “I got nine racks of ribs,” McCain told his closest aide and co-author, Mark Salter.

An answer to Proposition 8: Repealing DOMA  —  (updated below)  —  The most potent ingredient making Tuesday's election bittersweet is the apparent passage of Proposition 8 in California.  It's one thing for a state to decide in advance not to allow same-sex marriages.

Captain's Blog: Once and future Treasury Secretary?  —  Larry Summers is in the lead to get Obama's most pressing appointment as head of the Treasury, says Fortune Managing Editor Andy Serwer.  —  NEW YORK (Fortune) — There has been much talk of whom President-elect Barack Obama will name as his Treasury secretary.

‘Impeach Obama’ groups pop up on Facebook … Barack Obama has not even been sworn in yet as the 44th president of the United States but groups are springing up online calling for his impeachment.  —  On Facebook, an “Impeach Barack Obama” group has attracted more than 700 members …

Matthews: My Job Is To Make Obama Presidency a Success  —  Just in time for the new James Bond movie, Chris Matthews has earned himself a new moniker: Odd Job.  Matthews says he sees his job as a journalist as doing everything he can to make the Obama presidency a success.

How the President-Elect Did It  —  The new voters changed the game.  —  Intense and gripping, the 2008 election was also historic.  The son of a Kenyan immigrant and an American mother has risen to the presidency of history's most powerful nation.  Who was not moved by the sight …

Waxman working to oust Dingell  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Just hours after Democrats celebrated an expanded majority in the House of Representatives, a public fight erupted for the leadership of a key committee charged with enacting many of President-elect Barack Obama's agenda items.

Writers welcome a literary president-elect  —  NEW YORK - Last winter, Nobel laureate Toni Morrison received a phone call from Sen. Barack Obama, then the underdog to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.  —  Obama had contacted Morrison to ask for her support.

What Would Goldwater Do?  —  WASHINGTON — Graciously conceding as vice president in 1980, Walter Mondale spoke of voters wielding “their staggering power.”  This year's energized electorate did that, thereby proving, among other things, that bad governance is good for turnout …