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 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 …

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.

President Bush Discusses the Transition with Employees of the Executive Office of the President  —  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming.  Mr. Vice President and Lynne, thank you for being here with us.  Laura and I welcome you to the South Lawn — better known as Barney's playground.  (Laughter.)

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 …

Will Obama's First Term Really Just be a Hybrid of Clinton III and GW Bush III?  —  There is a strong chance that Lawrence Summers is going to be returned to the post of Secretary of the Treasury.  If so, he's pulling a “Donald Rumsfeld” who served as Secretary of Defense twice …

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.

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.

Lieberman After Meeting with Reid - Video  —  Reid and Lieberman won't say what happened in the meeting.  —  My guess?  Reid told him he can stay in the caucus if he steps down from his committee chairmanship (a campaign we started shortly after the 2006 election, thanks to everyone who participated with pitchforks and torches).

‘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 …

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.

Franken says recount is needed  —  The Democrat's deficit is down to 341 votes in his Senate battle with Norm Coleman.  —  Democrat Al Franken, locked in an overtime election battle with incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, said today that he is pushing ahead with the recount of Tuesday's voting.

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 …

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.

Saul Alinsky Takes the White House  —  Conservatives may not realize just how difficult it might be to recover from this week's elections.  —  The day after the big defeat, the conservative chatter everywhere was about how the “movement” and the Republican Party (two different things) …