Emanuel pick sends powerful signal  —  President-elect Barack Obama's selection of Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) as his White House chief of staff is the latest demonstration of a quality Obama showed repeatedly over the course of his campaign: He's willing to do what it takes to win.

A Butler Well Served by This Election  —  For 34 Years, Eugene Allen Carried White House Trays With Pride.  Now There's Even More Reason to Carry Himself That Way.  —  For more than three decades Eugene Allen worked in the White House, a black man unknown to the headlines.

Plouffe to the Senate?  —  Obama campaign manager David Plouffe speaks to the media in the spin room after the vice presidential debate at the Field House of Washington University's Athletic Complex on October 2, 2008 in St. Louis, Missouri.  (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Obama Victory Alters the Tenor of Iraqi Politics  —  BAGHDAD — Barack Obama may have been elected only three days ago, but his victory is already beginning to shift the political ground in Iraq and the region.  —  Iraqi Shiite politicians are indicating that they will move faster toward …

Franken's deficit: 236 votes  —  Sen. Norm Coleman's Democratic challenger is vowing to push ahead with a recount.  —  Just as Secretary of State Mark Ritchie was explaining to reporters the recount process in one of the narrowest elections in Minnesota history, an aide rushed in with news …

Larry Summers For Treasury Secretary?  —  Arguably, the most important appointment President Obama will make is the Treasury Secretary, to help guide us out of this morass left us by the Bush neocons.  One of the people that has most captured the media's attention is Larry Summers.  But is he the right guy?

Emanuel Was Director Of Freddie Mac During Scandal  —  New Obama Chief of Staff, Others on Board, Missed “Red Flags” of Alleged Fraud Scheme  —  President-elect Barack Obama's newly appointed chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, served on the board of directors of the federal mortgage firm Freddie Mac …

The Great Debates  —  McCain bridled at reducing his opinions to sound bites.  Obama prepped as if he were taking the bar exam—nothing was left to chance.  —  This is part six of a seven-part in-depth look behind the scenes of the campaign, consisting of exclusive behind-the-scenes reporting …

Georgia Claims on Russia War Called Into Question  —  TBILISI, Georgia — Newly available accounts by independent military observers of the beginning of the war between Georgia and Russia this summer call into question the longstanding Georgian assertion that it was acting defensively against separatist and Russian aggression.

Palin Aide Fires Back at Reported McCain Camp Slams  —  Says RNC, Not Palin, Responsible for Wardrobe Missteps; Rejects Other Complaints  —  Now that the defeated Republican presidential team of Sen. John McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin have gone their separate ways, the knives are out and Palin is the one who is getting filleted.

69% of GOP Voters Say Palin Helped McCain  —  Sixty-nine percent (69%) of Republican voters say Alaska Governor Sarah Palin helped John McCain's bid for the presidency, even as news reports surface that some McCain staffers think she was a liability.  —  Only 20% of GOP voters say Palin hurt …

No hidden white bias seen in presidential race  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - Whether whites supported Barack Obama or not, they don't seem to have lied to pollsters about it.  —  Obama's election triumph on Tuesday presented no evidence …

Latinos push for Cabinet posts  —  Weeks before Barack Obama won the presidency, he met privately in Washington with his former Democratic rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, and Latino political leaders who had fervently backed her bid.  —  The cards were laid upon the table, according to one of the participants.

Obama's ex-pastor: Media used me  —  Rev. Wright accuses media of using him as a ‘weapon of mass destruction’  —  MILFORD, Conn. - Barack Obama's former pastor complained Thursday that the media used him as a “weapon of mass destruction” in an attempt to derail Obama's campaign for the presidency.

www.change.gov smells like a fund-raising front  —  Government domain names (".gov") for websites are supposed to be restricted to eligible government organizations and programs.  —  Does Barack Obama's transition website, www.change.gov — which is basically a souped-up version of his campaign site — qualify?

Reid looking to remove Lieberman as committee head  —  WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Joe Lieberman's affiliation with Democrats was in question after a meeting Thursday with Majority Leader Harry Reid, steamed over the Connecticut independent's high-profile support of John McCain for president.

DeMint urges GOP to expel Stevens  —  South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint is pushing his party's leadership to expel Sen. Ted Stevens from the Senate during this month's “lame duck” session, according to people familiar with his plans.  —  DeMint, one of the most conservative members of the Senate …