Stinging Talk About Obama?  Never Mind Now  —  That whole anti-American, friend-to-the-terrorists thing about President-elect Barack Obama?  Never mind.  —  Just a few weeks ago, at the height of the campaign, Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota told Chris Matthews of MSNBC that …

McCain Campaign Autopsy  —  Chief strategist Steve Schmidt talks about the moment—back in September—when he knew McCain was doomed.  Plus, his surprising view on gay marriage, and more scoop on leaks.  —  Reached on a long-planned vacation outside the country, former McCain campaign chief …

Palin and Africa, Etc.  —  I talked to Steve Biegun, the former Bush NSC aid who briefed Sarah Palin on foreign policy, and he considers the leaks against her on the international stuff “absurd.”  —  He says there's no way she didn't know Africa was a continent, and whoever is saying she didn't must be distorting “a fumble of words.”

Coleman campaign requests halt of absentee ballot count  —  Republican Sen. Norm Coleman sought an injunction to stop the opening and counting of 32 absentee ballots in Minneapolis, according to a copy of the court documents filed today provided to the Pioneer Press by Democrat Al Franken's campaign.

Obama Positioned to Quickly Reverse Bush Actions  —  Stem Cell, Climate Rules Among Targets of President-Elect's Team  —  Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone …

Real Time: The Hard Core Republican Base Is Like A Stalker-Rejection Just Makes Them Crazier  —  From Real Time Nov. 7, 2008.  New Rules.

‘Do What You Got Elected to Do’  —  The incoming chief of staff says expect a pragmatic White House.  —  Detroit  —  In Rahm Emanuel's telling, the Democratic victories on Tuesday were a continuum of what began in the 2006 midterm elections, when his party won majorities in the House and the Senate for the first time in 12 years.

Back Home, Palin Finds Landscape Has Changed  —  ANCHORAGE — Gov. Sarah Palin has returned to Alaska fully recast and amplified.  —  Adored by many national conservatives, Ms. Palin is a prospect for a presidential run in 2012, supporters say.  Caricatured by opponents, she is a candidate for political oblivion, say others.

Memo to the POTUS-elect  —  Congratulations, Senator Obama.  You ran a good campaign, and you racked up an historic victory.  As you get ready for your new responsibilities, let me suggest four ways for you to become a reliable steward of the economy:  —  Listen to your economists.

Obama Team Weighs What to Take On in First Months  —  WASHINGTON — With the economy in disarray and the nation's treasury draining, President-elect Barack Obama and his advisers are trying to figure out which of his expansive campaign promises to push in the opening months of his tenure and which to put on a slower track.

C&L Movie Review: Che by Steven Soderbergh  —  Che … There is a silent fragment of a scene in Guerrilla, the second part of Steven Soderbergh's epic cinematic experience, Che that is very telling.  Che Guevara, portrayed brilliantly by Benicio Del Toro, is trying to motivate a group …

Obama aide denies missile plan report  —  (CNN) — U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has made “no commitment” to plans for a missile defense program in eastern Europe, despite a report on the Polish president's Web site, an Obama adviser said Saturday.  —  Obama spoke to President Lech Kaczynki …

An Obama Tilt in Campaign Coverage  —  The Post provided a lot of good campaign coverage, but readers have been consistently critical of the lack of probing issues coverage and what they saw as a tilt toward Democrat Barack Obama.  My surveys, which ended on Election Day, show that they are right on both counts.

Become terrorists, cleric urges  —  AS the Bali bombers prepared for their executions, radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir urged Muslims in their home villages to follow them as terrorists.  —  After visiting the bombers' mother Tariyem in this tiny rural hamlet, Bashir emerged …

Senate runoff a test for Obama  —  President-elect Barack Obama may risk some of his newly earned political capital in Georgia, where a Dec. 2 Senate runoff could move Democrats a step closer toward a filibuster-proof, 60-vote majority in the upper chamber.  —  The race is between Republican …

The Perils of ‘Populist Chic’  —  What the rise of Sarah Palin and populism means for the conservative intellectual tradition.  —  Finita la commedia.  Many things ended on Tuesday evening when Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States, and depending on how you voted …

The Contact Gap: Proof of the Importance of the Ground Game?  —  One of the more interesting questions posed on this year's exit polls was whether the voter had been contacted by the Obama and McCain campaigns personally about getting out to vote.  Unfortunately, the exit poll consortium …