Darkness at Dusk  —  It's only been a week since the defeat, but the battle lines have already been drawn in the fight over the future of conservatism.  —  In one camp, there are the Traditionalists, the people who believe that conservatives have lost elections because they have strayed from the true creed.

BUSH ANGER: OBAMA AIDES LEAK CHAT DETAILS  —  Just hours after President Bush and President-elect Obama met in the Oval Office of the White House, details of their confidential conversation began leaking out to the press, igniting anger from the president, sources claim.

Obama puts leash on lobbyists for transition  —  After bashing rival John McCain for surrounding himself with lobbyists, Barack Obama announced today what his transition team calls the strictest lobbying rules ever during a presidential transfer of power.  —  But it could also be viewed …

Schumer and Durbin Want Lieberman Stripped of Homeland Security Chair  —  Newsweek's Howard Fineman on Keith Olbermann: … One point I think needs to be made.  This isn't about Joe Lieberman maintaining membership in a country club as a matter of feel-good “bipartisanship.”

CH-CH-CHANGES  —  A couple of potentially disturbing reports today in the Wall Street Journal, one suggesting that Obama is not going to substantially rein in Bush-era intelligence activities and another reporting that Obama is leaning toward asking Bob Gates to stay on as secretary of defense.

Obama likely to escape campaign audit  —  The Federal Election Commission is unlikely to conduct a potentially embarrassing audit of how Barack Obama raised and spent his presidential campaign's record-shattering windfall, despite allegations of questionable donations and accounting that had the McCain campaign crying foul.

Brownstein On The Palin Dilemma  —  Sarah Palin, who started her post-campaign bid for rehabilitation with a series of high profile interviews this week, emerged from the 2008 election in an even more politically damaged condition than previously understood, new data show.

Poll finds most Americans welcome Dem control  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — It was one of John McCain's closing arguments: “We're getting a glimpse of what one-party rule would look like under Obama, Pelosi, and Reid.  Apparently it starts with lowering our defenses and raising our taxes,” …

The onset of ODS  —  For the past seven-plus years, the Left has suffered from Bush Derangement Syndrome.  Well, actually, the rest of us have suffered from their embrace of BDS, which one might think would inoculate us from any related maladies.  As Jake Tapper notes, though …

Saxby Chambliss Seeks Deferment From Runoff - Cites “Bum Knee”  —  Never one to let an opportunity to mislead the people of Georgia, Saxby Chambliss has requested that he actually be excused from the December 2nd runoff against Jim Martin and just be declared the winner.

Why Obama Looks Like a One Termer  —  Just “one and done” for Barack Obama's presidency?  Recall an ominous passage in his otherwise joyous election-night speech: “The road ahead will be long.  Our climb will be steep.  We may not get there in one year or even in one term.”

Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Dana Perino  —  MS. PERINO: All right, so, sorry that we couldn't do this on the plane, but I — as I told you I ran out of time and doing the gaggle on ascent — or on descent has proved dangerous in the past.  So thanks for gathering here.

Obama-Clinton soap opera takes new turn  —  Michelle Obama wasn't always an admirer of Hillary Clinton, but last Wednesday the soon-to-be first lady dialed up the former first lady for pointers on protecting her two young daughters from the media maelstrom of the White House.

Surge for Obama sealed Prop. 8's victory  —  Supporters of same-sex marriage rights are fuming over California voters' approval of Proposition 8, which would place a ban on such marriages in the state constitution - especially since in other respects voters showed a somewhat left-of-center bent …