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.

It's Official: Full Dem Caucus Will Vote On Lieberman's Fate  —  The full Democratic caucus will vote on whether Joe Lieberman is allowed to keep his chairmanship of the Homeland Security committee at its caucus meeting next week, a leadership aide confirms to us.

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 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.

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 …

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.

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.

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.

How the Palin debate helps McCain  —  Want an idea of how popular Sarah Palin was among Southern Republicans?  You can check her numbers in exit polls or just see which element of the party is defending her the loudest.  GOP state chairs in North Carolina, South Carolina and now Tennessee …

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.

For South, a Waning Hold on National Politics  —  VERNON, Ala. — Fear of the politician with the unusual name and look did not end with last Tuesday's vote in this rural red swatch where buck heads and rifles hang on the wall.  This corner of the Deep South still resonates with negative feelings …

From Tiny Sect, Weighty Issue for Justices  —  PLEASANT GROVE CITY, Utah — Across the street from City Hall here sits a small park with about a dozen donated buildings and objects — a wishing well, a millstone from the city's first flour mill and an imposing red granite monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments.

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 …

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.”

A House Disappointment  —  There's some sentiment out and about that Democrats “underperformed” in House of Representatives races, perhaps because (in Mickey Kaus' words) “swing voters compensated for the bold, hopeful risk they took on Obama (including for overcoming any race prejudice) …

John Edwards returns to public stage in Indiana  —  BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards is returning to the public stage for a speech at Indiana University, three months after he acknowledged an affair with a woman hired to produce videos of him in 2006.

McCain Owes Sarah Some Straight Talk  —  Where's John McCain's honor when we need it?  —  We'll find out tonight, when the Arizona Republican appears on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno.  In the week since the election, Mr. McCain's campaign team has leaked some nasty stuff about Sarah Palin.