memeorandum: Norm Coleman for RNC chair? (Jon Ward/Washington Times)

9:30 PM ET, November 19, 2008

Top Items:

Giving Up on God — As Republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat, they likely will overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit. — Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D. — I'm bathing in holy water as I type. — To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing …

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, Washington Monthly, Flopping Aces, Salon, Liberal Values, I Am TRex, Comments from Left Field, Classical Values, Right Wing Watch, Donklephant, The Mahablog, TBogg, Incertus, NewsBusters.org and Firedoglake

Jonah Goldberg / The Corner:

Whither Oogedy-Boogedyism? — My email box runneth over with nice attaboys and more than a few interesting criticisms regarding my post about Kathleen Parker. Keying off some of the criticisms, here's one thing I want to know, as I sit here at the Whither Conservatism conference.

Discussion: Kevin Drum and Townhall.com

Brendan Miniter / Wall Street Journal:

No Room for RINOs — Who will resurrect the GOP? — South Carolina's Mark Sanford is one of three GOP governors now being widely mentioned as potential saviors of the Republican Party between now and 2012. All are conspicuous for calling on their own party to live up to its principles.

Discussion: The Field on the Narcosphere and Macsmind

Jonah Goldberg / The Corner:
Quit It Kathleen — To my friend Kathleen Parker — This act is getting really old.

Discussion: Hot Air and Wonkette

Maura Dolan / Los Angeles Times:

Prop. 8 gay marriage ban goes to Supreme Court — The California high court will review legal challenges to Prop. 8. A hearing is set for March. Prior to a ruling, gay weddings will not be allowed to resume. — REPORTING FROM SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court agreed today …

Discussion: Political Machine, La Shawn Barber's Corner, Box Turtle Bulletin and National Review

Bob Egelko / San Francisco Chronicle:

State Supreme Court to hear challenges to Prop. 8 — (11-19) 13:57 PST SAN FRANCISCO — The state Supreme Court plunged back into the same-sex marriage wars today, agreeing to decide the legality of a ballot measure that repealed the right of gay and lesbian couples to wed in California.

Discussion: Mike Tidmus

Bee Capitol / Sacramento Bee:
Supreme Court takes up gay marriage issue

Discussion: Mike Tidmus, MyDD and SFist

Ryan Powers / Think Progress: Huckabee: Prop. 8 Did Not ‘Prohibit’ Same-Sex Marriage

Ali Frick / Think Progress:

Rep. Ackerman: Auto Execs' Private Jet Travel Like Guy At ‘The Soup Kitchen In High Hat And Tuxedo’ — Today, the CEOs of the Detroit Big Three returned to Capitol Hill to ask for $25 billion in loans. Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee, General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner insisted …

Discussion: Brian Beutler and Alternate Brain

Mitt Romney / New York Times:

Let Detroit Go Bankrupt — IF General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won't go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed. — Without that bailout, Detroit will need to drastically restructure itself.

Ezra Klein / American Prospect:

TOM DASCHLE: HEALTH CZAR. — CNN is reporting that Tom Daschle will not only be Health and Human Services Secretary, but also health reform czar under the Obama administration. This is huge news, and the clearest evidence yet that Obama means to pursue comprehensive health reform.

Discussion: The New Republic, Think Progress, RHRealityCheck.org, QandO, Feministe, Hullabaloo, Townhall.com and Connecting.the.Dots

CNN:
Daschle the choice for Health and Human Services

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Politico, Wall Street Journal, Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post, Reuters, the talking dog, Talking Points Memo, Shakesville, Democracy in America, Political Machine, Donklephant, Kevin Drum, TalkLeft and skippy the bush kangaroo

The Trail / Washington Post:
Obama Picks Daschle for HHS

Discussion: The Fix, The Moderate Voice, Daily Kos, American Power and Matthew Yglesias

CNN:

McCain wins Missouri; State's streak over! — From CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser, CNN Research Director Robert Yoon — (CNN) - It's taken more than two weeks, but we finally have a winner in Missouri. — Fifteen days after Election Day, Republican Sen. John McCain …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Associated Press:
McCain wins Missouri in close race against Obama

Discussion: The Politico

Dave Helling / KansasCity.com Prime Buzz: McCain wins Missouri. Kind of. Two weeks later. …

Adam Serwer / American Prospect:

AL QAEDA'S MOST EPIC FAIL EVER. — Al Qaeda plays a little identity politics: … The best part about this is that a knee-jerk patriotic response implicitly rejects the notion of black American culture as oppositional by definition. And doing so is an act of solidarity with the future President of the United States!

Discussion: Ta-Nehisi Coates, QandO, The Washington Independent and Obsidian Wings

Associated Press:
Al-Qaida No. 2 insults Obama with racial epithet

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Fox News, democracyarsenal.org, The Washington Independent, Commentary, On Deadline, CNN, Telegraph, MountainRunner, Don Surber, Swampland, Liberal Values, Sweetness & Light, Atlas Shrugs and PoliticalBase.com Blog

Jon Ward / Washington Times:

Norm Coleman for RNC chair? — Minnesota Republican Sen. Norm Coleman is locked in a recount battle with comedian Al Franken to retain his seat. — But a Republican colleague of Mr. Coleman's on Wednesday floated his name as a potential chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Discussion: MyDD

Foon Rhee / Boston Globe: Kerry expected to get top foreign affairs panel post

David Corn / MoJoBlog:

Obama's First Drama: Hillary Clinton — I was agnostic on the matter of Hillary Clinton's possible appointment as secretary of state—until last night. — If Barack Obama, the president-elect, wanted to pull a Team of Rivals play, that had seemed fine to me.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Media Matters for America, Taylor Marsh and Salon

John Koblin / New York Observer:
Foggy Bottom, Top

Discussion: Gawker

CNN:

Stevens concedes race — (CNN) - Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens has conceded defeat to Democratic challenger Mark Begich in the Alaska Senate race. — Stevens, 85, was the longest serving Republican senator in the chamber's history. — “Given the number of ballots that remain to be counted …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and his vorpal sword

Josh Kraushaar / The Politico:
Stevens ousted; Dems eye power of 60

Discussion: New York Times, Bloomberg, Associated Press and Towleroad

Wall Street Journal:

Obama Hears a Giant Sucking Sound — His legacy is spent before he gets his hands on it. — His friends advise Barack Obama to launch a “New” New Deal. Maybe that's because the old New Deal is sinking fast. — Mr. Obama's one deeply false note during the campaign was his harping on …

Discussion: Power Line

Jonathan Weisman / Wall Street Journal:

Emanuel Sets a Challenge — President-elect Barack Obama's incoming White House chief of staff challenged chief executives and other business leaders Tuesday night to join the new administration in a push for universal health care, saying incremental increases in coverage won't be acceptable.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Booman Tribune, The Raw Story, TPM Election Central, PoliticalBase.com Blog, Gawker, MyDD, Washington Monthly, The New Republic and Los Angeles Times

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:

Michelle Bachmann denies saying she wanted the media to investigate members of Congress who might be anti-American — John Amato's virtual online magazine...OK, It's a blog! — Home- Archives — Tags Directory — Contact Us- Donate- FAQ — Advertising- Commenting- General …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

change.gov:

Policy Working Groups — “Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today.” - President-elect Barack Obama — GSA Transition Directory — Learn — Policy Working Groups

Discussion: Washington Post, CNET News, Lost in Transition and The Washington Independent

Wall Street Journal:

It's Time to Give Voters the Liberalism They Want — Don't believe pundits who say there's a centrist mandate. — It is possible, I suppose, that the pundits are right and the public didn't really mean it when it elected a liberal Democrat president and gave Democrats even larger majorities in both houses of Congress.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Hullabaloo, Political Machine, The Heretik and Wonk Room

Matt Canham / Salt Lake Tribune:

Election surprise: Obama won Salt Lake County voters' nod — Politics » Democrats say win is a big step for party's plans in Beehive State. — Updated election results released Tuesday show that Salt Lake County voters favored Barack Obama over John McCain — but just barely …

Discussion: The Reaction

Washington Wire:

Huckabee on Palin: 'She Didn't Have to Get Bloodied' — Laura Meckler reports from Washington on politics. — Former Gov. Mike Huckabee, a once and possibly future presidential candidate, admires his fellow social conservative, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Really.

Discussion: TIME.com

Declan McCullagh / CBS News:

Rewarding Failure: Why Stop With Big 3? — With Tongue In Cheek, Declan McCullagh Urges Treasury Chief To Bail Out Everybody … The Honorable Henry Paulson — U.S. Department of the Treasury — 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW — Washington, DC 20220 — Dear Secretary Paulson: