Obama Tilts to Center, Inviting a Clash of Ideas  —  WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination with the enthusiastic support of the left wing of his party, fueled by his vehement opposition to the decision to invade Iraq and by one of the most liberal voting records in the Senate.

How Tom Daschle Might Kill Conservatism  —  The GOP strategist had been joking about the upcoming presidential election and giving his humorous assessments of the candidates.  Then he suddenly cut out the schtick and got scary serious.  “Let me tell you something, if Democrats take the White House …

How much is a detroit autoworker really worth?  —  $70 per hour: right or wrong?  —  Felix Salmon argues that this figure for GM's labor costs is deceptive.  Sort of, but it's actually quite apt at showing the core problem with GM.  —  Felix says that “the average GM assembly-line worker makes …

Obama daughters: Private D.C. school  —  The two young daughters of President-elect Barack Obama will be moving schools this winter as the family moves from Chicago to Washington, and the Obama family has settled on a tried-and-true setting for Washington's elite:  —  The private Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C.

Citigroup, Under Siege, Holds Talks With U.S.  —  With the sharp stock-market decline for Citigroup rapidly becoming a full-blown crisis of confidence, the company's executives on Friday entered into talks with federal officials about how to stabilize the struggling financial giant.

Just What Has Obama Gotten Hillary Into?  —  Word is Hillary is saying yes.  —  President Obama could do a lot worse than a foreign policy team of National Security Adviser James Jones, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and CIA Director John Brennan.

AS BAD AS IT GETS  —  “And you thought her media outings as a vice presidential candidate were as bad as it gets,” says alarmed MSNBC host David Shuster ... following footage of Sarah Palin speaking at a turkey processing plant:  —  Shuster (who urges that young viewers be shielded from the interview) …

Hold Tight, Hillary: Russia Just Got Scarier  —  Julia Ioffe is a freelance writer living in New York.  —  If any proof were needed that the Russian political system operates in its own time-space continuum, it came this morning, when the parliament decided to deal with the country's economic meltdown by amending its constitution.

Woodward Knocks Clinton SoS Choice  —  Now that it's considered a foregone conclusion that Sen. Hillary Clinton will be the next secretary of State, the chattering class is weighing in, including legendary reporter Bob Woodward.  FishbowlDC has obtained an advanced transcript of this weekend's …

The Comedian-in-Chief  —  Is SNL's Fred Armisen up to the job?  Jocelyn Guest says Lorne Michaels should recast the role.  Plus, view clips of four actors who auditioned for the part. … Barack Obama's transition is well underway, with Rahm Emanuel, Eric Holder, and Tom Daschle all signed onto his staff.

Terror plot mastermind killed by US missile in Pakistan: officials  —  ISLAMABAD (AFP) - The alleged Al-Qaeda mastermind of a 2006 transatlantic airplane bombing plot was killed in a US missile attack in northwest Pakistan early Saturday, officials said.  —  Rashid Rauf died when a missile hit …

Franken Camp's Claim: We've Cut Coleman's Lead To Under 100 Votes  —  Has Al Franken cut Norm Coleman's lead down to double digits?  That's what the Franken campaign just claimed in a briefing with reporters.  —  The current estimates from the Star Tribune have Coleman up by about 130 votes …

Iraqi throng protests agreement on U.S. forces  —  From From Yousif Bassil and Jomana Karadsheh  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Iraqis outraged by a proposed security pact between Iraq and the United States staged an angry but peaceful protest against the deal Friday.