Obama rebukes Bush years with Clinton  —  What message should we take away from President-elect Barack Obama's choices for his national-security team?  —  One is that his presidency will be far different than the past eight years.  By his choices, he's rebuking the presidential management style …

Cheer Fades as Stocks Plunge 9%  —  December blew in with a mighty chill on Wall Street.  —  In six and a half hours on Monday, the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index declined nearly 9 percent — the type of collapse that, historically, has taken years to occur.

Franken May Ask Senate to Intervene in Minn. Recount  —  Democrat Al Franken's campaign said Monday that as many as 1,000 absentee ballots were improperly disqualified in Minnesota's Senate race, and that it may appeal to courts or the U.S. Senate to order that those ballots be counted.

David Gregory To Moderate “Meet The Press”  —  David Gregory will take the reins as moderator of NBC's “Meet the Press,” the Huffington Post has learned.  Gregory has been a leading contender for the permanent spot since Tom Brokaw stepped in as interim moderator following Tim Russert's death in June.

Bill Clinton mentioned for wife's Senate seat  —  CNN Deputy Political Director  —  (CNN) — After eight years as senator from New York, Hillary Clinton is trading places, moving from Congress to the incoming administration.  —  On Monday, President-elect Barack Obama announced that he asked …

Liberals: Dion would be PM  —  VIDEO: Tories toss policy, release secret tapes  —  Liberal Leader Stephane Dion shakes hands with caucus members following a caucus meeting on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa Monday Dec. 1, 2008.  The Liberals have said they have agreed to form a coalition government …

Bush says some voters backed Obama ‘because of me’  —  President Bush says he wants to be remembered as a president who stuck to his values.  (GETTY IMAGES)  —  (CNN) - President Bush told an interviewer that his presidency may have helped Barack Obama win the White House.

Better Questions, Please  —  Watching the Obama rollout of his national security team from overseas—I'm in Europe, on my way to Afghanistan—I was struck by the inanity of most of the questions from my colleagues.  Granted, these are political reporters, not national security or foreign policy specialists …

Fox News shut out again at Obama press conference.  —  Fishbowl DC has been keeping tabs of which media outlets have been allowed to ask a question at President-elect Barack Obama's five press conferences so far.  They report Fox News is 0-5.  “Questions instead went to such outlets as ABC …

MSNBC Anchor Frets: Why Hasn't Obama's Election Ended Terrorism?  —  File this one under “Deluded Expectations.”  During MSNBC's coverage of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, daytime anchor Alex Witt seemed frustrated that the election of Barack Obama 23 days earlier …

The Curious Retention of Robert Gates  —  Barack Obama's national security team—at this early stage—presents more questions than answers.  His selection of Hillary Clinton to be secretary of state has been a much-chewed-over topic of pundit puzzlement.  And with the Monday morning unveiling …

U.S. Warned India in October of Potential Terror Attack  —  NSA Now Tracking Captured Phones, U.S. Connections  —  U.S. intelligence agencies warned their Indian counterparts in mid-October of a potential attack “from the sea against hotels and business centers in Mumbai,” a U.S. intelligence official tells ABCNews.com.

Nominee Would Lead ID Program She Opposed  —  WASHINGTON — As governor of Arizona, Janet Napolitano, President-elect Barack Obama's choice for homeland security secretary, pledged that her state would not cooperate with a major domestic security initiative, the Real ID drivers' license program.

We must stand by our most important ally.  —  It's in human nature to mention any personal connection when offering solidarity, so I shall just briefly say that on my first visit to India, in 1980, I stayed at the Taj Mahal in Bombay, visited the “Gateway of India” and took a boat to Elephanta Island …

Treasury's Lead Role in China in Flux  —  WASHINGTON — When Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. leaves office next month, Washington will lose its No. 1 China hand.  Mr. Paulson, who spent years cultivating Chinese leaders as a Wall Street banker, has spearheaded American policy toward Beijing since 2006.

How Pvt. Monica Brown Won A Silver Star  —  Lara Logan Interviews A Young Woman Who Won A Silver Star For Exceptional Valor At Age 18  —  (CBS) Private Monica Brown is only the second woman to be awarded the Silver Star since World War II.  She's an Army medic who risked her own life to save …

Muslim graveyard refuses to bury terrorists in Mumbai  —  Nico Hines, and Rhys Blakely in Mumbai  —  A Muslim graveyard in the heart of Mumbai has broken with Islamic tradition and refused to bury the bodies of nine terrorists who were killed during the attack on India's financial capital.

Toomey: Specter faces tougher road in 2010  —  A former Republican lawmaker who nearly defeated Arlen Specter in a bruising 2004 primary said on Monday that the Pennsylvania senator faces a tougher road to reelection in 2010.  —  Former Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), whom Specter defeated by less …

Obama To Vacation In Hawaii For Christmas  —  President-elect Barack Obama will spend the Christmas and New Year's holidays on an extended vacation with his family in Hawaii, Democratic sources confirmed today.  The length of the vacation is not yet clear, and transition officials would not comment.

Bailout Monitor Sees Lack of a Coherent Plan  —  The head of a new Congressional panel set up to monitor the gigantic federal bailout says the government still does not seem to have a coherent strategy for easing the financial crisis, despite the billions it has already spent in that effort.