Ted Kennedy's Circle Upset By Caroline Kennedy's Awkward Exit  —  Senator Ted Kennedy and Caroline Kennedy in August 2008  —  Of all the many ways in which Caroline Kennedy's brief and unofficial candidacy for the U.S. Senate was mishandled, one final ungraceful note is striking particularly close to home.

With Kennedy Out, N.R.A. Becomes Issue  —  ALBANY — Representative Carolyn McCarthy of Long Island, a staunch supporter of gun-control laws, said in an interview Thursday that she would challenge a fellow Democrat, Representative Kirsten E. Gillibrand, if Gov. David A. Paterson names Ms. Gillibrand to the Senate.

On Plane to Texas, Critiques of the Speech  —  WASHINGTON — On the plane, no longer Air Force One but now Special Air Mission 28000, they talked about the speech.  George W. Bush, the former president, was heading home to Texas with his inner circle, having just left the west front of the Capitol …

2,688 Days  —  When President Bush left office on Tuesday, America marked 2,688 days without a terrorist attack on its soil.  There are 1,459 days until the next inauguration.  Whether Barack Obama is standing on the Capitol steps to be sworn in a second time depends on whether he succeeds in replicating Bush's achievement.

Obama Staff Arrives to White House Stuck in Dark Ages of Technology  —  If the Obama campaign represented a sleek, new iPhone kind of future, the first day of the Obama administration looked more like the rotary-dial past.  —  Two years after launching the most technologically savvy presidential campaign …

Pa. defense firm raided by FBI  —  Federal agents raided the offices of a Western Pennsylvania defense contractor that has received millions in federal earmarks at the request of Rep. John Murtha, according to local media reports.  —  The offices of Kuchera Industries and Kuchera Defense Systems …