Rove's On-Air Rebuttal of Fox's Ohio Vote Call Raises Questions About His Role  —  It was 11:13 p.m. on Tuesday, the moment that Fox News had called Ohio for President Obama.  Karl Rove stood just off camera, his phone glued to his ear.  On the other end was a senior Romney campaign official …

Life after defeat for Mitt Romney: Public praise, private questions  —  BOSTON — Mitt Romney began his retreat from public life Wednesday at a private breakfast gathering with a couple hundred of his most loyal and affluent campaign benefactors.  The former Massachusetts governor …

Vegas Employer: Obama Won, So I Fired 22 Employees  —  LAS VEGAS (CBS Las Vegas) — A Las Vegas business owner with 114 employees fired 22 workers today, apparently as a direct result of President Obama's re-election.  —  “David” (he asked to remain anonymous for obvious reasons) …

Vice President Joe Biden to guest on ‘Parks and Recreation’ — EXCLUSIVE VIDEO  —  Next week's episode of Parks and Recreation is going to have a VIP: the VP.  —  Joe Biden — yes, the very guy who was re-elected Vice President of the United States less than 24 hours ago …

Make a deficit deal now  —  Erskine Bowles, who served as chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, was co-chairman of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.  —  The American people spoke on Tuesday, and they voted for a continuation of divided government.

Romneyworld reckoning begins  —  BOSTON — Advisers to Mitt Romney insisted Wednesday that they were surprised by the scale of their loss to President Barack Obama, while big-time GOP donors griped about the campaign's unflinching confidence in the final stretch.

The Case of the Missing White Voters  —  One of the more intriguing narratives for election 2012 was proposed by political scientist Brendan Nyhan fairly early on: that it was “Bizarro 2004.”  The parallels to that year certainly were eerie: An incumbent adored by his base …

Boeing Announces Big Layoffs in Defense Division  —  Boeing announced a major restructuring of its defense division on Wednesday that will cut 30 percent of management jobs from 2010 levels, close facilities in California and consolidate several business units to cut costs.  —  The company [BA Loading...

We Forget  —  There is no permanence in politics.  All is fleeting.  All is cyclical.  We find comfort in our cycle and distress when others rise to the top.  —  Right now, conservatives are bitterly disappointed.  Some choose to check out mentally.  Some have decided to throw in the towel.

GOP civil war: Herman Cain calls for third party  —  As the GOP fights itself in the wake of Mitt Romney's loss, calls for a third party emerge  —  It's been less than 24 hours since the polls closed and already the first shots in an emerging civil war within the conservative movement are being fired.

Obama supporters celebrate: No more Israel; kill those motherf***ers  —  Obama supporters out celebrating his win on election night gathered on State Street Tuesday evening.  I asked one man why he was celebrating Obama, and what that meant to him.  He said, “It really means to me …

Republican Reckoning Begins After Revealing Defeat … REACT:  —  FOLLOW:  —  Elections 2012, Barack Obama , Mitt Romney, Elections 2012, Natural Disasters, Republican Party, Video, Ground Game, Turnout, Politics News  —  BOSTON — Republican Party leaders on Wednesday began picking …

Sneed exclusive: Jesse Jackson Jr. in plea deal talks with feds: sources  —  Sneed has learned U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who handily won re-election Tuesday despite a lengthy stay at Mayo Clinic for depression and bipolar disorder, is in the midst of plea discussions with the feds probing his alleged misuse of campaign funds.

Little to Show for Cash Flood by Big Donors  —  At the private air terminal at Logan Airport in Boston early Wednesday, men in unwrinkled suits sank into plush leather chairs as they waited to board Gulfstream jets, trading consolations over Mitt Romney's loss the day before.

Last of ballots being counted by Miami-Dade; results expected by afternoon  —  Long voting lines in South Florida drew criticism, but nowhere was worse than Miami-Dade.  Mayor Carlos Gimenez acknowledged some problems, and ordered a review.  —  CMORGAN@MIAMIHERALD.COM

Karl Rove's election nightmare: Super PAC's spending was nearly for naught  —  Karl Rove was the political genius of the George W. Bush era — the architect of the last Republican president's two electoral victories.  But this week, he may have had the worst election night of anybody in American politics.

Blue reign in Sacramento: Democrats dominate California voting  —  The Democrats' historic gains position them for unchecked power in the form of two-thirds majorities in both houses.  —  Gov. Jerry Brown could have two-thirds Democratic majorities in both houses of California's Legislature.

Slash the 'Stache!  —  The Goal: To raise the cash  —  David Axelrod's mustache is safe... for now.  President Obama won PA, MI, and MN.  —  But that famous mustache is on the line again.  David has promised to shave it, this time in support of another of his favorite causes - epilepsy research.

BAD SIGN: FEMA office on Staten Island closes ‘due to weather’  —  Looks as if FEMA is just a fair- weather friend.  —  Yesterday's nor'easter proved too much for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's aid location in Tottenville, SI — which hung a sign reading “Closed due to weather” as the wintery storm blew into town.

2016 election: Hillary Clinton vs. Jeb Bush?  —  BOSTON — American politics may be headed back to the future.  —  Four years after the country elected a 40-something African-American newcomer named Barack to the presidency, a more familiar political order is poised to reassert itself …

Obama re-election protest escalates at Univ. of Mississippi; racial slurs, 2 arrests reported  —  JACKSON, Miss. — A protest at the University of Mississippi against the re-election of President Barack Obama grew into crowd of about 400 people with shouted racial slurs as rumors of a riot spread on social media.

A Silver Lining and a Conundrum [Updated]  —  I can see only one good outcome from yesterday's election: the fact that Barack Obama will be the president who inherits the mess left by Barack Obama.  The economy is in awful shape; it won't get much better given Obama's policies, and may get worse.

Bitterfest 2012  —  Four years ago, at just this time, I wrote a column headed “Bitterfest '08.”  I pledged a couple of weeks ago that I would not write such a column this year.  I pledged to myself, I mean.  I said, “If Romney loses, I'm not going to write another Bitterfest column.

Kay Bailey Hutchison: GOP can't ‘throw away’ women  —  Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said Thursday that her party must stop treating women as “a throw-away.”  —  “When we talk about women's issues and the social issues, people have to stop acting like the woman is a throw-away here …