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.

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 …

Will CEOs come to Obama's aid?  - Markets keep sliding - Boehner bending?  - Obama claims mandate - More Elizabeth Warren speculation  —  WILL CHIEF EXECUTIVES COME TO OBAMA'S AID?  — One smart former top GOP operative emails: “You should start a pool — what day will the 80 CEOs who signed …

LaTourette: Tea party response to Romney loss is ‘crap’  —  (CNN) - After some tea party leaders blamed Mitt Romney's loss in the presidential election on his lack of conservatism, Rep. Steve LaTourette of Ohio, a moderate Republican who announced his retirement in July, offered sharp criticism to their reaction.

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 …

The best thing about embracing your Hobbitry...  ...Is that you can stop caring what the GOP establishment and its mouthpieces think about you.  —  And you can say things like this: if Chris Christie or Jeb Bush are ever put up for national office, I'll actively campaign against them.

Axelrod: Talk of mandate ‘foolish, generally untrue’  —  Obama senior campaign adviser David Axelrod downplayed talk of an election mandate on the “fiscal cliff” on Thursday.  —  Axelrod said presidents always talk after an election about a mandate, but he called such talk “foolish.”

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...

Mitt Romney planned Boston Harbor fireworks show that was scotched by election loss  —  Mitt Romney had planned to celebrate his election as the nation's 45th president with an eight-minute fireworks display over Boston Harbor.  —  The same company that does some of the illuminations …

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.

Sheldon Adelson's Paper Runs Headline “America Chose Socialism”  —  The headline runs over an analysis piece in the billionaire's Israeli paper, Israel Today.

Looking at the national exit poll  —  I know you're polled out, but with all the navel-gazing today about demographics and the future of the GOP, I figured people might want a link to the numbers behind last night's disaster.  Here's CNN's version, Fox News's version, and WaPo's version, which breaks the trend lines down by arrows.

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.

Obama re-election sends U.S. down ‘path of destruction,’ says Franklin Graham  —  CHARLOTTE, N.C. — On the day of his father's 94th birthday, and the day after the country re-elected President Barack Obama president, evangelist Franklin Graham gave two-pronged advice to the American people:

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 …

House panel invites Clinton to testify at Libya hearing  —  The House Foreign Affairs Committee has scheduled an open hearing for next Thursday on the Libya terror attack and has invited Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to testify, Fox News has learned.  —  The committee joins two others planning …