Officials Say F.B.I. Knew of Petraeus Affair in the Summer  —  WASHINGTON — High-level officials at the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department were notified in the late summer that F.B.I. agents had uncovered what appeared to be an extramarital affair involving the director …

Democrat Sinema wins Arizona House race  —  Democrat Kyrsten Sinema has defeated Republican Vernon Parker in Arizona's 9th District, The Associated Press is reporting.  —  The race for that seat has been one of the closest in the nation, and both parties were heavily invested in its outcome.

The GOP's media cocoon  —  A long-simmering generational battle in the conservative movement is boiling over after last week's shellacking, with younger operatives and ideologues going public with calls that Republicans break free from a political-media cocoon that has become intellectually suffocating and self defeating.

Grover Norquist: Romney A ‘Poopy Head’  —  Anti-tax crusader and head of Americans for Tax Reform Grover Norquist told CBS on Monday that President Obama did not deserve a claim to an electoral mandate following his re-election because the candidate Republicans put forth to challenge him …

Elmo Voice Kevin Clash Denies Sex w/ Underage Boy — Takes Leave of Absence from Sesame Street  —  Takes Leave of Absence from Sesame Street  —  EXCLUSIVE  —  Kevin Clash — the man known as the voice of Elmo — has taken a leave of absence from Sesame Street in the wake of allegations …

Arizona Still Counting Ballots Nearly A Week After Election  —  Hundreds of thousands of ballots have yet to be counted in Arizona nearly a week after Election Day, a majority of which appeared to come from Maricopa County.  —  Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett's said Saturday …

White House Grand Bargain offer to Speaker Boehner Obtained by Bob Woodward  —  Below are documents obtained by the Washington Post's Bob Woodward that show a grand bargain proposal the White House was prepared to make in order to reach agreement with the House Republicans last year.

The New Math  —  A number of TPM Readers have written in this morning saying, “Josh, how can you of all people be surprised that Republicans or at least Republican pollsters had created their own alternative numbers reality (or in Megan Kelly's now immortal words, “Math you do as a Republican …

Tea party activists blame losses on Republican establishment  —  Angry tea party activists say Mitt Romney was too moderate and the GOP undermined ‘true conservative’ candidates.  —  Mitt Romney advisor Ed Gillespie, speaking to reporters after the second presidential debate …

GOP's Red America forced to rethink what it knows about the country  —  HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. — She arrived early to take apart the campaign office piece by piece, just as she felt so many other things about her life were being dismantled.  Beth Cox wore a Mitt Romney T-shirt …

In 59 Philadelphia voting divisions, Mitt Romney got zero votes  —  It's one thing for a Democratic presidential candidate to dominate a Democratic city like Philadelphia, but check out this head-spinning figure: In 59 voting divisions in the city, Mitt Romney received not one vote.  Zero.  Zilch.

MSNBC, Its Ratings Rising, Gains Ground on Fox News  —  On Tuesday night, with a minute to go until the polls closed in the battleground state of Virginia, the MSNBC hosts Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews received word through their earpieces that the state was too close to call …

‘We the People’ Petitions Filed in Nineteen States Seeking Permission to Secede from the Union  —  In the aftermath of last week's presidential election, residents in at least nineteen states have put up petitions on the government's “We the People” petitioning website seeking the right to secede from the rest of the country.

Nearly 400,000 People Call On Macy's To Dump Donald Trump  —  A grassroots campaign for Macy's to end their association with Donald Trump has caught fire.  Nearly 400,000 people have added their name to a petition on Signon.org for Macy's, which exclusively sells Trump's clothing line and fragrance …

Cornel West: Obama A ‘Republican In Blackface,’ Black MSNBC Hosts Are ‘Selling Their Souls’  —  During an interview last week with Democracy Now, author and activist Cornel West offered harsh criticism of President Barack Obama, calling him a “Rockefeller Republican in blackface” …