Republicans not handling election results well  —  PPP's first post election national poll finds that Republicans are taking the results pretty hard...and also declining in numbers.  —  49% of GOP voters nationally say they think that ACORN stole the election for President Obama.

Fox News Puts Karl Rove on the Bench  —  The post-election soul searching going on inside the Republican Party is taking place inside Fox News as well.  Fox News chief Roger Ailes, a canny marketer and protector of his network's brand, has been taking steps since November to reposition Fox …

Lack of rank-and-file House GOP backlash hints at softening on taxes  —  Republicans appeared Tuesday to be moving reluctantly toward a debt deal that would increase revenues, one day after Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) offered up $800 billion in tax collection in the fiscal-cliff negotiations.

‘Fiscal cliff’ warnings yet to faze Wall Street  —  View Photo Gallery — The ‘fiscal cliff’: Meet the key players: With the election behind them, Obama and lawmakers have turned their attention to the fiscal cliff.  Here's a look at some of the leaders who will influence whether the country can avoid falling off the cliff.

Adelson to Keep Betting on the GOP  —  LAS VEGAS—After spending more than $100 million mostly on losing Republican election campaigns this year, casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson said he planned to stay in the game and double down on his political donations.

Bob Costas explains why he made gun commentary at halftime of Sunday night game  —  NBC's Bob Costas joined the show to talk about his comments on the Jevon Belcher tragedy and more.  —  Costas explained why he chose to make a statement on gun control at halftime of Sunday night's Eagles-Cowboys game.

How Unhinged Rhetoric Sank a Disabilities Rights Treaty in the Senate  —  The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities failed to capture the 2/3 vote needed for ratification in the U.S. Senate today due to fierce Republican opposition.  Many Republicans and their allies …

Ryan and Rubio Say Republicans Must Work on Aiding Middle Class  —  A month after Republicans lost their bid for the White House, a pair of party leaders said Tuesday that a greater emphasis should be placed on improving the lives of the middle class if Republicans hoped to expand their appeal …

Dick Armey, FreedomWorks president clashed over book deal  —  Dick Armey left the deep-pocketed tea party group he helped build over a clash with a top lieutenant who Armey and others in the organization believed was using the group's resources to pad his pockets, POLITICO has learned.

In Tax Fight, Republicans Seeking Fallback Position  —  WASHINGTON — With President Obama insisting on higher tax rates for affluent Americans and winning public support for the idea, Congressional Republicans find themselves in an increasingly difficult political spot and are quietly beginning the difficult search for a way out.

47% Of People Think The Deficit Would INCREASE If We Go Over The Fiscal Cliff  —  As the Fiscal Cliff fight rages on, both sides are using the media to position themselves as being serious and reasonable.  —  One big factor is that for all the hype about the issue, very few people really understand what The Fiscal Cliff actually is..

Hillary Clinton Wins High Popularity, Majority Support for a 2016 Bid  —  Carried by a new high in personal popularity and broad approval of her work as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton closes out her diplomatic career with majority support as a candidate for president in 2016.

Anguished fotog: Critics are unfair to condemn me  —  Ki Suk Han, 58, of Queens frantically tries to climb to safety yesterday as a train bears down on him in Midtown.  He was fatally struck seconds later. … I was on an assignment, waiting for a train at the 49th Street subway platform, when I suddenly heard people gasping.

N.Y. poll: Clinton, not Cuomo, in '16  —  New Yorkers like Gov. Andrew Cuomo, but for the 2016 presidential race, they've got a clear front-runner: Hillary Clinton.  —  Seventy-two percent of New Yorkers have a favorable opinion of Cuomo, according to a Siena College poll released Wednesday …

Democrats to Obamaland: Share your data  —  The hottest property to emerge from Barack Obama's lopsided victory over Mitt Romney is not the president's much lauded campaign team.  Nor is it the shrewd turnout operation that catapulted him to victory.  —  It is something far more valuable that's …

Gorman Skips Business, Jain Likes Faulks: Best Books of 2012  —  What books have high-profile readers been enjoying this year?  —  We asked chief executive officers, policy makers, investors, economists, academics and authors to tell us their favorites.  Most chose new titles …