AP - Is Sarah Palin the answer for defeated Republicans? After a historic rebuke at the polls, the Republican Party is staggering into an uncertain tomorrow with the White House and Congress in Democratic hands, no certain leader in sight and its membership divided over what it means to be a Republican.

AP - Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin has returned to her home state of Alaska, where she was greeted by dozens of supporters encouraging her to run for president in four years.

AP - It wasn't so long ago that Barack Obama himself considered the idea of a President Obama to be 'hooey.'

AP - There were plenty of turning points on the long, zigzag trail of Campaign '08. Which ones truly mattered? Five AP reporters offer short takes on the debates, the money, the hubris and more.

AP - U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays was a master at surviving close elections in a diverse southwestern Connecticut district that includes some of America's richest towns and deep pockets of poverty.

Politico - Among the senior jobs the president-elect must fill, no position looms larger than that of Secretary of State.

Politico - In his first major move as president-elect, Barack Obama has asked Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), a tough-minded tactician with West Wing experience, to serve as his White House chief of staff, Democratic sources tell Politico.

AP - There was a tasty race for Colorado senate when voters got to choose between Bacon and Fries.

AP - An arrest warrant for Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir on charges of genocide in Darfur could trigger 'an uncontrolled reaction' against U.N. peacekeepers, a senior U.N. official warned Wednesday.

AP - The Democratic challenger in Oregon's Senate race, Jeff Merkley, has defeated Republican Sen. Gordon Smith.

Politico - Robert Gibbs, a top aide to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on his campaign and in his Senate office, will be named the White House press secretary, a top Democratic official said.

AP - Missouri Rep. Roy Blunt, the No. 2 Republican in the House, announced Thursday that he is stepping aside after Democrats expanded their congressional majorities and captured the White House.

AFP - President-elect Barack Obama may have the rare chance to appoint two judges to the Supreme Court, giving the former law professor an opportunity to make a further lasting mark on American society.

AP - Russian investigators say they have detained a suspect in the killing of two Jesuit priests in Moscow.

AP - Rahm Emanuel combines political instincts, White House experience and a Chicago tough-guy attitude — traits that he's likely to need as President-elect Obama's new chief of staff.

AP - President-elect Obama won North Carolina on Thursday, a symbolic triumph that underscored his political strength as he turned nine states that President Bush won in 2004 to Democratic blue.

Politico - Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), a wily, aggressive West Wing strategist under President Bill Clinton, has accepted the post of White House chief of staff for President-elect Barack Obama, Democratic officials tell Politico. 

AP - Is Sarah Palin the answer for defeated Republicans? After a historic rebuke at the polls, the Republican Party is staggering into an uncertain tomorrow with the White House and Congress in Democratic hands, no certain leader in sight and its membership divided over what it means to be a Republican.

AFP - Democrats on Thursday tightened their grip on the US Senate with Republican incumbent Gordon Smith, from the northwest state of Oregon, being ousted by Democratic challenger Jeff Merkley.

AP - Christians and Muslims must overcome their misunderstandings, Pope Benedict XVI told Muslim clergy and scholars Thursday as he pressed for greater freedom of worship for non-Muslims in the Islamic world.

AP - President-elect Obama won North Carolina on Thursday, a triumph that underscored his political strength as he turned nine states that President Bush won in 2004 to Democratic blue.

AP - A victorious Joe Biden has come home to Delaware for the state's traditional day of post-election healing.

Politico - Barack Obama is seriously considering the creation of an Energy Security Council within the White House, according to sources close to the transition.

AP - Democrat Jeff Merkley has ousted Republican Sen. Gordon Smith, a victory once considered unlikely against an incumbent who had highlighted his efforts to work across the aisle in hopes of surviving a wave of anti-GOP sentiment.

AP - The narrow margin in Minnesota's unresolved Senate race has gotten even smaller.

CQPolitics.com - Oregon Democrat Jeff Merkley has won his bid to unseat Republican Sen. Gordon H. Smith, a victory that bumps the Democrats' Senate gains in the 2008 elections to six seats.

AP - In a Nov. 5 story about Obama's foreign policy challenges, The Associated Press incorrectly reported Paddy Ashdown's former title. He is a former U.N. High Representative for Bosnia, not a former NATO secretary-general.

AP - Barack Obama is signaling a shift in tactics and temperament as he moves from candidate to president-elect, picking sharp-elbowed Washington insiders for top posts.

Politico - After suggesting that Barack Obama had anti-American views in an exchange three weeks ago with MSNBC host Chris Matthews, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) told Politico Thursday that she was “extremely grateful that we have an African-American who has won this year.” She called his victory “a tremendous signal we sent.”

Reuters - Rights activists hope that China's appearance before a United Nations torture panel on Friday will shed light on what they say are widespread abuses in the country.

AP - A student of ballet, Rahm Emanuel has shown a flair for theatrics over his years as a Democratic operative. His fancy dancing has been anything but delicate, however.

AP - Vice president-elect Joe Biden, riding in a horse-drawn, white carriage with his wife, Jill, received a hero's welcome Thursday on his first trip home since the election.

Politico - CHICAGO — For almost every day since Barack Obama began his presidential bid, Robert Gibbs has literally stood at his side, traveling as one of a core group of top aides who kept the Illinois senator company and his candidacy on track.

AP - Detroit's automakers appealed to congressional leaders Thursday for $25 billion more in federal loans, low-interest emergency borrowing and a share of the Wall Street bailout to help rescue an ailing industry battered by the economic crisis.

AP - Switzerland is returning 4,400 ancient artifacts stolen from archaeological sites in Italy, including ceramics, figurines and bronze daggers dating as far back as 2,000 B.C., prosecutors said Thursday.