Palin publicity blitz: no signs of slowing

She's a national political figure and one of the world's most famous people. She's also governor of Alaska. As Sarah Palin settles back into her job as the state's chief executive, a new ethics complaint filed Tuesday says she's already improperly mixing her official duties and broader political ambitions. | 11/19/08 06:42:02 By - Kyle Hopkins

More minorities voted this year, but white turnout dropped

A new analysis of exit polling says that while the number of black and Hispanic voters surged two weeks ago, the number of white voters decreased compared to 2004. The number of voters aged 18-29 also increased. The analysis was done by Project Vote, a liberal leaning non-profit group. | 11/18/08 18:35:00 By - Greg Gordon

Obama moves to defrost relations between White House, Congress

Rahm Emanuel, the Chicago congressman who'll become President-elect Barack Obama's White House chief of staff, got a standing ovation on Tuesday when he met behind closed doors with House Democrats. | 11/18/08 18:08:00 By - Margaret Talev and David Lightman

Rejoice, Palin newshounds: Interviews prompt ethics complaint

Zane Henning, the Wasilla man who made a public records request for thousands of e-mails from Palin aides, has filed a new ethics complaint against the governor. His charge: That Palin is breaking state ethics rules by talking about her campaign and promoting her political career from her state office. | 11/18/08 18:40:25 By - Kyle Hopkins

Begich defeats Stevens in Alaska Senate race

The Democratic Anchorage mayor widened his lead to 3,724 votes in Tuesday's counting of absentee and questioned ballots. With only 2,500 special absentee ballots left to be counted, Begich was assured of victory — and the Democrats of a 58-seat majority in the Senate, just two shy of a filibuster-proof 60. | 11/18/08 17:23:44 By - Sean Cockerham

Black Caucus members warn Obama can't do everything

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are still giddy that Barack Obama is about to become president. They recall crying, jumping for joy, and celebrating when he was declared the winner. But for some, Nov. 4's afterglow is accompanied by a recognition that Obama's election won't necessarily give them an express lane into the Oval Office. | 11/18/08 15:34:00 By - William Douglas

Senate Democrats let Lieberman keep committee chairmanship

Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, who this fall campaigned hard for Republican presidential nominee John McCain, got only a mild rebuke Tuesday from Senate Democrats. | 11/18/08 14:48:00 By - David Lightman

Bellingham publisher to release Michelle Obama comic book

Michelle Obama's fashion savvy may earn her a spot on a future cover of Vogue magazine. But her political influence has already won over Bellingham-based publishing company Bluewater Productions, which plans to feature the future first lady in the third book of its "Female Force" comic book series. | 11/18/08 13:23:05 By - Anna Walters

Senate Republicans postpone vote on Ted Stevens

Sen. Ted Stevens' fellow Republicans have postponed a vote on whether to keep him in their GOP conference, saying they'll wait until after his Senate race in Alaska is resolved. | 11/18/08 10:43:00 By - Erika Bolstad

Jerry Brown asks Calif. Supreme Court not to stay Prop. 8

In a written responses to lawsuits seeking to overturn the initiative, Brown's office said the state's highest court should allow the measure to remain in effect during the review period because doing otherwise would cause confusion. Brown's office, which was asked last week by the court to weigh in on the lawsuits, called on the justices "to provide certainty and finality in this matter." | 11/18/08 08:05:44 By - Aurelio Rojas

Meet the man who delivered North Carolina to Obama

Marc Farinella, 50, cut his teeth on Chicago politics. North Carolina seemed destined to go for John McCain, just as it had voted Republican in nine of the last 10 presidential contests. Even in 2004, with its own senator on the Democratic ticket, North Carolina went for George W. Bush. Then Farinella arrived in July. | 11/17/08 18:53:28 By - Ron Christensen

Aid to automakers seems doomed amid wrangling

Even as top Senate Democrats rolled out new legislation to provide $25 billion in loans to America's domestic automakers, the prospects of emergency funds appeared bleak Monday as the White House and Congress tangled over how best to help the ailing industry. Supporters of helping the cash-strapped Big Three concede they are far short of the 60 votes needed to stop an anticipated Republican-led filibuster. | 11/17/08 18:41:00 By - David Lightman and Kevin G. Hall

Democrats eye Florida's Martinez as their next GOP target

Mel Martinez, an Orlando Republican, spent much of the fall campaigning for Sen. John McCain, leaving his own campaign coffers largely empty. Martinez says he will run for re-election, but there're signs he's lost precious time during his 9-month stint as GOP national chairman. | 11/17/08 07:37:51 By - Lesley Clark

Victory's glory eludes both parties in Florida elections

Leaders of Florida's Democratic and Republican parties are already looking down the road to the 2010 elections and this much is clear: Barack Obama's victory has shaken both sides, for very different reasons. | 11/17/08 07:13:05 By - Mary Ellen Klas

Alaska voter turnout, once thought low, may set record

Alaska voter turnout for this year's election appears now on track to be the highest ever. That's contrary to hand-wringing about why Alaskans didn't show up for this historic election, and even some speculation that ballots weren't being counted. Why? Because nearly a third of Alaskans chose to vote early and absentee. | 11/17/08 06:55:56 By - Sean Cockerham

What's the future for McCaskill, Obama friend, advocate?

It was on Barack Obama's third trip to Missouri in 2006 to help Claire McCaskill win a Senate race that she urged him to run for president. During the campaign she became one of Obama's most nimble surrogates. Now she's expected to be a forceful advocate for Obama's agenda in the Senate. | 11/17/08 06:00:00 By - David Goldstein

Obama brings the Chicago crowd to do his business in D.C.

A generation ago, it was a big deal when the late Mayor Richard J. Daley got invited to sleep in the White House's Lincoln Bedroom after delivering Illinois and the 1960 presidential election to fellow Democrat John F. Kennedy. It was a striking sign that an Irish Catholic from the South Side of Chicago had really arrived. Now a slew of Chicago Democrats are about to descend on Washington. | 11/16/08 15:38:00 By - Steven Thomma

Florida GOP facing questions about the way it spent money

At issue is why the state party bought tickets to sporting events such as Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees games, trips to Disney World, and spent $682,000 on chartered planes when it could have been spending on TV and radio advertising for John McCain. There were purchases at men's clothing shops this election cycle. | 11/16/08 15:32:53 By - Mary Ellen Klas

Winds of patriotism renewed

Ronnie Chapman's response to the presidential election reflects the emergence of an unusual -- and some might say contradictory -- new figure: the flag-waving liberal. | 11/16/08 07:24:50 By - J. Peder Zane and Kristin Collins

Alaska's Stevens faces party ouster, election defeat

WASHINGTON — If Republicans in the U.S. Senate ever secretly hoped for one of their own to lose an election, it might be Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, who's in a cliffhanger of a race with Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich. | 11/15/08 15:30:00 By - Erika Bolstad

Alaska vote tally drama: 1 vote margin in state rep race

The closest race of this fall's election in Alaska drew even tighter Friday night, as Rep. Mike Kelly's lead on Democratic challenger Karl Kassel narrowed to a single vote. Kelly, a Fairbanks Republican trying for his third term in the Legislature, has 5,000 votes. Kassel: 4,999. | 11/15/08 15:21:59 By - Kyle Hopkins

States want their own federal financial bailout

Led by California with a $28 billion hole in its budget, 41 states are in financial trouble, and many of their leaders are looking to Congress to bail them out. | 11/15/08 06:00:00 By - Rob Hotakainen

Obama will use YouTube to reach out directly to voters

Saturday, in the first visible result of a major transition-team effort to make Obama's conversations with the electorate more direct, Obama's radio address will be posted on YouTube. Obama's transition team is also considering other ways to use the Internet, including allowing users a chance to question him directly. | 11/14/08 17:38:00 By - Frank Greve

Obama picks another Chicagoan for senior post, sets meeting with McCain

Valeria Jarrett will be a senior Obama adviser in the White House. The meeting with McCain will happen Monday. Meanwhile, dozens of experts assigned to Obama's transition team began fanning out into federal departments, agencies and commissions to gather information to help plan the new administration's actions. | 11/14/08 20:57:00 By - Margaret Talev

Battle is on for Republicans' national chairmanship

Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan is closely allied with President George W. Bush. That connection has turned the race for the committee chairmanship into a symbolic fight over the ideological soul of the party. | 11/14/08 18:15:00 By - Halimah Abdullah

D.C.'s big Obama dilemma: What to do with the crowds?

As many as 1.5 million people may come to Washington for Barack Obama's inauguration Jan. 20, according to official estimates. That's five times the number that showed up for President Bush's two inaugurations. Congressional offices report they're overwhelmed by requests for the 240,000 free tickets to the event, hotel rooms are being snapped up, and some D.C. residents are making room for dozens of relatives and friends. And, of course, there are those seeking to profit. | 11/14/08 16:38:00 By - William Douglas

Dole's mistake: 'Godless' ad drove donors, voters to Hagan

U.S. Sen.-elect Kay Hagan got 3,600 contributions within 48 hours of Sen. Elizabeth Dole's airing of a controversial ad that centered on Hagan's attendance at a fund-raiser at the Boston home of someone active in the atheist community. Analysis of voting patterns show she also picked up a big percentage of votes on Election Day, largely becasue of the ad. | 11/14/08 18:46:11 By - Lisa Zagaroli

White House's help to automakers might defuse Democrats' plans

The White House Friday tried to take steam out of Congress' bid to give new aid to the ailing auto industry, saying it would make it easier for the carmakers to tap $25 billion in an existing federal loan program. But Congress wants to spend more. | 11/14/08 18:13:29 By - David Lightman

Battle brewing over who will lead the GOP in the House

California U.S. Rep. Dan Lungren said Friday he'll challenge Ohio Republican Rep. John Boehner as House minority leader. He said that in light of the Nov. 4th election it would be a mistake for the Republican Party to reaffirm the status quo by re-electing Boehner to lead Republicans in the House. | 11/14/08 17:21:00 By - Rob Hotakainen

Loose talk replaces Obama's famed message discipline

With a penchant for secrecy finely honed during a disciplined campaign, President-elect Barack Obama may well have thought he could continue to control his message as he's hunkered down behind closed doors since he won the election. | 11/14/08 16:02:00 By - Steven Thomma

Feinstein might head secretive intelligence panel

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California will find both spotlight and shadows if she becomes the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. | 11/14/08 14:45:00 By - Michael Doyle

S. Carolina Catholic diocese backs warning to Obama voters

The priest at one of South Carolina's most prominent Roman Catholic parishes has warned his parishioners in an open letter that they are cooperating with "intrinsic evil" if they voted for Barack Obama because of Obama's pro-choice stance. A spokesman for the Diocese of Charleston said the priest is merely repeating church teaching. | 11/14/08 12:16:24 By - Carolyn Click

John Edwards events test the waters

Three months after confessing to an affair on national television, John Edwards ended his self-imposed exile this week with a pair of appearances that could be the beginning of a bid for public rehabilitation. | 11/14/08 07:07:23 By - Jim Morrill

Obama to step down from Senate seat Sunday

President-elect Barack Obama is giving up his Illinois U.S. Senate seat effective Sunday, intensifying the jockeying to replace the only African-American in Congress' upper chamber as lawmakers return next week for a lame-duck session. | 11/14/08 18:32:00 By - Steven Thomma and Margaret Talev

Why did gay-marriage ban pass? 'No' campaign was in turmoil

A week after California voters approved Proposition 8 to end same-sex marriage, details are emerging of an opposition campaign in disarray. The campaign found an effort that was too timid, slow to react, without a radio campaign or a strategy to reach out to African Americans, who ultimately supported the measure by more than 2 to 1. | 11/14/08 18:05:54 By - Aurelio Rojas

Theater official quits over his support for gay-marriage ban

Scott Eckern, artistic director for the California Musical Theatre, resigned Wednesday as a growing number of artists threatened to boycott the organization because of his $1,000 donation to the campaign to ban gay marriage in California. News of Eckern's campaign contribution quickly spread through an industry that has long advocated for gay rights. | 11/14/08 17:34:20 By - Marcus Crowder

Gates prepared to stay on, but will Obama ask him to?

Defense Secretary Robert Gates would remain in his job for a time if President-elect Barack Obama were to ask him, defense officials tell McClatchy. But it's not clear that Obama will ask. Gates' aides say they think he will, but John Podesta indicated Monday no decision has been made. Retaining Gates would be controversial for many Obama supporters. | 11/14/08 17:15:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef

What Gov. Palin had to say to reporters in Miami

Palin said it's time to look to the future and that she doesn't mean 2012. "It's next year and our next budgets and the next reforms in our states,'' she said. As for whgat she'd done since the last governors' conference: ''I had a baby. I did some traveling. I very briefly expanded my wardrobe. I made some speeches." | 11/14/08 13:37:05 By - Patricia Mazzei

Georgia garnering attention as Senate runoff heats up

Former Republican presidential contender Sen. John McCain heads to Georgia today to stump for embattled GOP colleague Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the opening salvo in the overtime phase of Georgia’s U.S. Senate contest. | 11/14/08 12:33:17 By - Halimah Abdullah

Democrat takes 800-vote lead in Alaska U.S. Senate race

Alaska's Division of Elections tallied about 60,000 absentee, early and questioned ballots from around the state on Wednesday in the race between incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and former Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, a Democrat. The ballots broke heavily in the Democrat's favor, erasing the 3,000-vote lead Stevens had held. Begich aides said they believe the lead will hold. | 11/14/08 06:58:11 By - Sean Cockerham and Kyle Hopkins

Poll: U.S. mood has improved after Obama's election

Americans have grown a little more upbeat about the country since last week's election of Barack Obama as the nation's next president, according to a new Ipsos/McClatchy Poll released Wednesday. Thirty-two percent of Americans think that the country's on the right track, up from a dismal 21 percent in early October. | 11/14/08 16:15:00 By - Steven Thomma

Economic summit unlikely to burnish Bush's legacy

President Bush limps into the meeting of 20 world leaders with a domestic approval rating of 24 percent in a new Ipsos/McClatchy Poll released Wednesday, worse than any president's showing since the advent of modern polling more than 60 years ago. | 11/14/08 16:02:00 By - David Lightman

Battle brewing over who will lead the GOP in the House

California U.S. Rep. Dan Lungren said Friday he'll challenge Ohio Republican Rep. John Boehner as House minority leader. He said that in light of the Nov. 4th election it would be a mistake for the Republican Party to reaffirm the status quo by re-electing Boehner to lead Republicans in the House. | 11/14/08 15:50:10 By - Rob Hatakainen

Obama picks another Chicagoan, sets meeting with McCain

The meeting with McCain will happen Monday and will be intended to allow the two rivals to discuss common ground. Meanwhile, dozens of experts assigned to Obama's transition team began fanning out into federal departments, agencies and commissions to seek information to help plan the new administration's actions. | 11/14/08 19:05:00 By - Margaret Talev

N. Carolina same-day registration judged big success

North Carolina's same-day registration sites, where people could register, make address changes and vote all at the same time, were a great success, state laegislators have concluded. Made possible by a 2007 law, the changes cut the number of disputed ballots by more than half. | 11/14/08 13:17:18 By -

GOP governors debate party's direction at Miami conference

The Republican Party, still grappling with last week's election results, should position itself as a pragmatic problem-solver for working people, GOP governors meeting in Miami said Wednesday. | 11/13/08 07:04:54 By - Patricia Mazzei

Begich takes lead in Senate race — by 3 votes

The elections division still has over 10,000 ballots left to count today and thousands more through next week, but the latest numbers show Mark Begich leading Sen. Ted Stevens 125,019 to 125,016. If Begich ends up winning the race — that won't be known till next week — Democrats will be within two votes of the 60 votes they need to block filibusters. | 11/12/08 18:44:31 By - Sean Cockerham

Rights groups urge Obama to mount Guantanamo probe

The commission would systematically examine the U.S. treatment of detainees at Guantanamo and elsewhere since the 9/11 attacks. The groups made the recommendation as they released a two-year study of the impact of U.S. detention and interrogation practices on former captives that was similar to one McClatchy published earlier this year. | 11/12/08 18:09:51 By - Carol Rosenberg

Can Congress save the U.S. auto industry?

The lame-duck Congress is expected to reconvene next week with a bid to help the ailing Detroit carmakers, and lawmakers are weighing initiatives that could provide as much as $50 billion in new assistance. But no legislative decisions have been made, and the principal players are saying nothing publicly. | 11/12/08 17:49:00 By - David Lightman

New video: Palin calls Obama's election 'time for optimism'

The Anchorage Daily News on Wednesday released two new installments of its lengthy weekend interview with Gov. Sarah Palin. The new installments were in addition to a segment released on Monday, ahead of interviews Palin granted to Fox News and NBC. | 11/12/08 15:15:21 By -

Wichitans see a chance for racial healing

President-elect Barack Obama repeatedly called for unity and change during his historic campaign. Because his candidacy stirred a national dialogue on race, several Wichitans said his win could result in richer and more diverse personal relationships for people of all backgrounds. | 11/12/08 07:17:15 By - Christina M. Woods

Obama team announces ethics policy, but little else

John Podesta, the co-chair of the Obama transition team, said lobbyists won't be allowed to help finance the costs of the transition effort. He also said Obama plans to close the Guantanamo prison facility but hasn't figured out how. Podesta said Obama also is considering reversing several Bush executive orders. | 11/11/08 18:43:00 By - Margaret Talev

What can the U.S. learn from France's terror fight?

As President-elect Barack Obama prepares to revamp American counter-terrorism programs and close down the Bush administration's controversial Guantanamo Bay military tribunals, the incoming Democratic leader could find a few building blocks in what France calls its "fight against terror." | 11/11/08 16:57:00 By - Dion Nissenbaum

Candidates turn to lawyers as Calif. race remains close

Republican Tom McClintock and Democrat Charlie Brown are hiring lawyers and rounding up observers to monitor the vote counting in the 4th Congressional District, where tens of thousands of absentee ballots remain to be counted in an election where the margin currently is just 889 votes. | 11/11/08 14:31:42 By - Peter Hecht

Big vote result due today in close Stevens reelection battle

Alaska's Division of Elections says it will have tallied more than half of the uncounted ballots in the election by Wednesday. That includes absentee ballots, early votes and thousands of ballots whose validity has been questioned. With only 3,000 votes now separating U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and former Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, those are critical ballots. | 11/11/08 08:07:20 By - Kyle Hopkins

Obama visits Bush at White House for private chat

President Bush and President-elect Barack Obama, who was visiting the Oval Office for the first time, conducted cordial, wide-ranging talks Monday on economic and national security issues, but spokeswomen had little to say afterward. | 11/10/08 18:33:00 By - David Lightman

Rivalry breaks out over Congress' top energy spot

The fight pits California Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman, an ally of environmentalists, against Democratic Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, with ties to the auto industry, over who'll be chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Waxman supporters say they've got the votes, but Dingell, who calls Waxman an "anti-manufacturing left-wing Democrat," is fighting hard. | 11/10/08 17:34:16 By - Rob Hotakainen

How will the Obama girls like life in the White House?

At 10 and 7, Malia and Sasha Obama will be the youngest White House children since 9-year-old Amy Carter. They can have private pool parties, play the ultimate game of hide-and-seek and meet just about any celebrity. But they could also feel lonely in that big mansion — when they aren’t trying to avoid the news cameras. | 11/10/08 06:59:37 By - Edward M. Eveld

Election’s outcome triggers record sales at gun shops

Barack Obama had been president-elect just a matter of hours when customers started lining up at the Olathe Gun Shop. By closing time Wednesday, the shop had recorded one of its busiest days, and owner Mike Malone and his staff had gotten an earful. | 11/10/08 06:56:33 By - Laura Bauer

Palin's own words: 'Amazing we did as well as we did'

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin blames the Bush administration for the failure of the McCain-Palin ticket, thinks people need to move on from the so-called "troopergate" controversy, loved her time in the national spotlight and won't rule out a run for president or vice president in 2012. | 11/09/08 22:26:18 By - Sean Cockerham

Washington State facilities may opt out of assisted suicide

Some major health care providers say they want nothing to do with the doctor-assisted-suicide law that Washington voters approved Tuesday. In Oregon, the only other state with such a law, patients often take their lethal drugs at home while surrounded by loved ones. But for some people, home is a skilled nursing facility, long-term-care center or hospice house. Thye might not find much assistance there. | 11/09/08 09:16:48 By - Adam Wilson

How Elizabeth Dole's 'godless' ad was created

The famous -- or infamous, depending on your point of view -- "godless" TV commercial in North Carolina's campaign for the U.S. Senate almost didn't happen. | 11/09/08 09:12:44 By - Rob Christensen

Inside story: How Obama won Florida

In the four months before Election Day, the Barack Obama campaign registered 200,000 new voters in Florida, opened 50 state field offices, recruited 600,000 volunteers and allocated $40 million to fight John McCain. It amassed a grassroots organization so far-reaching that even Republican strategists say it will change the way politics is practiced in Florida. Here's the inside story. | 11/09/08 09:08:27 By - Mary Ellen Klas

Bunning wants $10 million for re-election; Dems eyeing seat

Republican Sen. Jim Bunning warned GOP activists Saturday that he'll soon need help amassing at least $10 million to fund his campaign for a third term, which he expects will draw fierce Democratic opposition. | 11/09/08 08:51:24 By - Ryan Alessi

Election defined a shift in history for Columbus, Ga., residents

A look at Election Night through the eyes of a generation of older black Americans who came out of the Great Depression as children, lived through segregation and the struggle for civil rights and have now seen the election of the nation's first black president. | 11/09/08 08:39:11 By - Chuck Williams

What's ahead for Gov. Palin? Seven challenges

For two months she basked -- and sizzled -- in the world's hottest celebrity spotlight. Now Sarah Palin has come home to begin the last two years of her term as governor of Alaska. Time to take a deep breath and consider some of the key challenges that lie ahead for Sarah Palin. | 11/09/08 08:28:57 By - Tom Kizzia

Can a $100 billion stimulus save a $14 trillion economy?

Washington is poised during the next 90 days to approve spending perhaps $100 billion to jolt the ailing economy. The only questions are when it will happen and whether it would have much impact. President Bush and Republican congressional leaders may be reluctant to support one before Obama takes office, and analysts are skeptical about how much a $100 billion stimulus would move a $14 trillion economy. | 11/09/08 06:00:00 By - David Lightman

Pelosi gets more clout, big test of leadership

WASHINGTON — On Capitol Hill, the elections produced one clear winner: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the San Francisco liberal whose relationship with a new crop of conservative Democrats will go a long way toward determining her success in the 111th Congress. | 11/09/08 06:00:00 By - Rob Hotakainen

Low voter turnout in an exciting year puzzles Alaskans

With 81,000 uncounted absentee and questioned ballots, some of which will be disqualified, the total vote cast so far is 305,281 -- 8,311 fewer than the last presidential election of 2004, which saw the largest turnout in Alaska history. That, despite a governor on the national Republican ticket and exciting Senate and House races. What happened? | 11/08/08 15:30:21 By - Richard Mauer

Republicans in Washington State see change coming to GOP

Change is coming - to the Republican Party, too. That's the view of two Olympia Republicans after Democrats won the White House, expanded majorities in Congress, defended control of the Washington State governor's office and expanded their hold on statewide offices. | 11/08/08 15:20:15 By - Brad Shannon

Political Q.& A: Missouri's new A.G. talks about what he'll change

Among the Democrats swept into office Tuesday was Chris Koster, the state senator and former Cass County prosecutor who will become Missouri’s 41st attorney general in January. | 11/08/08 10:30:04 By - Jason Noble

Dissecting the vote: How N. Carolina's Triangle turned blue

Though it is true that minority voters turned out in high numbers and many new arrivals appear to have voted for Obama, an analysis of the results across the five counties that make up North Carolina's so-called Research Triangle suggests that residents who supported Bush in 2004 didn't vote for McCain in 2008. The trend has some Republicans worried. | 11/08/08 09:56:47 By - Michael Biesecker and David Bracken

With Alaska Senate race unsettled, candidates seek cash

Both candidates in the U.S. Senate race are going back to their supporters seeking new donations as their contest goes to post-election overtime and the possibility looms that it will be decided by contested ballots. Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens leads Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, the Democrat, by 3,257 votes — but there are at least 81,224 uncounted ballots on hand. | 11/08/08 01:07:38 By - Richard Mauer

Can Barack Obama undo Bush's tangled legal legacy?

When Barack Obama becomes president in January, he'll confront the controversial legal legacy of the Bush administration. From expansive executive privilege to hard-line tactics in the war on terrorism, Obama must decide what he'll undo and what he'll embrace. The stakes couldn't be higher. | 11/07/08 17:03:00 By - Marisa Taylor and Michael Doyle

Economy, anti-immigrant rhetoric drove Latinos to Obama

As Cecilia Khan registered hundreds of new Latino voters in western Nevada this year, she heard the same handful of concerns over and over again. Latinos told her that they were upset that the downturn hammering the U.S. economy had hit their communities especially hard. They also were up in arms over what they perceived as anti-immigrant rhetoric from some Republican leaders. | 11/07/08 19:09:00 By - Jack Chang

Sarah Palin unbound: 'Those guys are jerks,' she says

Palin defended herself. "If there are allegations based on questions or comments I made in debate prep about NAFTA, about the continent versus the country when we talk about Africa there, then . . . that's cruel, it's mean spirited, it's immature, it's unprofessional and those guys are jerks." | 11/07/08 18:50:56 By - Sean Cockerham and Kyle Hopkins

Stevens likely to get cold shoulder from GOP colleagues

Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska may not have the warmest of welcomes from fellow Republicans when he returns to the Senate later this month for Congress' lame-duck session. A host of Republican senators, including John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Jim Demint, have called for him to resign. | 11/07/08 18:38:00 By - Erika Bolstad

In wake of defeat, Republican leaders rethink message

Another brutal election night convinced Republicans that their party needs to change, and change fast. Now, Republican leaders and activists across the country must agree on change they can believe in. That won't be easy. | 11/07/08 18:34:00 By - James Rosen

Obama vows fast action to spur economy

President-elect Barack Obama used his first post-election news conference Friday to pledge that he'll lead a fast effort to tackle what he called "the greatest economic challenge of our lifetime." But he also tried to lower expectations that he could ignite an instant economic recovery. "It is not going to be quick and it is not going to be easy," he said. | 11/07/08 18:20:00 By - Margaret Talev and David Lightman

Obama's fundraising set precedent for expensive campaigns

President-elect Barack Obama's rejection of public funds for his general-election campaign set a precedent that may forever change how such races are financed and signal a decline in support for campaign finance reform efforts, political experts say. | 11/07/08 17:21:00 By - Halimah Abdullah

Obama's change begins with transition Web site

President-elect Obama's got a new Web site, www.change.gov, that gives people a chance to say what they think his priorities should be, track the transition to his new administration, tell their personal stories and even apply for federal jobs. | 11/07/08 13:53:00 By - Frank Greve

Palin aides sorting through luggage to inventory clothes

Amid rumors that the Republican National Committee would send lawyers to Alaska to inventory clothing purchased for Gov. Sarah Palin, Palin asked that everything not belonging to her be taken off her campaign plane in Phoenix. That didn't happen, and aides started sorting through what belongs to Palin and what doesn't on Thursday. | 11/07/08 13:37:58 By - Sean Cockerham

Craig raises only $4,600 for legal defense fund

Sen. Larry Craig has raised just $4,645 since setting up a legal expense fund this spring to help pay the bills from his efforts to overturn his guilty plea to misdemeanor disorderly conduct. Craig, who was arrested during a 2007 sex sting in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport, continues to fight his guilty plea in Minnesota's higher courts. | 11/07/08 12:53:06 By - Erika Bolstad

Black turnout for Obama doomed gay marriage in Calif.

African Americans in California, energized by Barack Obama's presidential bid, boosted their numbers at the polls this year to 10 percent of the state's electorate, up from 6 percent in 2004. Seventy percent of them voted for Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage, according to exit polls. | 11/07/08 08:07:25 By - Susan Ferriss

Does Obama's election change the way we think about race?

Color lines still exist in America — just look at housing patterns, church congregations and prison populations. But will the election of a biracial president — with the blessings of much, but not yet a majority, of white America — find the country concluding that it has finally overcome its race thing? | 11/07/08 07:50:41 By - Rick Montgomery and Scott Canon

N.C. State students protest graffiti that threatened Barack Obama

Four students who admitted spray-painting racist and threatening graffiti aimed at President-elect Barack Obama at N.C. State University won't be charged with any crime, but their work was condemned at a student rally Thursday. | 11/07/08 07:12:41 By - Jay Price

Tensions over Obama's victory still high in Texas

Tensions apparently are running high in Texas after Barack Obama’s election. Texas Christian University reported a half-dozen instances of racial epithets being used about the president-elect. Baylor University reported three racially motivated incidents, and a University of Texas football player was kicked off the team for posting a racist election reaction on a Web site. | 11/07/08 06:59:51 By - Mark Agee

Dems now have 57 Senate seats as Oregon's Smith falls

That's short of a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority, which would enable them to leap Republican hurdles to their agenda more easily. There are still three Senate races undecided — in Alaska, Gerogia and Minnesota. | 11/06/08 16:41:00 By - David Goldstein

4 Ky. Appalachian counties proud they went for Obama

John McCain won 112 of Kentucky's 120 counties, but not the Appalachian counties of Elliott, Menifee, Wolfe and Rowan. Political leaders in the four counties said race wasn't a factor for their mostly white constituents. | 11/06/08 13:40:12 By - Jack Brammer and Cassondra Kirby-Mullins

Palin effect: Republicans she opposed in Alaska won

U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, found guilty of seven felonies last week, is beating his Democratic opponent. So's Rep. Don Young, who's been under federal investigation for years. Some strategists suggested a "Palin effect," which is ironic, given that she backed Young's opponent in the primary and called on Stevens to resign. | 11/06/08 12:37:14 By - Sean Cockerham and Tom Kizzia

Missouri, the bellwether, backed the loser. What happened?

Tuesday marked the first time since 1821 that a Democrat was elected president without winning Missouri. Unofficial results Wednesday showed John McCain with a 5,868-vote margin in the state. Obama had hoped to duplicate U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill's 2006 success in rural Missouri, but he carried only six of the 22 rural counties McCaskill carried. | 11/06/08 08:45:23 By - Steve Kraske and Dave Helling

Californians strip legislators of right to redraw districts

Californians have stripped lawmakers of authority to draw their own political districts and also gave Democrats slightly more clout in the Legislature – unless absentee ballots reverse the results announced Wednesday. The measure would create a 14-member citizens commission to draw legislative and Board of Equalization districts. Lawmakers would continue to decide congressional seats. | 11/06/08 08:25:58 By - Jim Sanders

Obama faces an unsettled world on taking office

In 74 days, President Barack Obama will assume responsibility for guiding the nation out of two wars and through a daunting array of real and potential global crises. He's likely to benefit from initial goodwill across much of the planet, where there's profound relief that the Bush years are ending. Still, he faces what may be the most unsettled global scene since the 1930s and '40s. | 11/06/08 19:26:00 By - Warren P. Strobel and Jonathan S. Landay

NC's Robert Gibbs may be Obama press secretary

Though nothing has been made official yet, Robert Gibbs of Raleigh NC is widely expected to be the new public face of the White House for Obama, a job that would have him conducting daily briefings with reporters and explaining presidential policies. | 11/06/08 17:54:03 By - Barbara Barrett

House GOP, its numbers in decline, preparing for combat

Rep. Roy Blunt, the House of Representatives' second-ranking Republican, stepped down from his leadership post Thursday as the House GOP moved quickly to reposition itself as more conservative, unified and eager to fight Democrats in the Obama era. | 11/06/08 14:32:00 By - David Lightman

Dems now have 57 Senate seats as Oregon's Smith falls

That's still short of a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority that might enable Democrats to leap Republican hurdles to press their agenda. Three Senate contests — in Alaska, Georgia and Minnesota — are still undecided and may not be decided for weeks. | 11/06/08 14:29:55 By - David Goldstein

Emanuel to be Obama's White House chief of staff

The selection of the highly partisan Emanuel, 48, signals that Obama wants a tough taskmaster to run his White House, as well as steely insider able to help push the Obama agenda through Congress. News of his appointment angered some Republicans, who called it a betrayal of Obama's pledge of a more civil politics and bipartisan governing. | 11/06/08 13:55:00 By - Margaret Talev and Steven Thomma

California Spanish ballots pre-marked for Obama were likely isolated error

The two ballots found in an Oakdale precinct that were handed to a voter already marked for Barack Obama were likely an isolated error, Stanislaus County Clerk Lee Lundrigan said Wednesday. | 11/06/08 11:16:10 By -

With GOP out of power, McConnell readies for new role

The new Democrat-dominated federal government could take some getting used to, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters in Kentucky during his first teleconference since he won re-election by a 53-47 margin."It will be different with a different party in the White House," he said | 11/06/08 09:08:29 By - Ryan Alessi and Halimah Abdullah

Might Kansas Gov. Sebelius go to Washington?

If Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is offered and accepts a post with the administration of President-elect Barack Obama, Kansas state government will look substantially different a few months from now. | 11/06/08 07:16:23 By - Dion Lefler and Jeannine Koranda

Obama spent $250 million on TV ads in election

Flush with a tidal wave of campaign donations, Barack Obama spent $250 million on television ads in his presidential campaign, outflanking John McCain and the Republican Party by as much as $80 million, a leading political ad-monitoring firm said. | 11/05/08 19:52:00 By - Greg Gordon

In Obama's victory, America comes to terms with past

When President-elect Barack Obama takes the oath of office on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in January, he'll be standing on stone that was laid by more than 400 African slaves who helped build the structure from 1792 to 1800. | 11/05/08 19:32:00 By - Tony Pugh

GOP shakeout begins as Democrats celebrate their wins

The House Republican leadership began to unravel Wednesday. Rep. Adam Putnam of Florida said he was giving up his post as the head of the House Republican Conference and there were rumors that Roy Blunt of Missouri, the No. 2 Republican, might not seek re-election to a leadership post.

Speculation circulated that Minority Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri, the No. 2 House Republican, might not seek re-election to the leadership | 11/05/08 19:01:00 By - David Goldstein

GOP holding on to razor-thin advantage in Texas House

Texas Republicans had a 79-71 advantage in the state's House fo Representatives going into Tuesday's election. Currently, it looks like they'll hold on to a 76-74 advantage, unless a 25-vote lead the Republican holds in a Dallas County race evaporatess when absentee and provisional ballots are counted. | 11/05/08 19:04:45 By - Darren Barbee

Senate runoff likely in Georgia, sending parties scrambling

Georgia voters are bracing for a likely runoff between Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Democratic challenger Jim Martin, a turn of events that would test the fortitude of a weary electorate that's already weathered one of the longest election cycles in recent history. | 11/05/08 18:51:00 By - Halimah Abdullah

N.C.'s Kissell shares cake, plans future in Congress

Larry Kissell might personify small-town America, but there was nothing small-town about the Democrat's win Tuesday over five-term U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes, a Concord Republican whose family has been an institution in the region for generations. | 11/05/08 18:53:42 By - Lisa Zagaroli

Election TV ratings showed huge interest, but MASH did better

About 71.5 million people watched election coverage during prime time Tuesday, compared to 59.2 million in 2004 and 61.6 million in 2000. | 11/05/08 18:31:35 By - Glenn Garvin

Moving quickly, Obama asks fellow Chicagoan to head staff

President-elect Barack Obama has asked Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., a member of the House of Representatives leadership team and a former Clinton White House adviser, to be his White House chief of staff, aides on Capitol Hill and other Democratic insiders said Wednesday, as Obama quickly began the transition into office. | 11/05/08 18:18:00 By - Margaret Talev

In Obama, Latin America hopes to mend fences with U.S.

Barack Obama's historic presidential win spurred hopes throughout Latin America that the U.S. would reengage with a region that's often had an uneasy relationship with its northern neighbor during the past eight years. | 11/05/08 17:58:00 By - Jack Chang

Washington State voters OK assisted suicide by wide margin

Washington will become the second state to allow physician-assisted suicide, 10 years after Oregon became the first. Initiative 1000 led 58 to 42 percent. The law will allow doctors to prescribe fatal doses of medicine to people who have been diagnosed as having six months or less to live. | 11/05/08 18:01:39 By - Adam Wilson

Caution: Obama won, but he didn't redraw the map

Barack Obama didn't get all the way there Tuesday — not yet anyway. He won the presidency, to be sure, in a solid victory that also saw his Democratic Party add to its majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate. However, he fell short of the kind of tsunami that would have immediately altered the political landscape and forged an enduring majority that could dominate the national agenda for years. | 11/05/08 17:48:00 By - Steven Thomma

Big business prepares for a less friendly Washington

After years of playing offense, big business is getting ready for the less familiar role of playing defense following President-elect Barack Obama's victory and legislative gains by other Democrats. Corporate America enjoyed favorable treatment under the Bush administration for almost eight years and for most of the era of Republican control of Congress from 1995 to 2007. | 11/05/08 17:33:00 By - Kevin G. Hall

Election turnout high, but not a record

Voters turned out in record numbers for the historic presidential election, but the percentage of eligible voters fell short of predictions. The long lines, early voting and enthusiastic turnout of African-Americans and young people added up to an estimated 133.3 million voters, according to turnout expert Michael McDonald of George Mason University. | 11/05/08 17:11:00 By - Maria Recio

It's unofficial: Obama also won North Carolina

Unofficial returns show Obama ahead by 13,746 votes. But the victory won't be sealed until provisional ballots are counted and certified next month. Provisional ballots usually enhance the winner's total, official said. | 11/05/08 17:36:24 By - Lynn Bonner

Abortion notification measure defeated in California

The measure would have amended the California constitution to require doctors to notify a parent or guardian 48 hours before performing an abortion for a girl under the age of 18. It was the third time in four years that proponents had tried to have the measure approved. | 11/05/08 17:30:39 By -

Gay-marriage backers, defeated at the polls, head to court

While not conceding defeat, opponents of the ballot measure that would end same-sex marriage in California filed a petition with the California Supreme Court to invalidate the proposed constitutional amendment. | 11/05/08 17:26:35 By - Aurelio Rojas

Obama's relationship with new Congress will be complicated

President-elect Obama's Washington will be a friendly but probably not overwhelmingly supportive place, since his coattails pulled only about 20 new Democrats into in the House of Representatives and five into the Senate. | 11/05/08 17:11:00 By - David Lightman

Obama is first Democrat to win Florida's Hispanic vote

Obama won 52 percent of the state's Hispanic vote, compared to 42 percent for John McCain, according to exit polls done by the Democratic polling firm Bendixen & Associates -- making this election the first time the state's Hispanics have backed a Democratic presidential candidate since polling of Hispanics began in the 1980s. | 11/05/08 17:16:55 By - Casey Woods

In a surprise, Alaska's Young wins reelection

Long under FBI investigation as part of the probe into corruption in Alaska, U.S. Rep. Don Young nevertheless appears to have won reelection as hi state's only representative in the House. | 11/05/08 16:54:02 By - Lisa Demer

Despite convictions, Stevens leads in re-election battle

With all but three of Alaska's 438 precincts reporting, Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens held a 1.5 percent vote advantage over Democrat Mark Begich — 48 percent to 46.5 percent. About 4,000 votes separate the candidates. The thin margin means the Senate race might not be decided for two weeks. | 11/05/08 16:46:16 By - Sean Cockerham

Iraqis worry about Obama, while many GIs celebrate

Iraqis didn't dance in the streets or hold late-night viewing parties to herald the election of a new president of the United States. Many didn't have electricity to follow the television coverage of Barack Obama's ascent to president-elect. | 11/05/08 16:22:00 By - Leila Fadel and Corinne Reilly

Calif.'s 4th District race still unsettled; margin's 451 votes

Hanging on to a thin 451-vote lead, California Republican State Sen. Tom McClintock has no plans to declare victory over Democrat Charlie Brown in the race to replace the retiring Republican Rep. John Doolittle in California's Fourth Congressional District. | 11/05/08 16:22:21 By - Rob Hatakainen

Election results bring opportunities for Californians

WASHINGTON -- This week's historic election brings with it a new batch of California winners and losers. Count one-time Fresno resident Michael Robertson among the winners. | 11/05/08 16:11:00 By - Michael Doyle

How will President Obama deploy his Internet army?

A powerful new lobbying force is coming to Washington: Barack Obama's triumphant army of 3.1 million Internet-linked donors and volunteers. But what Obama will do with them is unclear. One idea: Obama could use his forces, first and foremost, to intimidate congressional foes of his agenda. | 11/05/08 11:07:00 By - Frank Greve

In Kenya, Obama’s family celebrates

On the morning that this East African nation’s favorite adopted son won the White House, villagers danced and sang, waved American flags and leafy branches that symbolize good fortune, prepared a feast complete with bulls and goats, and contemplated the idea that part of America’s next first family lives right here in western Kenya. | 11/05/08 07:53:44 By - Shashank Bengali

Result resonates in South

The red-brick Bethel AME Church on the corner of Racepath Avenue was built in 1866, only a few years after the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves that attended it. On Tuesday, the congregants gathered around two small televisions in the fellowship hall witnessed the barely believable: The country built on the backs of their ancestors had just elected as president a man who shared their skin color. | 11/05/08 07:20:11 By - Robert Morris

Change ahead on environment under President Obama

Western Democrats and environmentalists will have more influence on federal land decisions in Idaho and the West under President Barack Obama. Decision-makers will defer more to scientists on resource issues and spending priorities will shift toward protecting land, fish and wildlife, Democrats said Tuesday night. | 11/05/08 07:12:41 By - Rocky Barker

Ban on same-sex unions winning in California

Six months after the California Supreme Court sanctioned same-sex marriage in the state, voters Tuesday were repealing the landmark decision with about half the precincts reporting. | 11/05/08 07:06:44 By - Aurelio Rojas

Obama's updraft lifts N.C. Democrats

North Carolina, long one of the most contested pieces of political turf in America, was trending blue Tuesday as Democrats rode uncertainty about the economy and the Iraq war to a strong showing. | 11/05/08 07:01:51 By - Rob Christensen

Texas politicians look ahead to 2010

Election 2008 has barely entered the history books, but scores of candidates are already scrambling toward an even more tumultuous political season in Texas over the next two years. | 11/05/08 06:54:27 By - Dave Montgomery

N.C. voters deny Dole, elect Hagan to U.S. Senate

Incumbent U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole lost her re-election bid Tuesday night to state Sen. Kay Hagan, done in by a combination of Hagan's tireless campaigning, millions of dollars from national Democrats and Barack Obama's strong emphasis on North Carolina. | 11/05/08 06:51:11 By - Barbara Barrett

Commentary: Disgruntled voters send Dole home – D.C., that is

Elizabeth Dole held her head high in Salisbury, telling supporters she was proud to be the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from North Carolina, proud of what she accomplished and proud of all who backed her. | 11/05/08 06:48:32 By - Mark Washburn

Gregoire wins reelection as Washington State's governor

Four years after their first race ended bitterly in court, Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire was pulling away from GOP challenger Dino Rossi in late counting Tuesday night. | 11/05/08 05:44:50 By - Brad Shannon

Florida, California voters approve gay-marriage bans

A ban on gay marriage, which is already illegal in Florida, looks like it will be enshrined in that state's Constitution. California voters also approved a gay marriage ban for the state constitution, six months after the state's Supreme Court ruled that such a ban violated the state's Constitution. | 11/05/08 05:22:25 By - Jack Dolan

Palin will find Alaska cooler (and not just from the weather)

In the 68 days since Alaska’s governor began her run for vice president, things have changed on the home front. Some of her former allies are fuming, and former enemies are lying in wait. Public perceptions of the governor have also changed. Has the governor changed as well? | 11/05/08 05:06:31 By - Tom Kizzia

Congressman who slammed liberals loses in N. Carolina

U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes' campaign spun downward after he told a crowd Oct. 18 at a rally for John McCain that "Liberals hate real Americans." The Hayes campaign initially said the congressman denied making the remark, but after being confronted with tapes, the campaign released a statement acknowledging the remark. | 11/05/08 02:29:32 By - Lisa Zagaroli, Kirsten Valle and Ann Doss Helms

Democrats pick up Senate seats, but 60 proves elusive

The political tide of new voters and economic anxiety that swept Barack Obama into the White House has armored him with a more formidable Democratic majority on Capitol Hill to push his agenda. Democrats unseated Republican incumbents Elizabeth Dole in North Carolina and John Sununu in New Hampshire. They also won three open contests where veteran Republican lawmakers were retiring. | 11/05/08 01:36:00 By - David Goldstein

Victorious Obama addresses crowd of 125,000 in Chicago

Flanked by thick walls of bulletproof glass and surrounded by waving flags on an unseasonably warm night for Chicago, President-elect Barack Obama addressed a crowd of 125,000 in Grant Park Tuesday night. He thanked his wife, Michelle, told his daughers they'd receive a puppy, and promised Americans a difficult road ahead. | 11/05/08 01:20:00 By - Margaret Talev

Text of John McCain's speech

Text of Sen. John McCain's concession speech, as delivered. | 11/05/08 00:44:48 By -

Early returns show Californians backing gay-marriage ban

Six months after the California Supreme Court sanctioned same-sex marriage in the state, voters Tuesday were repealing the landmark decision with 12 percent of precincts reporting. Proposition 8, the most passionately debated and costliest measure on the ballot, was ahead 56 percent to 44 percent. | 11/05/08 00:25:55 By - Aurelio Rojas

Text of Barack Obama's speech

Remarks of President-Elect Barack Obama, as prepared for delivery. | 11/05/08 00:19:05 By -

Lungren leads; McClintock, Brown deadlocked in California

Incumbent Republican Rep. Dan Lungren held a narrow lead Tuesday evening over Democrat Bill Durston in California's 3rd Congressional District, and Republican Tom McClintock and Democrat Charlie Brown were virtually deadlocked in the neighboring 4th District. | 11/04/08 23:55:22 By - Peter Hecht

Civil rights battleground celebrates Obama's win

Eyes welled, tears flowed, and hugs and kisses ruled the night. Barack Obama's resounding presidential victory Tuesday night brought supporters black and white in the epicenter of the civil rights movement to the Boutwell Auditorium to celebrate the nation's first African-American president. | 11/04/08 23:49:00 By - Tony Pugh

Florida's Ros-Lehtinen, Diaz-Balarts keep seats

All three of Miami's three Cuban-American GOP stalwarts have staved off the toughest challenges of their careers Tuesday night. Reps. Mario and Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen respectively cruised to their ninth and 11th terms on Capitol Hill. | 11/04/08 23:48:47 By - Alfonso Chardy, Michael R. Vasquez and Larry Lebowitz

Obama will take office facing a host of tough challenges

President-elect Barack Obama will face some of the most daunting challenges that any new president has confronted since at least 1981, when America tumbled into a severe recession with its prestige ebbing around the world. Yet he'll be able to claim a mandate, with the largest victory of any Democrat since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. | 11/04/08 23:27:10 By - David Lightman

McCain was swamped by bad luck — some of his own making

John McCain survived three airplane crashes, more than five years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, the Keating Five political scandal and being written off as a presidential candidate in 2000 and 2008. But Tuesday night, McCain couldn't survive Barack Obama's well-oiled campaign and the tide of history, as voters elected America's first African-American president. | 11/04/08 23:16:00 By - William Douglas

Barnes concedes as Republican Graves wins Missouri's 6th

Former Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes has conceded defeat in her challenge against incumbent Republican Rep. Sam Graves for Missouri’s 6th District congressional seat. | 11/04/08 23:15:17 By - Lynn Horsley

Obama saw an opportunity — and positioned himself to take it

Obama based his victory on two premises: First, that a backlash against President Bush would be sufficient to drive white swing voters into the arms of a first-term, biracial senator with liberal Chicago roots. Second, that the conventional wisdom that young, minority and poor people can't be counted on to vote was a symptom of previous candidates who didn't try hard enough. | 11/04/08 23:09:00 By - Margaret Talev

Tremendous economic problems await Obama

Campaigning about the economy may prove easier than managing it. Beyond inheriting a global financial crisis, President-elect Barack Obama faces the challenge of reversing mounting job losses, halting an economic downturn and navigating pressure from abroad for a new architecture to govern the global economic system, long dominated by the United States. | 11/04/08 23:08:00 By - Kevin G. Hall

Georgia Senate race may be headed to a runoff

Georgia Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss battled for a second term Tuesday, fighting a surge of Democratic voters and frustration over the economy. | 11/04/08 22:49:27 By - Halimah Abdullah

In N. Carolina, Dems tighten grip on the executive branch

Democrats tightened their hold on the executive branch of North Carolina's state government Tuesday, capturing the auditor's office and holding onto a wide majority on the Council of State, whose members decide a variety of issues most often related to state assets. | 11/04/08 22:41:07 By - Benjamin Niolet and Lynn Bonner

Goddard concedes to Marshall in Georgia's 8th District race

Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Rick Goddard conceded his race against Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall, losing a race many thought could go the GOP's way. | 11/04/08 22:26:35 By - Travis Fain

Commentary: McConnell survives but Senate life won't be the same

Mitch McConnell survives a tough re-election bid to serve a fifth term in the U.S. Senate. He'll return to D.C. and a very different political landscape. | 11/04/08 22:25:26 By - The Lexington Herald-Leader

McConnell wins 5th term in U.S. Senate

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has survived what he called his toughest re-election race with a win over Democratic challenger Bruce Lunsford, a Louisville businessman. | 11/04/08 22:18:00 By - Ryan Alessi

No spoiler role for third-party candidates in '08

In a year that offered a stark choice between the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates, independent Ralph Nader and Libertarian Bob Barr found themselves on the sidelines, with little traction on their issues and no impact on the outcome. | 11/04/08 22:03:00 By - Maria Recio

Civil rights veteran invigorated by Obama vote

Lloyd Major, 69, who cast his first ballot for Lyndon Baines Johnson in 1964, saw his vote for Barack Obama was as much a vote for promises and possibilities as for the man himself. "There's something reverent about casting this vote," said Major. | 11/04/08 21:43:47 By - Audra D.S. Burch

Democrat Perdue has lead in N. Carolina governor's race

Democrat Bev Perdue has jumped to an early lead over Republican Pat McCrory in the race to choose a new North Carolina governor. | 11/04/08 21:14:31 By - David Perlmutt

Many Cuban Americans base vote on multiple issues

U.S. policy toward Cuba, generally a high-profile issue among Cuban Americans in Miami-Dade County, took a back seat to concerns about the economy, taxes and the Iraq War among nearly a dozen voters polled at three precincts on Election Day. | 11/04/08 21:12:34 By - Daniel Chang

GOP's Hayes running behind in N. Carolina congressional race

Returns from the early voting period pushed Democratic challenger Larry Kissell to a big lead Tuesday night over Republican incumbent Robin Hayes in the hotly contested N.C. 8th Congressional district race. | 11/04/08 21:03:22 By - Steve Lyttle and Kirsten Valle

Kay Hagan ousts Liddy Dole from Senate in N. Carolina

Kay Hagan claimed victory tonight over incumbent Elizabeth Dole in the U.S. Senate race in North Carolina. With 63 of 100 counties reporting, Hagan led Dole by 52 to 45 percent. | 11/04/08 20:43:27 By - Barbara Barrett

Vila concedes in Puerto Rico govenor's race

Puerto Rico's incumbent governor concedes in re-election bid. | 11/04/08 20:38:21 By - Frances Robles

McCain wins Kentucky, Obama, Vermont

Though Democrats heavily outnumber Republicans in Kentucky, most of the state's voters sided with Republican John McCain instead of Democrat Barack Obama for president. | 11/04/08 19:38:32 By - Jack Brammer

112-year-old Sacramento man awaits election history

George Rene Francis has waited 112 years to see an African-American president. Today, he's glued to a television at his south Sacramento retirement home to watch history in the making. | 11/04/08 19:17:48 By -

Obama wins presidency; Democrats widen majority in Congress

Barack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday, swept to victory by an anxious country eager to change course at home and abroad. Obama, 47, becomes the first African-American in U.S. history to win the presidency and the first from the generation that came of age after the turbulence of the 1960s. | 11/04/08 18:47:00 By - Steven Thomma

Calif. officials report 2 ballots pre-marked for Obama

The incident happened in a rural precinct of Oakdale, Calif., when a Spanish-speaking voter reported the problem to pollworkers after he tried to mark the ballot. Officials then inspected all unvoted ballots. | 11/04/08 18:29:34 By - J.N. Sbranti

Palin flies home to vote, heads to Phoenix

Gov. Sarah Palin made a fleeting visit to Alaska on Tuesday morning to vote at her home polling place in Wasilla. Asked how she felt about her chances in the election, she said, "Very confident." | 11/04/08 17:31:13 By - Julia O'Malley

Long lines mark Election Day, but problems appear minor

Waits of more than an hour to vote were the order of the day, but there were few reports of problems amid praise for the impact of early voting which allowed as many as 40 percent of voters in battleground states such as Florida and North Carolina to make their selections early and avoid a crush at the polls today. | 11/04/08 11:39:25 By -

Here's a guide to how to watch tonight's election returns

Most states are solidly in one column or the other and can be ignored. New York will vote Democratic, for example. But what are the states you should be paying attention to and when are their returns expected? Your guide to election night. | 11/04/08 07:50:07 By - Steven Thomma

Poll predicts California will shatter voter turnout records

California is expected to smash its all-time turnout record by more than 1 million voters once ballots are tallied today. | 11/04/08 07:31:28 By - Peter Hecht

Florida polling underway; 'Come prepared,' voters told

South Floridians are likely to turn out in droves Tuesday to choose a new president, and if lines at the polls are tolerable, they have early voters to thank. Even before the polls openbed, people were queuing up, waiting in lawn chairs and on blankets. Lines will be cut off at 7 p.m., but anyone in line by then will be allowed to vote. | 11/04/08 07:27:02 By - Evan S. Benn and Jennifer Mooney Piedra

Computer expert denies knowledge of '04 vote rigging in Ohio

A Republican computer consultant denied under oath Monday that he knew of any GOP effort to steal the 2004 election for President Bush by rigging Ohio's vote totals, an attorney who questioned him said. | 11/03/08 20:34:00 By - Greg Gordon

Alaska issues new 'troopergate' report, exonerating Palin

The report was commissioned by the state Personnel Board after Palin filed an ethics complaint against herself in hopes of derailing a legislative investigation into her firing of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. The legislative report went forward after courts refused to stop it and found that Palin had violated state ethics law. The new report says that conclusion was wrong. | 11/03/08 20:02:29 By - Lisa Demer, Kyle Hopkins and Megan Holland

In Birmingham, Obama's run is more than just politics

Monday night, just hours before the polls open in what is already a historic presidential election, city leaders spoke from the pulpit of the 16th Street Baptist Church to urge the mostly black audience to vote. It was in that very same church that four young girls were killed in a 1963 bombing that was part of the violent opposition to the civil rights movement. In Birmingham, there are few who don't see a connection between that tragedy and Obama's candidacy. | 11/03/08 19:14:00 By - Tony Pugh

It's a big election for the little parties, too

The Boston Tea Party may sound like a piece of American history, but it's also a political party spun off from the Libertarian Party, with a slogan — "Time to party like it's 1773" — and a presidential candidate on the ballot in Colorado, Florida and Tennessee. | 11/03/08 18:36:00 By - Maria Recio

Eve of Election Day: McCain's feisty, Obama's confident

Democrat Barack Obama, saying he felt 'peaceful' as polls found him poised to win election Tuesday as the nation's next president — and to become the first African-American to win the office — battled John McCain across crucial swing states Monday as both candidates made last-ditch bids for support. | 11/03/08 16:34:00 By - David Lightman

Obama's grandmother dies in Hawaii

Obama had suspended his campaign in October to visit his ailing grandmother in Hawaii. A statement from Obama and his half-sister did not say when she had died, but gave the cause as cancer and requested donations to organizations seeking a cure for cancer. | 11/03/08 16:42:37 By - Steven Thomma

Run 'n' gun: Barr donor gets new shotgun

Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr can add a new chant to the campaign: Shoot, baby, shoot. Barr, a supporter of gun rights, auctioned off a shotgun to the highest contributor during a two-day period last week. | 11/03/08 16:00:00 By - Maria Recio

Obama holding onto lead in final Ipsos/McClatchy Poll

The final Ipsos/McClatchy pre-election poll found Obama leads McCain nationally by 50-42 percent, with 7 percent undecided. If undecided are pushed to choose, they break slightly for McCain, with a resulting 53-46 Obama lead. Obama leads among men by 6 points and women by 9 points. McCain leads among non-Hispanic whites by 11 points. | 11/03/08 00:49:00 By - Steven Thomma

Dole kicks off N.C. fly-around today

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, under fire for a controversial campaign ad she ran against her opponent Kay Hagan, kicked off a six-stop fly-around of the state in Charlotte on the eve of Election Day. | 11/03/08 12:52:02 By - Lisa Zagaroli

With endless campaign almost over, here're 10 things we'll miss

Yes, it's been a long slog to Election Day, and yes, there're reasons to be glad it's about to end. But it's also been a wildly entertaining, occasionally irritating and often inspiring race to the White House. So, before it all ends, let's stop to appreciate the 10 things we'll miss most about Election '08. | 11/03/08 07:53:05 By - Alyson Ward

Election year brings out passion, eagerness to vote

Five people illustrate what is happening in Columbus and throughout the country as a historic election nears. What is happening in advance voting and promises to continue through late Tuesday night is one for the history books, and it isn't lost on people who have seen many elections. | 11/03/08 07:36:15 By - Chuck Williams

Kansan a key figure in McCain campaign

Sarah Simmons grew up in a Lenexa household where rarely a dinner went by that her family didn't chew over the issues of the day. "We'd watch McNeil-Lehrer and have these very spirited conversations about what was going on," she said. | 11/03/08 07:21:50 By - David Goldstein

In N. Carolina, 41 percent of voters have already cast ballots

More than 2.5 million North Carolina voters cast their ballots early this year, more than doubling the previous record of 1.1 million, set in 2004. That's an astonishing turnout of 41 percent of the state's registered voters — before Election Day. It came in a year with hardfought races for governor and senator as well as president. | 11/03/08 07:03:10 By - Tim Funk and Peter St. Onge

Dole, Hagan race for votes in N. Carolina Senate

Sen. Elizabeth Dole wrapped up her eight-day “ElizaBus tour” of the state while her challenger Kay Hagan worked early election sites Saturday in a late push for votes in the hotly contested U.S. Senate race. | 11/02/08 19:41:16 By - Lisa Zagaroli

In NC's 12th tight race for representative

As Election Day nears, Rep. Mel Watt feels confident he'll be re-elected to a ninth term in office against Republican Ty Cobb Jr., a retired engineer and military man who lives near Salisbury. | 11/02/08 19:36:00 By - Lisa Zagaroli

Preemptive 'war:' Florida Dems sue GOP over unused tactic

The lawsuit, filed last week, accuses the Republicans of planning to challenge registered Democratic voters by submitting lists of names with questionable addresses to local elections supervisors. The GOP says it has no plans to do any such thing. Still, the Democrats want a judge to order the GOP not to do it. | 11/02/08 19:23:15 By - Jay Weaver

Different moods as McCain, Obama sprint to the finish

Two thousand supporters rallied for McCain in Pennsylvania, 60,000 gathered to hear Obama in Columbus, Ohio. The Republican Party launched robocalls playing audio of Hillary Clinton from the primary campaign portraying Obama as too inexperienced to run against McCain. Obama, meanwhile, launched an ad citing unpopular Vice President Dick Cheney's endorsement of McCain. Monday, both candidates planned multi-state campaign swings. | 11/02/08 16:28:00 By - Margaret Talev and William Douglas

What's the secret behind Palin's ability to draw a crowd?

There's a moment during each of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's stump speeches when the Republican vice presidential candidate utters the "S" word, the one word that can fire up crowds almost as much as her favorite chant, "drill, baby, drill." But that message alone doesn't explain Palin's ability to draw bigger crowds than her running mate. | 11/02/08 15:43:00 By - Erika Bolstad

Obama remains a bit too 'different' for some in Ohio

How many feel that way could decide whether Ohio tilts for McCain or Obama. Polls vary on whose ahead in Ohio, but most find enough voters still undecided that if McCain does well with them, he could win the state. Interviews make it clear that Obama has yet to win over big chunks of the electorate. | 11/02/08 14:23:00 By - David Lightman

Biden bids for blue-collar voters below the media radar

Williamsport, Pa. Virginia Beach, Va. Marion, Ohio. All are Republican redoubts in key states, and all are recent Biden destinations. Democrats believe the economic crisis has made these areas ripe for political reversals. And Biden has the assignment of at least cutting the GOP margin on once-safe turf. | 11/02/08 15:01:00 By - David Goldstein

Ted Stevens still has lots of fans in Alaska

STERLING, Alaska — Sen. Ted Stevens, days after a Washington D.C. jury found him guilty of seven felonies, stood in the cold outside a senior center and rejected the possibility that a single Republican supporter in Alaska has turned against him. | 11/02/08 14:03:00 By - Sean Cockerham

Assisted suicide backers raise millions in Washington State

Backers of Initiative 1000 now say the campaign in Washington is the best-funded drive for physician-assisted suicide ever, with more than three times the money as the opposition. The backers of the initiative have raised $5.5 million; those opposed have raised $1.5 million. | 11/02/08 12:46:35 By - Adam Wilson

Florida could have history making role in Tuesday's election

Florida is going to make history Tuesday in a way nobody expected. It figures to either cap Democrat Barack Obama's sweeping victory in the presidential election -- or, possibly, become the springboard for a remarkable rally by Republican John McCain. And, like the epic battle of 2000, it could be very close. | 11/02/08 07:15:42 By - Beth Reinhard

Congress: In a California GOP stronghold, Dems make a play

Ordinarily, Northern California's 4th Congressional District wouldn't be anything other than an easy vote generator for Republicans in one of the stoutest GOP regions in the state. But this is an anything-but-ordinary political year. | 11/02/08 07:00:51 By - Peter Hecht

Despite dissatisfaction, Kentucky voters will keep incumbents

Kentuckians — 85 percent, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal's Bluegrass Poll — say the country is on the wrong track. More disapprove of the performance of U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., after 24 years in office than approve. Yet for all their complaints, there's a decent chance that Kentuckians will re-elect every incumbent who's running. | 11/02/08 06:53:12 By - John Cheves

Awash in anxiety, Americans look to shift course

As they do perhaps once in a generation — 1932, 1968 and 1980 — Americans next week will choose a new president and chart a new course in a time of economic turmoil, social upheaval and great anxiety. They will choose one of two very different men to lead the country back to peace and prosperity. | 11/02/08 06:00:00 By - Steven Thomma

Dems hold big edge in Florida in early and absentee voting

A huge increase in early voting has given Democrats a decided advantage over Republicans in Florida -- a major departure from statewide voting trends four years ago. Democrats have cast 46 percent of the 3.4 million early and absentee votes in Florida, while Republicans cast 38 percent. That's a big shift from 2004, when Democrats were by Republicans in early and absentee ballots. | 11/01/08 23:04:53 By - Rob Barry, Marc Caputo and Scott Hiaasen

Dole's 'godless' ad is talk of N. Carolina as race nears end

Elizabeth Dole's ad attacking challenger Kay Hagan by suggesting the Sunday school teacher is "godless" has touched a nerve in North Carolina, but maybe not in the way Dole intended. Neither candidate brought the ad up in their campaigning, but voters wanted to talk about it. | 11/01/08 22:47:49 By - Lisa Zagaroli and Rob Christensen

No one is counting Stevens out in his re-election campaign

Alaska hasn't elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in nearly 30 years. Ted Stevens joined the Senate in 1968, after Gov. Wally Hickel appointed him to the seat that opened when E.L. "Bob" Bartlett died after heart surgery in Cleveland. Stevens hasn't faced a close election since — until this year's battle with Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich. | 11/01/08 22:36:20 By - Sean Cockerham

Prank call from comedians tests Palin's sense of humor

Palin's advisers put the call through to her during the day Saturday. When asked how the comedians were able to connect with her, Palin rolled her eyes and referred to a statement released earlier by the campaign. "You know, we'll keep a sense of humor through all of this," she said. | 11/01/08 20:53:00 By - Erika Bolstad