Virginia's Republican chairman said Tuesday that his remark tying Democrat Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden during the presidential campaign was stupid, but he refused to apologize.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has put the "brutal" 2008 campaign behind her and has the next presidential race in her sights. John McCain gave her a hearty thumbs-up, saying Palin didn't damage his own White House bid.

Two white supremacists accused of plotting to assassinate Barack Obama are on lockdown in their Tennessee jail cell.

St. Louis County keeps election ballots in the courthouse attic. Anoka County keeps them locked in the basement. Hennepin County relies on its cities to keep ballots safe.
Text of President-elect Obama at a news conference Friday in Chicago, as transcribed by CQ Transcriptions:

Democrat Barack Obama gained lopsided support from Hispanics in Tuesday's election, winning solidly among voters with whom President Bush had made inroads in 2004.

Long lines have formed as polls open in Eastern states as Barack Obama's bid to become the first black president faced the final test of his remarkable two-year journey Tuesday, while Republican John McCain pressed for an Election Day upset.

Most Asian stock markets retreated Tuesday after weakness on Wall Street, as concerns about the global economy sapped enthusiasm over China's nearly $600 billion package to boost growth.
Numbers and more numbers from the 2008 presidential campaign cycle and the journeys of Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain:

His storied election behind him and weighty problems in his face, Barack Obama turned Wednesday to the task of building an administration in times of crisis as Americans and the world absorbed his history-shattering achievement as the first black leader ascending to the presidency.

Barack Obama will begin receiving highly classified briefings from top intelligence officials Thursday, as the rush of his campaign gives way to intensive preparations to take over as commander in chief and build a Democratic administration.
Democrat Barack Obama told ESPN's "Monday Night Football" it's time for college football to pick a champion with a playoff system while Republican John McCain would put an end to performance-enhancing substances.

Boxing promoter Don King, who backed President Bush in 2004, encouraged voters on Monday to see beyond race and elect Democrat Barack Obama the nation's first black president.

Barack Obama came up a big winner in the presidential race in Dixville Notch and Hart's Location, N.H., where tradition of having the first Election Day ballots tallied lives on.

The presidential candidates are capping a history-making campaign with a dash from Florida through a half-dozen other crucial states as John McCain tries for an upset over Barack Obama. With little sleep, McCain was darting through seven swing states Monday, arguing that victory was virtually at hand despite national polls showing otherwise.
It's lunchtime, and Mary Goode is leaning toward voting for Republican John McCain. By dinner, she admits she might be for Democrat Barack Obama.

House Republican leader John Boehner has used a vulgar expression to refer to Democrat Barack Obama and his voting record in the Illinois legislature.

With the economy in a downward spiral, U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and the nation under threat from terrorists, President Bush pledged Saturday to make a smooth transition to an Obama administration a top priority for the rest of his days in office.
Riding a wave of voter discontent over a failing economy, Democrat Barack Obama has solid leads in northeastern, midwestern and western Democratic enclaves and has mounted surprising challenges in the South and other once reliably Republican states. In many areas, that strength is spilling over to endanger some Republicans running for the Senate, House or governor. The region-by-region outlook:

Democrat Barack Obama got annoyed with the media Friday as he tried to walk down a Chicago street with his 7-year-old daughter, Sasha, who was dressed up in a shiny costume for Halloween.

In Rust Belt states home to thousands of autoworkers, Barack Obama and John McCain have offered plans to develop advanced vehicles key to rebuilding U.S. automakers. But the next president may face decisions that run to the domestic auto industry' very core: their survival.

With the presidential race in its final days, Republican John McCain campaigned across Ohio, struggling to gain ground against Democrat Barack Obama in a state that the Republican must win to have a chance of capturing the White House.
Democrat Barack Obama says that if elected president he wants to meet immediately with the heads of the Big Three automakers and the United Auto Workers to craft a strategy that will make the U.S. industry competitive in the world again.

