President-Elect Barack Obama is signaling quick movement on the economy, with his advisers moments ago rolling out a list of important economic figures who will serve on his Transition Economic Advisory Board.

Obama and Joe Biden will meet with the group on Friday, November 7, 2008 and hold a press conference afterwards, Camp Obama announces.

The group includes a bunch of expected names. There’s Warren Buffett (who endorsed Obama) and Governor Jennifer Granholm, as well as some heavy-hitters from the Clinton universe, like Robert Rubin and Robert Reich.

Also serving: Harvard’s Lawrence Summers and former Federal Reserve chair Paul Volcker.

Obama’s press conference — which will take place on Friday, November 7, 2008 at 2:30 P.M. ET, is likely to be a media zoo, both because it will offer clues to Obama’s first moves on the economy and because it’s his first press conference as President-Elect.

• David Bonior (Member House of Representatives 1977-2003)
• Warren Buffett (Chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway)-will participate via speakerphone
• Roel Campos (former SEC Commissioner)
• William Daley (Chairman of the Midwest, JP Morgan Chase; Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Commerce, 1997-2000)
• William Donaldson (Former Chairman of the SEC 2003-2005)
• Roger Ferguson (President and CEO, TIAA-CREF and former Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve)
• Gov. Jennifer Granholm (Governor, State of Michigan)
• Anne Mulcahy (Chairman and CEO, Xerox)
• Richard Parsons (Chairman of the Board, Time Warner)
• Penny Pritzker (CEO, Classic Residence by Hyatt)
• Robert Reich (University of California, Berkeley; Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Labor, 1993-1997)
• Robert Rubin (Chairman and Director of the Executive Committee, Citigroup; Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Treasury, 1995-1999)
• Eric Schmidt (Chairman and CEO, Google)
• Lawrence Summers (Harvard University; Managing Director, D.E. Shaw; Former Secretary, U.S. Dept of Treasury, 1999-2001)
• Laura Tyson (Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley; Former Chairman, National Economic Council, 1995-1996; Former Chairman, President’s Council of Economic Advisors, 1993-1995)
• Antonio Villaraigosa (Mayor, City of Los Angeles)
• Paul Volcker (Former Chairman, U.S. Federal Reserve 1979-1987)

For video clips of Jon Stewart, Stepehen Colbert, Larry Wilmore, John Oliver, Jason Jones, Samantha Bee, Wyatt Cenac, Rob Wriggle, Jimmy the Producer, and all your other favorite cast and crew from The Daily Show and the Colbert Report, visit http://www.indecision2008.com/videos.jhtml

For the first time ever, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert co-anchored from the same desk when “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report” went live with “Indecision 2008: America’s Choice,” a LIVE Election Night primetime special, which aired from 10:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. ET (7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. PT).

For video clips of Stewart, Colbert, Wriggle, Oliver, Wilmore, Cernac, Jones, Bee, and all rest of the cast and crew of the Daily Show and the Colbert Report, visit
http://www.indecision2008.com/videos.jhtml

“Indecision 2008: America’s Choice” was broadcast from “The Daily Show’s” New York-based studio which was transformed for the momentous night into COMEDY CENTRAL’s Election Center with a specially designed set for the primetime special.

In addition, “Indecision 2008: America’s Choice” was also be simulcast on MTV’s 44-1/2 JumboTron in the heart of Times Square on Broadway between West 44th Street and West 45th Street.

“Indecision 2008: America’s Choice” featured the combined forces of the Emmy(R) and Peabody(R) Award-winning series, “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report.” Hosted by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert along with “The Best F*& #ing News Team Ever!” (correspondents Samantha Bee, Wyatt Cenac, Jason Jones, Aasif Mandvi, John Oliver, Rob Riggle and contributor Larry Wilmore), the LIVE special will bring viewers political coverage of the historic election with reports and analysis from the field and candidate headquarters.

“Indecision 2008: America’s Choice” replayed immediately following its conclusion at 11:00 p.m. and later that night at 1:00 a.m. Repeats will also air on Wednesday, November 5 at 10:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.; Saturday, November 8 at 9:30 a.m.; and Sunday, November 9 at 7:30 a.m. All repeat times are ET/PT.

This marks the fifth time, dating back to 1992, that COMEDY CENTRAL’s “Indecision” presidential coverage has gone LIVE on Election Night. “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” had previously done a LIVE show together in 2006 with “Indecision 2006: The Midterm Midtacular.” However, this is first time that Stewart and Colbert were co-anchoring a LIVE show from the same studio.

COMEDY CENTRAL’s Indecision2008.com Web site has extensive coverage of Election Day. Postings were made all day by the site’s bloggers who reported the latest news on the presidential election as well as the hot races in the House and Senate. The site will also hosted a Live Chat, during the day and throughout the “Indecision 2008: America’s Choice” special enabling users to connect and discuss the election with other fans. There was also be a Live Blogging Event from 7:30 p.m.-11:30 p.m. ET with comedian Patton Oswalt.

He called his running mate (and self-described “hockey mom”) “one of the best campaigners I have ever seen and an impressive new voice in our party for reform and the principles that have always been our greatest strength.”

That line received the loudest applause of the night. Palin is expected to arrive in Alaska sometime today in a campaign plane. After McCain’s loss, she phoned supporters attending an event at the Wasilla Multi-Use Sports Complex.

“Wasilla, are you there?” she asked.

The crowd cheered as a cell phone was set up next to a microphone.

“There are just no words for my appreciation for all the hard work you did,” Palin said. “Obviously it was not our time, it was not our moment.”

“We’re going to be just fine,” she went on. “It is a shining moment tonight in history. We do congratulate Barack Obama. It’s a great night in history. But I’ll tell ya, Wasilla - and everybody there in Alaska - I am just proud to be able to represent Wasilla.

“I am neither bitter nor vanquished, but very confident in the knowledge that there will be another day,” she continued. “We can do that even from the homefront up in Alaska. I can’t wait to join you there in Alaska. God bless you, thank you very much, and I love you more than you’ll ever know, Mat-Su Valley.”

McCain chose Palin — the nation’s first female Republican vice presidential nominee and the butt of Saturday Night Live jokes — to hopefully win the votes of Democratic and independent women. Shortly after he announced the news, she confirmed reports that her 17-year-old daughter Brisol was five months pregnant.

After a rousing speech at the Republican National Convention (she famously called herself a pit bull in “lip stick”), however, Palin’s popularity slipped.

She came under fire after it was revealed that the Republican National Committee shelled out more than $150,000 to dress her.

Polls also showed that men accounted for most of her support.

On Tuesday, only about four in 10 voters told exit pollsters that they found Palin — who had come under fire for rocky press interviews — qualified to lead the nation, according to reports.

Palin blamed the media for the reason why some female voters didn’t fully embrace her.

“You have to consider that there has been the constant barrage, a kind of spin on my record or my positions,” she said on ABC’s 20/20 last week.

Some experts predict Palin’s political future is far from over, suggesting that she could run in 2012.

Asked if she made any regrets along the way, Palin told Fox News on Tuesday: “I just wish there was more hours in the day so we could’ve gotten around to more areas of our country.”

Here is video of this speech:

TRANSCRIPT OF PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA’S SPEECH

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

MORE BELOW:

It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.

It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It’s the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.

I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he’s fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead.

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.

I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation’s next First Lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the White House. And while she’s no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.

To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics – you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you’ve sacrificed to get it done.

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to – it belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn’t start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington – it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.

It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.

I know you didn’t do this just to win an election and I know you didn’t do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime – two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor’s bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America – I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you – we as a people will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can’t solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it’s been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years – block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek – it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers – in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.

Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House – a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, “We are not enemies, but friends…though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.” And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn – I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world – our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down – we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security – we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright – tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.

For that is the true genius of America – that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing – Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons – because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America – the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time – to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth – that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.

Obama win sparks celebrations outside White House

(CNN) — As tens of thousands of people cheered Barack Obama’s presidential victory at his home base in Chicago, Illinois, others were celebrating near his future house.

At least 1,000 people gathered on Washington’s Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House late Tuesday night, shouting “Obama! Obama!” and “Yes we can!” Uniformed Secret Service officers were overheard, saying they’d never seen anything like it.

In Boston, Massachusetts, thousands of people — many of them college students — hit the streets to celebrate the election of the country’s 44th president. The sound of car horns could be heard across the city, CNN affiliate WCVB reported.

Boston police said the celebrations were peaceful, but they closed some streets to control the crowds, WCVB reported.

In Chicago’s Grant Park, where police estimated at least 200,000 had gathered to hear Obama claim victory, the crowd erupted in cheers and screams after news organizations projected him the winner.

AP:

From Harlem, to the avenue in Atlanta where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was born, to Oakland, Calif., Americans black and white celebrated Barack Obama’s election with tears, the honking of horns, screams of joy, arms lifted skyward — and memories of civil rights struggles past.

Seattle Times:

In Seattle, crowds of thousands of people spilled into the streets near the Pike Place Market and on Capitol Hill Wednesday night to celebrate the election of Barack Obama.

Detroit Free Press:

They streamed into the streets of downtown Detroit — black, white, Asian, Indian and Arab — all Americans who were proud to celebrate president-elect Barack Obama and the new America he represents.

Black power fists were thrown in the air, large American flags were waved, people danced in the streets, drivers honked their car horns, men stood on cars playing bongo drums and the gleeful shouts of “OBAMA” could literally be heard from miles away.

Lebanon (PA) Daily News:

For the second time in a week, Philadelphia had an impromptu celebration.

Six days after crowding streets to celebrate the Phillies’ World Series victory, thousands of Philadelphians marched downtown on Tuesday night to celebrate Barack Obama’s victory over John McCain.

A multiracial crowd of all ages came from all directions and converged at City Hall shortly after Obama was declared the winner. Under a light rain, thousands of people jumped up and down, cheered and danced in the streets while car stereos blared music.

Newsday:

Celebration is spilling into the streets of Newark as New Jersey’s largest city rejoices in Barack Obama’s momentous election to the White House.

People spilled into the streets late Tuesday night, as car horns honked and cheers could be heard for blocks as the Democrat was declared the winner.

Louisville, KY Courier-Journal:

After the presidential race was called for Democrat Barack Obama at 11 p.m., motorists driving on Broadway in downtown Louisville honked their horns and yelled “Obama!” out the windows.

People gathered along the stretch of Broadway between 26th and 27th streets, cheering, dancing and waving campaign signs.

Ann Arbor (MI) News:

Sometime around 11:30 Tuesday night, the cheers could be heard reverberating across downtown Ann Arbor, steadily growing louder and louder.

An impromptu parade that started on the University of Michigan Central Campus wound along downtown streets as hundreds of students - joined by passersby and others who spilled out of bars - joyously celebrated the election of America’s first black president.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje, who was at an election party at Arbor Brewing Co. on Washington Street, celebrating his own victory for a fifth 2-year term. “You could hear them coming and then half the bar went outside and followed along.”

San Jose Mercury News:

Two hours later, downtown Santa Cruz was seized by a spectacle of mass celebration as hundreds of Obama supporters poured out from the sidewalks, high-fiving with hands extended from honking cars cruising by, hugging strangers and weeping like they must have done on V-E Day.

The cars, most of them fully occupied, snaked down Pacific Avenue in an impromptu recession, though the white-hot center of the celebration was at Pacific and Walnut. A tattooed and shirtless young man, his entire torso leaning out of the passenger side of a white Toyota spoke for the crowd when he screamed, “God bless America, and God bless Barack Obama.”

Getting the idea? There’s more, but you already knew that.

It’s a great day for Democrats and Republicans alike. For Democrats, Barack Obama was elected President. For Republicans, there was finally dancing in the streets and Americans greeted as liberators.

A Palin aide said: “Governor Palin was not directing staffers to put anything on their personal credit cards, and anything that staffers put on their credit cards has been reimbursed, like an expense. Nasty and false accusations following a defeat say more about the person who made them than they do about Governor Palin.”

Other shocking campaign disclosures, below the fold:

McCain himself rarely spoke to Palin during the campaign, and aides kept him in the dark about the details of her spending on clothes because they were sure he would be offended. Palin asked to speak along with McCain at his Arizona concession speech Tuesday night, but campaign strategist Steve Schmidt vetoed the request.

The disclosures are among many revealed in “How He Did It, 2008,” the latest installment in NEWSWEEK’s Special Election Project, which was first published in 1984. As in the previous editions, “How He Did It, 2008″ is an inside, behind-the-scenes account of the presidential election produced by a special team of reporters working for more than a year on an embargoed basis and detached from the weekly magazine and Newsweek.com. Everything the project team learns is kept confidential until the day after the polls close.

The computer systems of both the Obama and McCain campaigns were victims of a sophisticated cyberattack by an unknown “foreign entity,” prompting a federal investigation, NEWSWEEK reports today.

At the Obama headquarters in midsummer, technology experts detected what they initially thought was a computer virus—a case of “phishing,” a form of hacking often employed to steal passwords or credit-card numbers. But by the next day, both the FBI and the Secret Service came to the campaign with an ominous warning: “You have a problem way bigger than what you understand,” an agent told Obama’s team. “You have been compromised, and a serious amount of files have been loaded off your system.” The following day, Obama campaign chief David Plouffe heard from White House chief of staff Josh Bolten, to the same effect: “You have a real problem … and you have to deal with it.” The Feds told Obama’s aides in late August that the McCain campaign’s computer system had been similarly compromised. A top McCain official confirmed to NEWSWEEK that the campaign’s computer system had been hacked and that the FBI had become involved.

Officials at the FBI and the White House told the Obama campaign that they believed a foreign entity or organization sought to gather information on the evolution of both camps’ policy positions—information that might be useful in negotiations with a future administration. The Feds assured the Obama team that it had not been hacked by its political opponents. (Obama technical experts later speculated that the hackers were Russian or Chinese.) A security firm retained by the Obama campaign took steps to secure its computer system and end the intrusion. White House and FBI officials had no comment earlier this week.

Among the other revelations from the special project:

• The Obama campaign was provided with reports from the Secret Service showing a sharp and disturbing increase in threats to Obama in September and early October, at the same time that many crowds at Palin rallies became more frenzied. Michelle Obama was shaken by the vituperative crowds and the hot rhetoric from the GOP candidates. “Why would they try to make people hate us?” Michelle asked a top campaign aide.
• On the Sunday night before the last debate, McCain’s core group of advisers—Steve Schmidt, Rick Davis, adman Fred Davis, strategist Greg Strimple, pollster Bill McInturff and strategy director Sarah Simmons—met to decide whether to tell McCain that the race was effectively over, that he no longer had a chance to win. The consensus in the room was no, not yet, not while he still had “a pulse.”
• The Obama campaign’s New Media experts created a computer program that would allow a “flusher”—the term for a volunteer who rounds up nonvoters on Election Day—to know exactly who had, and had not, voted in real time. They dubbed it Project Houdini, because of the way names disappear off the list instantly once people are identified as they wait in line at their local polling station.
• Palin launched her attack on Obama’s association with William Ayers, the former Weather Underground bomber, before the campaign had finalized a plan to raise the issue. McCain’s advisers were working on a strategy that they hoped to unveil the following week, but McCain had not signed off on it, and top adviser Mark Salter was resisting.
• McCain also was reluctant to use Obama’s incendiary pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, as a campaign issue. The Republican had set firm boundaries: no Jeremiah Wright; no attacking Michelle Obama; no attacking Obama for not serving in the military. McCain balked at an ad using images of children that suggested that Obama might not protect them from terrorism. Schmidt vetoed ads suggesting thatObama was soft on crime (no Willie Hortons). And before word even got to McCain, Schmidt and Salter scuttled a “celebrity” ad of Obama dancing with talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres (the sight of a black man dancing with a lesbian was deemed too provocative).
• Obama was never inclined to choose Sen. Hillary Clinton as his running mate, not so much because she had been his sometime bitter rival on the campaign trail, but because of her husband. Still, as Hillary’s name came up in veep discussions, and Obama’s advisers gave all the reasons why she should be kept off the ticket, Obama would stop and ask, “Are we sure?” He needed to be convinced one more time that the Clintons would do more harm than good. McCain, on the other hand, was relieved to face Sen. Joe Biden as the veep choice, and not Hillary Clinton, whom the McCain camp had truly feared.
• McCain was dumbfounded when Congressman John Lewis, a civil-rights hero, issued a press release comparing the GOP nominee with former Alabama governor George Wallace, a segregationist infamous for stirring racial fears. McCain had devoted a chapter to Lewis in one of his books, “Why Courage Matters,” and had so admired Lewis that he had once taken his children to meet him.
• On the night she officially lost the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton enjoyed a long and friendly phone conversation with McCain. Clinton was actually on better terms with McCain than she was with Obama. Clinton and McCain had downed shots together on Senate junkets; they regarded each other as grizzled veterans of the political wars and shared a certain disdain for Obama as flashy and callow.
• At the GOP convention in St. Paul, Palin was completely unfazed by the boys’ club fraternity she had just joined. One night, Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter went to her hotel room to brief her. After a minute, Palin sailed into the room wearing nothing but a towel, with another on her wet hair. She told them to chat with her laconic husband, Todd. “I’ll be just a minute,” she said.
• The debates unnerved both candidates. When he was preparing for them during the Democratic primaries, Obama was recorded saying, “I don’t consider this to be a good format for me, which makes me more cautious. I often find myself trapped by the questions and thinking to myself, ‘You know, this is a stupid question, but let me … answer it.’ So when Brian Williams is asking me about what’s a personal thing that you’ve done [that's green], and I say, you know, ‘Well, I planted a bunch of trees.’ And he says, ‘I’m talking about personal.’ What I’m thinking in my head is, ‘Well, the truth is, Brian, we can’t solve global warming because I f—ing changed light bulbs in my house. It’s because of something collective’.”

[source: newsweek.com]

[source: MSNBC First Read]

UPDATE:

Nov. 6 Statement from President-Elect Barack Obama

Podesta served as Bill Clinton’s chief of staff and is currently president of the Center for American Progress. Jarrett is a long-time associate of Obama’s from Chicago and has served as senior advisor to his campaign. Rouse has served as Obama’s chief of staff during his U.S. Senate tenure, a position Rouse also filled for former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle.

An advisory board will be made up of Carol Browner, William Daley, Christopher Edley, Michael Froman, Julius Genachowski, Donald Gips, Governor Janet Napolitano, Federico Peña, Susan Rice and Sonal Shah, as well as Mark Gitenstein and Ted Kaufman. The latter two men have been tapped to serve as co-chairs of Biden’s transition team.

A press release issued by Shapiro has named transition team staff members who will oversee day-to-day activities:

Transition Senior Staff:

• Chris Lu – Executive Director
• Dan Pfeiffer – Communications Director
• Stephanie Cutter – Chief Spokesperson
• Cassandra Butts – General Counsel
• Jim Messina – Personnel Director
• Patrick Gaspard – Associate Personnel Director
• Christine Varney - Personnel Counsel
• Melody Barnes – Co-Director of Agency Review
• Lisa Brown – Co-Director of Agency Review
• Phil Schiliro – Director of Congressional Relations
• Michael Strautmanis – Director of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs
• Katy Kale – Director of Operations
• Brad Kiley – Director of Operations

An official website for the transition team is live at www.change.gov.

At 14th and U streets NW, hundreds of Sen. Barack Obama’s supporters chanted, “Yes, we can!” People danced on bus shelters. Strangers hugged.

Here is some video of the event recorded on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House:

Election night ended an extraordinary day in the Washington region, one charged with deep emotion and a vivid sense of history. Older African Americans wiped away tears as they cast their ballots, overwhelmed by the reality that in their lifetime a man of color was at the threshold of the presidency. Some went to the polls with icons linking them to loved ones: a poll-tax receipt, photos of long-dead relatives. Many brought their children to bear witness.

As Greg Rhett emerged from the Madison Hotel, pumping his fist as tears welled.

“Now the healing begins,” said Rhett, 50, a consultant who lives in Ward 7. Now I can tell my 4-year-old you really can be whatever you want to be,” he said. “We’re going to get it right this time.” Behind him, his wife, Candace, screamed at the top of her lungs:

“President Obama!”

For Sen. John McCain’s backers, the evening was subdued and sober. In a half-filled room at Westwood Country Club in Vienna, Republicans watched the returns with stoicism and perspective.

“What do I think? The sun will come up tomorrow,” GOP volunteer Linda Schmidt said. “I hope there will be a level of coming together. It’s a challenging time for all of us.”

There was also bitterness. “What language do they speak in Kenya? Maybe I should get a book,” said Ed Sellman of Falls Church. “I’d sure like to see his birth certificate.”

“I guess there’re not too many plumbers in Ohio after all,” said Robert W. Farquhar of Burke. With McCain’s prospects ebbing, Republicans in Fairfax County turned their hopes to keeping Democrats from winning a filibuster-proof majority of 60 seats in the Senate. “No 60 votes!” Del. David B. Albo said. “Then you know you’re reaching low for a reason to party.”

A few minutes after Fox News called the election for Obama, the bar was ordered to close and the big-screen TVs were turned off. “McCain should sue for all the votes stolen by ACORN,” said Alex Sutono of Vienna. “I don’t believe those numbers. It’s not over. It’s not over.”

The most remarkable scene unfolded after midnight in front of the White House. Under the watchful eye of the Secret Service and the Park Police, a predominantly young crowd waved huge American flags and sported signs that said “Yes we did!” Some climbed fences around the construction site where inaugural reviewing stands are going up.

A group of about a half-dozen Georgetown athletes said they jogged spontaneously from campus after hearing of Obama’s victory. “This might be the best day of my life,” said Danielle Bailey, 18, a freshman from Florida.

Kyle Poole, 48, a financier, said he brought a flag because he felt “honored and proud.”

“I was once a Republican,” he said. “Then George Bush came to the White House and now I’m thrilled to be here with the flag.”

As late as 2:30 a.m., revelers were streaming south on 16th Street by car and foot. In front of the darkened White House, chants of every stripe continued.

“Biden! Biden!”

On a chain-link fence erected by inaugural construction crews, someone hung the sign: “Welcome Home Malia and Sasha!”

While many of those at the White House came from the celebration on U Street, others marched over from the 9:30 Club, where the hip-hop group Flobot halted its concert when Obama began speaking. Club patrons headed to the White House.

“It’s the moment of change,” said Ana Sarmiento, 19, of Colorado. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

In neighborhoods throughout the District, celebrations spilled onto the streets and filled the air. Police reported the sound of gunfire in four of the seven patrol districts but said there were no injuries.

Revelers turned U Street between 10th and 14th streets into a virtual Mardi Gras with music and dancing. “The good guys won!” shouted Jay Freni, 36, a waiter. “This is the moral arc of Martin Luther King. This is justice and people want it.”

As firecrackers sounded close to 2 a.m., Bernard Gilchrest, stuck in traffic at 12th and U for more than an hour, was a happy man. The retired bus driver traded high-fives with total strangers while tooting on his horn.

“How many times in my life is this going to happen?” he asked. “God bless America. This has unified everybody.”

At 3 a.m. Smiley Rouse was standing beside her silver VW convertible parked on U Street across from the African American Civil War Museum. The top was down, the music was cranked. The retired D.C. police officer had woken up 24 hours earlier, so wired about voting that she had time to rake the leaves in the front and side yards of her Northeast home before her mother called her to head out to the polls. “Obama 400 yrs” was scrawled in yellow marker on her windows.

After 400 years of slavery, she said, “We are alive to see a black man in a white house.”

“I’m so glad to see the city come back after the ’60’s riots,” said her mother, Vernell Garey, 57. “I’m proud of this city.”

In the hours between the closing of the polls and the projection of Obama’s victory, residents sat vigil in living rooms, bars, church basements and hotel ballrooms.

Clubs and cafes on U Street were jammed with revelers, erupting at each scrap of news about states awarded to Obama. At Busboys & Poets on 14th Street, where a racially mixed crowd stretched down the block, there wasn’t a McCain supporter in sight.

“I never thought I would live to see this day,” said Audrey Ross, 55, of Clinton.

The entire crowd at Reggiano’s in Landover rose and applauded when CNN gave Ohio to Obama. “This is over. The rout is on,” said Orland Johnson of Bowie, a member of Obama’s national finance committee.

About 100 members of Union Temple Baptist Church in Anacostia began their CNN vigil with a prayer. Many cried and clapped, shouting “Hallelujah!” and “Thank you, Jesus!” when early returns showed Obama ahead. Valerie Morrison, 59, of Landover, Juanita Perry, 74, of Temple Hills and Mary Satcher, 71, of Southeast Washington call themselves the “Obama Mommas.”

“This is the day Dr. King talked about,” Satcher said. “I’m just glad I’m still here to witness it.”

As the polls closed in the District, a small crowd of Democrats gathered in an anteroom at the Madison Hotel, where Denise Wright, an Advisory Neighborhood Commission member and a D.C. schools psychologist, grabbed the TV remote control, making the volume louder over the din. She seemed barely able to breathe watching while McCain showed early strength.

“Now it’s okay to exhale a little,” she said as Obama pulled ahead. “I will still stay up tonight until they declare him the president of the United States.” In the main room, dozens cheered and screamed, “Yes, we can! Yes, we can!” as news of Obama’s projected win in Pennsylvania was broadcast.

Grace Brune, 11, stood with her parents, Robert Brune and Janine Colmoletti, who decided to bring her to the Lincoln Memorial to capture the significance of the night.

“We were watching TV last night. Grace saw an Obama sign and said, ‘Look — it says, “Hope,” ‘ and that’s how we feel,” Colmoletti said. Just then, someone shouted that Obama had won Pennsylvania. Colmoletti, holding a mini TV, looked at the screen and the states that had been counted.

Brune said: “I think the healing between races will leap forward tremendously. In psychology, they call it a paradigm shift.”

The family stood near the marble columns waiting and watching the television for updates. Robert Brune looked out over the Reflecting Pool. “It stopped raining,” he said. “The sky has parted for Obama.”

In the Arlington County community of Nauck, founded in 1844 by former slaves, yesterday dawned as a day of wonder. The line to vote at Drew Model Elementary School started shortly after 3 a.m. and ran through the parking lot and into the street.

“There were some older folks waiting in line who’d never voted before in their lives,” said John Lett, Nauck precinct captain for the Arlington Democratic Party.

With ballots still being counted in some precincts into Wednesday morning, an estimated 64 percent of the electorate turned out, making 2008 the highest percentage turnout in generations.

In 2004, 122.3 million voted in what was then the highest recorded turnout in the contest between President Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.).

Previously red states targeted by the Barack Obama campaign demonstrated remarkable turnout, setting records in North Carolina and elsewhere. Increased turnout was also reported in states including Virginia and Indiana.

Exit polls indicate that whites made up a slightly smaller percentage of the electorate than in 2004, as a surge among minority and youth voters aided Obama, who exit polls show won two-thirds of voters ages 18 to 29, 66 percent of Hispanics and 95 percent of blacks.

Although Kerry won all those groups in 2004, he did so with slimmer margins, taking 54 percent of the 18-to-29 vote, 53 percent of Hispanics and 88 percent of blacks.

The president, in brief remarks from the White House Rose Garden, also said he had spoken last night to Senator John McCain to congratulate him on what Bush called “a determined campaign.”

“The American people will always be grateful for the lifetime of service John McCain has devoted to this nation,” Bush said, adding that he felt certain that the Arizona senator would “continue to make tremendous contributions.”

Here is video of George W. Bush making a public statement from the Rose Garden of the White House to congratulate President-Elect Obama.

The president, who will hand over power to Obama on Jan. 20 in what surely will be one of the most widely watched inaugurations ever, promised to do everything possible to ensure a smooth transition.

“During this time of transition, I will keep the president-elect fully informed of important decisions,” Bush said.

Some of those will come with little delay. On Nov. 15, Bush will be hosting an international summit meeting on the global financial crisis. While Obama is not expected to take part personally, one of his first cabinet nominations is expected to be that of a Treasury secretary.

The president also issued a veiled caution to anyone who might think of using the transition period to test U.S. power.

Bush said he would continue carrying out his duties - above all, protecting the U.S. people - with utmost seriousness until the day he steps down. “The world can be certain this commitment will remain steadfast under our next commander in chief,” he said.

The president said that he had invited Obama and his wife, Michelle, to come to the White House to spend time with him and the First Lady. “Laura and I are looking forward to welcoming them as soon as possible,” he said.