politics

Al Checchi, Bill Simon, Jane Harman, Michael Huffington, Steve Westly ...

The list of super-rich candidates who limped away in defeat from California's last Election Day is long. It's about to get longer next year.

Waves of boos and cheers broke against one another last night as Joe Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber, aimed a message of populist skepticism at unions and politicians of both parties in a packed Pittsburgh area ballroom.

Carolyn Ruff and Owen Reynolds may not have much in common when it comes to politics, but they agree on one point: Whoever finally loses the U.S. Senate election trial should throw in the towel.

SAN FRANCISCO -- As he prepares to enter the ring of White House politics, President-elect Barack Obama might need to perfect that left jab just as much as his right hook.

WASHINGTON -- For all the change supposedly blowing into Washington in this election, the face of the new Congress, aside from having around two-dozen more Democrats, won't change all that much.To be sure, there will be new people around the U.S. Capitol -- about 60, in the House and at least nine in the Senate.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Can Sarah Palin go home again?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?

PHOENIX -- Losing the presidency and seats in Congress puts the Republican Party at its lowest point in generations. Insiders and analysts agree that the Grand Old Party's next move should be to return to one of its core beliefs: emphasizing that small government is what makes America work best.

WASHINGTON -- Voters gave Democrats the keys to the car Tuesday. Now President-elect Barack Obama has to drive it.

Here's a November surprise: what pols promise during campaigns really tends to guide what they do once elected.Political candidates, at least those elected to Congress in recent years, do at least try to follow up on most of the priorities they claim in their campaign ads, according to a new study by an Illinois political scientist.

WASHINGTON -- It's a watershed event in what some are calling a watershed election.Across the country, Americans are turning out in record numbers to cast their votes early, with some standing for hours in enormous lines the likes of which are usually seen on Election Day.