It’s the political equivalent of a steel cage match.
The prize ?
The Republican National Committee:
A behind-the-scenes battle to take the reins of the Republican National Committee is taking off between former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele.
Neither man will acknowledge his interest in the post, but Republicans close [...]

I didn’t really want to post any text stories about this because it’s the video that everybody wants to see.
NBC has it…

And here’s Chuck Todd on the situation…

Ahh, to be a fly on the wall…

Well, I got duped. But then again, so did MSNBC.
And not only that, Martin Eisenstadt does it in the blogosphere.
How very Smear 2.0 of him…
As you know, I was one of the foreign policy advisers on the McCain campaign who worked with Randy Scheunemann to help prep Sarah on her debate with Joe Biden.
Did [...]

Like many other records broken by Obama this year, it appears as if the crowd at his inauguration will set a high water mark too.
From Wash Post:
“People who haven’t called me in months, years, are suddenly calling and saying, ‘Hey, I was just thinking about you,’ ” said Eric Tyson, 29, a pharmaceutical salesman who [...]

There’s another update from the Minnesota Secretary State, and, yet again, Norm Coleman’s lead over Al Franken has shrunk:
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The margin in Minnesota’s unresolved Senate race between Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken has gotten tighter.
The latest figures reported to the secretary of state give incumbent Coleman a lead over [...]

And 3.1 million of them gave his campaign money.
Whoa.
Mike Allen has that and more in his Playbook today.

Word is that Obama would like to see his longtime friend fill the remaining time in his Senate seat.
From CNN:
A prominent Democratic source close to Obama said Jarrett is also Obama’s choice to be named to take over his seat in the Senate, though Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich would have the final say over a [...]

A lot of smart people in the following clip, but the thing that struck me about all of them is the lack of ego. But maybe that’s just my take.
Watch…

And I think it’s telling that the one time they didn’t follow through on something, reviewing all the Reverend Wright footage, that’s what bit them in [...]

Just in case you didn’t catch it this morning, one of Obama’s closest associates, Valerie Jarrett, was on. You’ll be hearing her name a lot more in the coming years.
One really important thing she said that Michelle Obama will be a mom first, and won’t be involved in policy decisions.
In other words, she’s not Hillary [...]

Steve Schmidt, who was John McCain’s chief strategist during the campaign, points out the problems facing the GOP in the years beyond 2008:
What can the Republican Party learn from what happened this cycle?
There are many lessons for the Republican Party out [of] this election, and the party having been roundly defeated is going to [...]

No way, no how.
Still…the speculation is rampant…

I’m still blown away at how Pat Buchanan is so singularly focused on her good, but not great, RNC speech. It’s crazy, but I guess we all have to fall in love some time.
Give it up Pat. The dream is dead. She ain’t gonna be President…or your secret girlfriend.

“Let me say this as to my colleagues. Although committed to their philosophy, they are incredibly pragmatic. They have lived through an experience in the minority. And they know how they got to be in the minority. And they know one very important political principle. They know that if President-elect Obama succeeds, all of us [...]

Some frank talk about the future of the party from the man who some say ran McCain’s campaign into the ground.
From The Daily Beast:
Looking forward, Schmidt sees the need for a wholesale reinvention of the party: “The party in the Northeast is all but extinct; the party on the West Coast is all but extinct…there [...]

The last season of the famous TV show seems to have come true in more ways than one, at least according to one of the writers…

An interesting footnote to this storybook year, no?

First she said he should.
Now she’s deferring to others, which is the same as backing away from her previous statements without explicitly saying as much.
This is a pretty big development, and one that signals Palin’s unwillingness to cede the Senate seat to a Democrat. Because Stevens challenger Mark Begich would obviously be the favorite [...]

Yes, she actually did go rogue, and even more so than previously thought.

The William Ayers thing is telling and suggests that she definitely has killer political instincts. Nothing wrong with that, but it definitely reinforces the image of Palin as the “mean girl.”
However, the news that she was unwilling to share the stage with [...]

More video from the folks who had full access behind the scenes. And I think I’m just going to post all of these because they’re really great little glimpses into the 2008 election.

While, I think it’s true that all Presidents have to make sure the American people see their humanity, with two beautiful young daughters [...]

These were the reporters behind the scenes telling it in their own words…

As I’ve said before, I can buy the spending spree story since the truth will eventually come out when the RNC audits everything. That makes me think that aides wouldn’t lie about this.
The other stuff, like the Africa and Nafta stories, I just [...]

As many of you know, I was a pretty strong critic of Sarah Palin during the campaign given my opinion of her unreadiness for the VP spot, but now I find myself defending the veracity of her intellect.
All I can say is that the pursuit of truth and fairness can sometimes make strange bedfellows.
So [...]

Why?
Because early, absentee and provisional votes seem to favor challenger Mark Begich (pictured above).
Analysis from Nate Silver:
Although Ted Stevens currently holds a lead of approximately 3,200 votes in ballots counted to date in Alaska’s senate contest, there is good reason to believe that the ballots yet to be counted — the vast majority of [...]