WASHINGTON Barack Obama promises to steer the nation straight again. He better be ready for a strong force pulling left. (More)

WASHINGTON It wasn't too long ago that Barack Obama and his advisers were tripping over one another to tear down Hillary Rodham Clinton's foreign policy credentials. She was dismissed as a commander in chief wanna-be who did little more than sip tea and make small talk with foreign leaders during her days as first lady. (More)

WASHINGTON Inch by inch, voter by voter, Barack Obama and John McCain labored for more than a year to lock down supporters and woo defectors. It turns out, though, that the nation's voters were a lot more fickle than commonly expected, and far more prone to switch allegiances. (More)

NEW YORK President-elect Barack Obama has chosen New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to be commerce secretary, adding a prominent Hispanic and one-time Democratic rival to his expanding Cabinet. (More)

CHICAGO Eager to calm economic anxieties, President-elect Barack Obama is rolling out an economic vision that will require congressional cooperation even before he settles into his new desk in the White House's Oval Office. (More)

WASHINGTON President-elect Barack Obama's top adviser has a warning for U.S. automakers: Without a plan to retool and restructure, there is very little taxpayers can do to help. (More)

WASHINGTON When the Bush presidency ends, opponents of embryonic stem cell research will face a new political reality that many feel powerless to stop. (More)

WASHINGTON Two of the top qualities Robert Gibbs brings to the job of White House press secretary aren't found on his resume: He won't flinch at telling it like it is to the next president or telling it like he thinks it ought to be to the media. (More)

WASHINGTON President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday named longtime spokesman Robert Gibbs as White House press secretary and reached outside his inner circle for the post of White House communications director. (More)

NEW YORK President-elect Barack Obama will announce the leaders of his economic team Monday, naming Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary and Lawrence Summers to direct the National Economic Council, transition officials said. (More)

WASHINGTON Two main quarries are supplying the building blocks for President-elect Barack Obama's new administration. (More)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska Sarah Palin is juggling offers to write books, appear in films and sit on dozens of interview couches at a rate astonishing for most Hollywood stars, let alone a first-term governor. (More)

President-elect Barack Obama is weighing an array of Washington insiders and outsiders, including some Republicans, for Cabinet and other top positions, according to Democratic and transition officials. They include: (More)

CHICAGO President-elect Barack Obama grabbed his lunch to go Friday and artfully dodged a question about the auto industry woes he'll inherit. (More)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. Former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson is going back to the small screen after his foray into Republican presidential politics over the last year. (More)

MIAMI More Floridians voted for John McCain than Barack Obama on Election Day, but the Democrat sealed his victory in the state by winning more early and absentee votes. (More)

WASHINGTON No matter how careful he is, sooner or later President-elect Barack Obama is likely to make a bum nomination or two. (More)

WASHINGTON In a 2008 Super Bowl ad, NFL golden boy Tom Brady asked nearly 100 million viewers to text "FIT" to donate $5 to the United Way. About 25,000 people responded, raising $10,000. (More)

WASHINGTON President-elect Barack Obama is likely to choose Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano to be secretary of homeland security, top Obama advisers and several Democrats said Thursday as the shape of Obama's Cabinet begins to emerge. (More)

WASHINGTON Eric Holder is in line for nomination by President-elect Barack Obama to the attorney general's job that Holder has long wanted, but the 2001 episode with fugitive financier Marc Rich is stirring partisan acrimony. (More)

CHICAGO Former President Bill Clinton has agreed to publicly disclose the names of most donors to his presidential foundation and library, a significant concession aimed at helping smooth the path for his wife to become the next secretary of state. (More)

WASHINGTON What does an accomplished man of the world get for his 66th birthday? (More)

WASHINGTON President-elect Barack Obama is putting some longtime aides in senior posts at his White House. (More)

It's Washington's favorite parlor game during a presidential transition: trying to figure out who'll land a top spot in the new administration. President-elect Barack Obama is weighing an array of Washington insiders and outsiders, including some Republicans, for Cabinet and other top positions, according to Democratic officials. (More)

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. Republican John McCain has defeated President-elect Barack Obama in Missouri - the last state to be decided in the 2008 presidential election. (More)