WASHINGTON (AP) -- President-elect Barack Obama plans to announce longtime advisers and political foes alike as his picks for top administration jobs at a Monday news conference, nominating one-time political nemesis Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., says he's ready for a tough re-election race in 2010, whether it's against MSNBC pundit Chris Matthews or someone else....

A deal with Bill Clinton over his post-White House work helped clear the way for Hillary Rodham Clinton to join President-elect Barack Obama's national security team as secretary of state, reshaping a once-bitter rivalry into a high-profile strategic and diplomatic union....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President George W. Bush assured India's leader on Sunday that the U.S. government will put its full weight behind the investigation into the attacks in Mumbai....

NEW YORK (AP) -- Gay is the new black, say the protest signs and magazine covers, casting the gay marriage battle as the last frontier of equal rights for all....

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

WASHINGTON (AP) -- 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....

NEW YORK (AP) -- Zenas Ackah has heard it all his life: What kind of name is that? You must not be from here. You must be foreign....

CHICAGO (AP) -- Clout-heavy Chicago politicians are lining up to replace U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel, prompting some experts to wonder if the local Democratic party will split on whom to anoint as his successor....

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Minnesota's U.S. Senate showdown is veering down a path toward the courts and possibly the Senate itself after a panel's ruling on rejected absentee ballots dealt a blow to Democrat Al Franken's chances....

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Minnesota's U.S. Senate showdown is veering down a path toward the courts and possibly the Senate itself after a panel's ruling on rejected absentee ballots dealt a blow to Democrat Al Franken's chances....

CHICAGO (AP) -- President-elect Barack Obama sought to reassure the nation and nervous holiday shoppers about the ailing economy Wednesday as beleaguered stores braced for their most important month of the year....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Barack Obama's campaign credo: Change is good. President-elect Barack Obama's credo: When it comes to war and peace, maybe wisdom is better....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- 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....

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman took another step Tuesday toward mending his relationship with Democrats, saying that Barack Obama's actions since winning the presidency have been "just about perfect."...

PHOENIX (AP) -- Sen. John McCain said Tuesday that he intends to seek a fifth term in the Senate in 2010 and looks forward to resuming his duties in Washington....

CHICAGO (AP) -- Pushing the calendar, and maybe his luck, President-elect Barack Obama is urging rapid approval of a massive economic stimulus package meant to calm turbulent financial markets....

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) -- Edward "Ted" Kaufman, a former aide to Sen. Joe Biden, was named Monday by Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner to fill the Senate seat Biden is leaving for the vice presidency. Kaufman, co-chair of Biden's transition team and an Obama-Biden transition project advisory board member, plans to serve until the 2010 election, when a new senator is elected. He said he is comfortable stepping down after two years in office....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- An economic crisis, rising joblessness and a credit squeeze can make a president-elect refine his words. Today's word is "repeal." During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised to repeal President George W. Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy ahead of their scheduled expiration in 2011....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush argued Monday that the government's dramatic rescue of Citigroup was necessary to "safeguard the financial system" and help the economy recover, and he said there could be more such moves if other institutions need help....