What do we do now?" That's the question Bill McKay (Robert Redford), ponders in The Candidate (1972). He won the presidency, promising "a better way." After Nov. 4, America is asking Democrats the same haunting question. These are heady times for the party of Thomas Jefferson, Franklin D. Roosevelt and, now, President-elect Barack Obama. Only a few years ago, Democrats were almost relegated to permanent minority status by a "Mission Accomplished" sign and an ass in a flight suit.

John Nichols In hopes of preserving his loyalty to the caucus, Senate Democrats opted not to punish Joe Lieberman for backing John McCain. Will the risk pay off?

What do John McCain, Seal, and Harry Potter have in common? Facial scars ...

DURING THE PAST year of political reporting, a lot of writers have thought bemused was just the right word for Barack Obama's benign, unruffled presence, especially in the debates with John McCain.

EVEN DIEHARD REPUBLICANS can't deny that Barack Obama is the more charismatic candidate for president this year. He has shown unprecedented power to raise money and to draw crowds - from Oregon to Pennsylvania, tens of thousands have turned out to hear Obama speak. Can one imagine John McCain trying to fill a football stadium for his nomination acceptance speech, ...

Electoral maps are all the rage in presidential election coverage, with NBC going so far as to turn the Rockefeller Center ice rink in New York City into a map of the U.S. on Election Day. As the network called states for the two candidates, Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain, staffers manually colored those states blue or red, respectively. [More]

A defining moment of the “old” John McCain--as many Americans, even some of his friends, have begun to refer to him as he was before his run for the Presidency in 2008--took place in February, 2000, during his first bid for the White House, when he was challenging . . .

It's been a long slog to get to this election day. We all know the campaigns spent millions to get their messages across. But Bob Grant at The Scientist wondered about the environmental cost (log-in required)--specifically how much the campaigns of Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain contributed to global warming.

German commentators served up a mixture of glee and caution on Thursday as newspapers published their first editorials reacting to Barack Obama's historic victory over Republican rival John McCain.

Gracious in defeat, John McCain praised Barack Obama and earned boos from his own supporters. It is clear that the Republicans need a new vision after a campaign that has left them divided and exhausted.