Today’s Election News Roundup

Democratic Rep. Rahm Emanuel from Illinois has accepted the position as President-elect Barack Obama’s chief of staff. Emanuel was a strategist under Bill Clinton and his selection illustrates that Obama is eager to work closely with Congress as he pursues an agenda that will focus on the economy, taxes, energy, education and health care, Politico reports.

Rep. Emanuel was on the board of Freddie Mac as the financial scandal unfolded, overlooking key warnings that the company was at risk, according to an ABC News investigation of government reports. The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint detailing that Freddie Mac had falsely reported earnings to deceive investors from 2000-2002. 

Sen. Obama has assembled a transitional economic team to help advise him during the months before his inauguration. The group includes former Treasury secretaries Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers, former Labor secretary Robert Reich, Google Inc. chairman Eric Schmidt, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker and billionaire Warren Buffett, according to Reuters. The group will meet this week to help the President-elect create his economic plan.

Republican Sen. Gordon Smith was officially defeated by his Democratic challenger Jeff Merkley in the Oregon senatorial race. The race was consistently close and officials dealt with a “last-minute flood of ballots” that delayed the count. Yesterday, Rep. Smith called Merkley to concede the race.

In Georgia, Sen. Saxby Chambliss and his Democratic rival Jim Martin have gone back on the campaign trail, preparing for a runoff scheduled for December 2.

The recount of the race between Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken continues. Coleman declared victory Wednesday morning, with a lead of 725 votes out of 2.9 million. By the end of the day, the difference shrank to 477 votes, making a recount mandatory by law.

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens holds a slim lead in the Senate race against Anchorage mayor Mark Begich. If he wins, Stevens would be the first convicted felon to enter the Senate, and risks rejection by fellow members who could expel him with two-thirds vote.

The findingDulcinea 2008 Election Web Guide highlights the best online resources relating to the candidates and the election.

Project Vote Smart describes the process of nominating a presidential candidate, with concise descriptions of the convention, caucuses, primaries and the process of awarding delegates.

An overview of the role of delegates and superdelegates is presented by the Council on Foreign Relations.

Daily coverage of the 2008 Election is gathered from media sources across the political spectrum and presented by Real Clear Politics to provide up-to-the-minute coverage. The site publishes daily political transcripts, including addresses on the campaign trail and withdrawal speeches. It also constantly updates and compares polling reports from Rasmussen, Gallup, CNN, Pew Research, and other major media sources. Additionally, the site provides a 2008 Primary Delegate Count, which presents the delegate counts of each candidate.

NPR provides an interactive calendar of past primaries. Headline stories that detail the events of the primaries and campaigns accompany the primary map. In addition, NPR hosts a “National Delegates Total,” with an ongoing count of delegates won by each candidate.

Minnesota Public Radio’s online “President Survey” matches the political convictions of respondents with the candidates’ policies in order to help voters make an informed choice come election day.

The New York Times publishes a constant stream of articles from the Associated Press. These concise AP stories cover new developments on the campaign trail.

As election momentum picks up, the Times of London offers British readers a glossary of campaign jargon that will be of use to many Americans as well.

OpenSecrets.org compares the total campaign donations for each candidate and looks into the war chests to see where the money comes from.