From Ben Smith at Politico: Transition communications director Dan Pfeiffer says the transition’s review of its context with Blagojevich and his aides has exonerated Obama and his staff, but that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has asked Obama to hold back his internal reports on staff contacts with Blagojevich and his aides until December 22. Click […]

CHICAGO — When President-elect Barack Obama heads home for a break from the White House, he won’t go to a sprawling ranch or private seaside compound. Obama will come back to a crowded city neighborhood, creating different security challenges for the Secret Service and perhaps headaches for his neighbors.

A perplexing new chapter is unfolding in Barack Obama‘s racial saga: Many people insist that “the first black president” is actually not black.

From the New York Times: “The White House has turned down a request from the family of President-elect Barack Obama to move into Blair House in early January so that his daughters can start school on Jan. 5.”

From Marc Ambinder at the Atlantic Monthly: Obama has a lot to face starting January 20th. Where the discussion isn't going is the possibility that the first foreign policy crisis the administration will face will be the complete economic collapse of a large, unstable nation.

Not everyone in the auto industry is hurting. Barack Obama’s old car, a 2005 Chrysler 300C is being sold on Ebay with the starting bid of $101,000.

Barack Obama insists he didn’t have any contact with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich or anyone else who might have been scheming to sell the president-elect’s U.S. Senate seat. But he has not yet given his transition staff the same clean bill of health — perhaps with good reason.

From Jack Healy at The NYTimes.com: President-elect <a title="More articles about Barack Obama" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html?inline=nyt-per">Barack Obama</a> said on Thursday that he never spoke to the governor of Illinois about Mr. Obama’s replacement in the <a title="More articles about the U.S. Senate." href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/senate/index.html?inline=nyt-org">United States Senate</a>, and that no one on his staff had been involved in any deal-making regarding Mr. Obama’s successor.

Take a look back at the election that made history.

See more of NewsOne’s BEST OF EVERYTHING 2008!! I truly believe that we dodged a serious bullet this year with the election of Barack Obama. While I cannot say for certain what would’ve happened if John McCain had won the election this year, here is an educated guess at what might have happened if the […]

President-elect Barack Obama has selected a deputy mayor of Los Angeles to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality, transition officials said Wednesday. Nancy Sutley is the first prominent member of the gay and lesbian community to earn a senior role in the Democrat’s new administration.

In one of many historical coups, the Tuskegee Airmen have been invited by Congress to attend Inaugural ceremonies on January 20th for President Barack Obama.