The Editors

Adam Doster breaks down the candidates for Obama‘s Senate seat — and the various factors that might lead the wildly unpopular but politically unpredictable Governor Rod Blagojevich to pick them: Unfortunately, voters won’t choose who succeeds Obama in the Senate. That decision lies solely with Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat as dense and unpredictable as […]

Ezra had two posts on his blog about Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus‘ landmark new policy paper on health care reform. The plan: Do not think of this as Max Baucus’s health care plan. It isn’t. Not yet. As of now, it’s a policy paper, not a piece of legislation. It is the beginning […]

In an article from our last print issue, Jeremy Bearer-Friend and Daniel Redman explore how the movement for transgender rights is flourishing in unexpected places: In Loveland, Colorado — population 61,000, 92 percent white and heavily evangelical Christian — Michelle didn’t know what to expect when she began to work with the school to facilitate […]

Dana, Adam, and Brentin discuss race, gender, and the election: Goldstein: Adam, you mentioned biraciality earlier. Indeed, until Obama joked about being “a mutt” at his first press conference, that element of his identity had been pretty much invisible as his victory was celebrated. In his concession speech, John McCain framed Obama’s win as meaningful […]

TAP’s Tara McKelvey reports today on inadequate mental health care for veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan: Some suicides seem preordained — or at least planned with determination and care. That was not the case with Henderson. True, he was a mess, physically and emotionally — and dangerous, too. He carried a box cutter […]

Sarah Posner explores whether his religious outreach worked: In the last weeks of the campaign, when Obama solidified his majority, he did it without the God talk and with the let’s-roll-up-our-sleeves-and-right-our-beloved-country’s-course-again talk. It was a prayer of sorts, the kind that Americans of all religious and nonreligious stripes want answered. The real headline is not […]

Check out Ezra Klein on “The Most Unlikely President” and Dana Goldstein on “The Identity Politics Election.” —The Editors

If you haven’t taken a look at our Election Night Guide covering races at every level, you’re missing out. Look to TAPPED tonight for updates on all the key races, from swing counties to Congress to ballot initiatives. In addition, we’ll have blogging from our regular crew of TAPPED contributors throughout the night. Ezra will […]

Paul Waldman: In today’s polling places, voices are hushed and movements slow, and we move toward the altar of the booth until we are finally alone with our selections. But though our choices may be private, election day itself is one of the few occasions many of us have to gather with our community. On […]