Coleman announced his decision at a news conference in St. Paul, bringing an end to a nearly eight-month recount and court fight over an election decided by only a few hundred votes.

"The Supreme Court has made its decision and I will abide by the results," Coleman told reporters outside his St. Paul home.

Franken, accompanied by his wife, told reporters outside his downtown Minneapolis town house that "Franni and I are so thrilled that we can finally celebrate this victory."

"I wish him well," Clinton told CNN while greeting voters after a campaign stop with Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe. "It's over," he added, apparently a reference to the Bush administration.

"But I do hope he gets some more target practice before he goes out again," Clinton said with a grin before moving along the ropeline.

In the survey, 68 percent have a favorable opinion of the president, including 47 percent whose opinion is "very positive" - both all-time highs for Obama in the poll. Moreover, 67 percent say they feel more hopeful about his leadership and 60 percent approve of his job in the White House.

Yet the percentage of Americans who are confident that Obama has the right goals and policies for the country - 54 percent - is slightly smaller, suggesting that the president is more popular than his policies are. An example: 57 percent tend to support the stimulus, compared with 34 percent who tend to oppose it.

On Wednesday she called Gov. David A. Paterson, who will choose a successor to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. Her concerns about Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s deteriorating health (he was hospitalized after suffering a seizure during President Obama’s inaugural lunch on Tuesday ) prompted her decision to withdraw, this person said. Coping with her uncle’s condition was her most important priority, a situation not conducive to starting a high profile public job. Mr. Paterson had indicated to her that the job was hers if she would accept it, the person said.

Democratic leaders say they have no hard feelings toward Burris — and that they're willing to put aside their concerns with his appointment if he proves himself to be a loyal Democrat, keeps his word and shows a willingness to work with committee chairmen and to vote with his party.

But within the party, tensions are still lingering over how the whole episode played out and how Burris — a 71-year-old former state official who lacks Washington experience — outmaneuvered and embarrassed some of the savviest politicians in the country.

Burris has until October to file the paperwork needed to become a candidate for 2010, but he’d have to start laying the groundwork for his campaign almost instantly. He would need to hold fundraisers, create an infrastructure with offices throughout Illinois and seek support from party leaders.

Burris declined to be interviewed about his plans. Privately, his advisers acknowledge that he has an uphill task in winning over his Senate colleagues, even as they insist that he's up to it.

With an almost audible sigh of relief barely two weeks before his inauguration Obama, in a printed statement that won't provide archival video footage, said he accepted the resignation-before-actually-taking-office "with deep regret."

And 16 days before becoming president, Obama sought to turn the PR smudge and federal probe of Richardson, his first Latino Cabinet pick, and his government into a patriotic plus: "It is a measure of his willingness to put the nation first that he has removed himself as a candidate for the Cabinet in order to avoid any delay in filling this important economic post at this critical time."

It may also be a measure of the inadequacy of the new Obama administration's vetting process that it somehow missed or ignored the ongoing and widely-reported grand jury testimony over alleged incidents in 2004 in New Mexico, part of a broad federal investigation of selling state services. It would seem to be an obvious something for the experienced Richardson to include when completing the 63-page questionaire given to potential Obama appointees.

While everyone was enjoying their holidays and watching Obama's Hawaiian vacation, word continued to leak that Richardson and his gubernatorial aides are under investigation by a federal grand jury probing the possibility that they steered state bond business to a Beverly Hills firm in return for $100,000 in donations to two Richardson PACs back in 2004.

If Gov. Rod Blagojevich thought that he was regaining the political high ground, or at least a little credibility, with fellow Democrats by appointing former Attorney General Roland Burris to the U.S. Senate, he was apparently mistaken. And CBS 2's Mike Parker reports that Blagojevich has hit a virtual brick wall of opposition to the move, from Illinois to Washington.

Sources on Capitol Hill tell CBS 2 Tuesday night the Senate will refuse to seat Burris. And a line in the Constitution does grant the Senate the right to reject the selection. So what's next for Burris? Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, who must formally approve the appointment, says he won't do it, though he admires Roland Burris.

He's a gentleman of impeccable credentials," White said. "However, I'm standing by my previous statement that I will not certify any recommendation coming from the governor's office." White added, "I'm not a rubber stamp. I'm also the keeper of the seal of the State of Illinois." That alone prevents the Senate from swearing in Burris on January 5. But what if White changes his mind, or if Burris tries to force a vote on the floor of the U.S. Senate?

More drama. A sergeant at arms would physically bar Burris from entering, sources say. This happened once before, for a week, back in the late 19th Century. What's most likely to occur in the Senate is a vote to halt Burris' seating "pending the outcome of an investigation into the propriety of his appointment" by the Senate Rules Committee. That investigation will likely have a 60-day period limit.

"What we saw today was an act of political defiance where he is going to try to have his way despite the fact that the Senate Democratic Caucus has stated clearly that it will not seat his choice for the position," Sen. Dick Durbin said.

According to Ros-Lehtinen's flack Alex Cruz, the congresswoman received the call on her cell phone from a Chicago-based number and an aide informed her that Obama wanted to speak to her. When Obama introduced himself, Ros-Lehtinen cut him off and said, "I'm sorry but I think this is a joke from one of the South Florida radio stations known for these pranks." Then she hung up.

Moments later, Obama tried again, this time through his soon-to-be chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. "Ileana, I cannot believe you hung up on the President-Elect," Emanuel said. And then--yes, you know what's coming--she hung up on Emanuel saying she "didn't believe the call was legitimate."

A short time later, Ros-Lehtinen received an urgent call from Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, who informed her that she indeed hung up on Obama. So, Obama tried again and this time he was successful. (Phew!)

"It is very funny that you have twice hung up on me," Obama said. Ros Lehtinen responded by telling Obama that radio stations in South Florida always make these sorts of jokes. Obama said similar pranksters reside in Chi-town. "You are either very gracious to reach out in such a bipartisan manner or had run out of folks to call if you are truly calling me and Saturday Night Live could use a good Obama impersonator like you," Ros-Lehtinen joked with the president-elect.

Ros-Lehtinen then congratulated Obama on his victory and pledged to work together on behalf of all Americans. She also asked Obama to call Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Rep. Albio Sire (D-NJ) to discuss Cuba policy.

A new Gallup Poll finds a majority of Americans (57%) in favor of Barack Obama appointing Hillary Clinton as the secretary of state in his administration. Thirty percent oppose it.

The poll, conducted Nov. 18, was taken as the political world buzzed with the possibility that Obama will bring his chief rival for the Democratic presidential nomination into his cabinet in a high profile role. As secretary of state, Clinton would be the top U.S. official for conducting foreign policy. Democrats strongly endorse the idea of Obama making this move, with 79% in favor of it. Most Republicans, not surprisingly, oppose the idea, while a majority of independents (57%) favor it.

Four Republicans close to Palin said she has decided increasingly to disregard the advice of the former Bush aides tasked to handle her, creating occasionally tense situations as she travels the country with them. Those Palin supporters, inside the campaign and out, said Palin blames her handlers for a botched rollout and a tarnished public image — even as others in McCain's camp blame the pick of the relatively inexperienced Alaska governor, and her public performance, for McCain's decline. "She's lost confidence in most of the people on the plane," said a senior Republican who speaks to Palin, referring to her campaign jet. He said Palin had begun to "go rogue" in some of her public pronouncements and decisions. "I think she'd like to go more rogue," he said.

*****

Between Palin's internal detractors and her allies, there's a middle ground: Some aides say that she's a flawed candidate whose handling exaggerated her weak spots. "She was completely mishandled in the beginning. No one took the time to look at what her personal strengths and weaknesses are and developed a plan that made sense based on who she is as a candidate," the aide said. "Any concerns she or those close to her have about that are totally valid." But the aide said that Palin's inexperience led her to her own mistakes: "How she was handled allowed her weaknesses to hang out in full display."

This morning NarcoNews reported that that a tanning bed had been installed in the governor's official residence in 2007, sourcing a Department of Transportation employee familiar with renovations at the mansion. This evening, Politico's Ben Smith reported that Palin had paid for the tanning bed with her own money.

Now, Palin's own gubernatorial spokesman Bill McCallister has confirmed to TPMmuckraker that a tanning bed had been installed in the governor's official residence in 2007, and that it wasn't paid for with state funds. "She paid for it herself," McCallister told TPMmuckraker. "It was surplus from a local athletic club."

The news of Palin's luxurious purchase -- beds can cost as much as $35,000 -- presents a sharp contrast to the blue-collar persona she projects on the campaign trail.

After months of accusations of political bias and simmering animosity between MSNBC and its parent network NBC, the channel decided over the weekend that the NBC News correspondent and MSNBC host David Gregory would anchor news coverage of the coming debates and election night. Mr. Olbermann and Mr. Matthews will remain as analysts during the coverage.

The change - which comes in the home stretch of the long election cycle - is a direct result of tensions associated with the channel's perceived shift to the political left. "The most disappointing shift is to see the partisan attitude move from prime time into what's supposed to be straight news programming," said Davidson Goldin, formerly the editorial director of MSNBC and a co-founder of the reputation management firm DolceGoldin.

Executives at the channel's parent company, NBC Universal, had high hopes for MSNBC's coverage of the political conventions. Instead, the coverage frequently descended into on-air squabbles between the anchors, embarrassing some workers at NBC's news division, and quite possibly alienating viewers. Although MSNBC nearly doubled its total audience compared with the 2004 conventions, its competitive position did not improve, as it remained in last place among the broadcast and cable news networks. In prime time, the channel averaged 2.2 million viewers during the Democratic convention and 1.7 million viewers during the Republican convention.

Tom Foreman: Even if we consider that though, what do we make of moves like this talk about the missile shield in Poland? Certainly the Russians say that is a direct slap at them over this problem in Georgia. Is it, to your read and is it a smart move?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well no, it's not a direct slap at them, and it's something that's been on the books for a long, long time. We've talked about this for a decade, and they've been consulted on it. They've met with it. They know what the capabilities of the system are. This is just an example of Russian rhetoric aimed at intimidating Europe. It doesn't intimidate the United States. But the United States' reaction then can either bring Europe together with the United States or we can chill the relations with Europe. So, we want to be careful. This, this is not something that the Russians have a right to respond on, and their response is unjustified. But on the other hand, we want to make sure our European allies all see it our way.

Tom Foreman: How do you read Putin's intentions right now when you look at Georgia and you look at his response to the rest of the Western world over issues like Iraq and Iran and oil supplies and everything?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Putin believes in re-establishing Russia's power. He wants Russia to be an important factor in every issue in the world. He'd like to regain the empire that Russia lost with the breakup of the Soviet Union. He'd love to see the reintegration of Ukraine. Belarus wants to be reintegrated. The Russians've put that on hold, because it's such a basket case. But with Ukraine and Belarus together, then the absorption of some of these other countries, he believes, that are on the periphery could happen, and Russia would once again be a, a much great- it'd be a superpower - unlike what it is today except through the nuclear capacity of course. And so, Georgia, in Putin's mind is probably the first step. They've long prepared Ossetia, South Ossetia and, and Abkhazia along with other areas on the periphery of Russia as, as, a-as grips into the near, what they call 'the near abroad'. This is a strategic crisis. It's been building for a long time. It just broke out into the open now, but we've seen its roots back more than a decade.