Blog Buzz: Drama in John McCain's Campaign, Rahm Emanuel Will Be Barack Obama's Chief of Staff, Republicans Lose Youth Voters

Our daily look at stories and topics that are lighting up the Internets:

Election's Over...Palin-drama Continues

Though the election is over, it seems the drama is only beginning over at the McCain campaign, with reports that adviser Randy Scheunemann was fired last week for trashing campaign staffers. Josh Marshall at TPM is relieved that the United States was spared a government run by the McCain camp. The other drama unfolding involves some McCain aides who are now revealing their concerns about Sarah Palin; one claim is that she thought Africa was a country, not a continent. ThinkProgress says this could be true based on her track record. Bloggers at National Review Online say that the trash is "beneath contempt," and this is not about Palin, it's about the "character of the McCain campaign." Ramesh Ponnuru thinks it might be good to know whether Palin does in fact know that Africa is a continent. Liberal bloggers are almost enjoying the train wreck, though they say that it's unfair to blame Palin but not McCain. They also discuss the pro-Palin counterattack, announced by RedState yesterday, which intends to make those who smear Palin "political lepers."

Emanuel Accepts!

Politico reports that Rahm Emanuel has officially accepted Barack Obama's offer to be his chief of staff. Before the announcement, conservative and liberal bloggers expressed concern that Obama's choice of a "hard-nosed partisan" sets the wrong tone for Obama's supposed post-partisan administration. Weekly Standard says Obama's first term is shaping up to be Bill "Clinton's third, minus [Clinton's] manifold personal failings." Our Robert Schlesinger shares his favorite Rahm Emanuel story in the Thomas Jefferson Street blog. In other news, Robert Gibbs will be the White House press secretary; a conservative blogger says he's a little too "McClellan-esque." As far as the other positions in the administration, a National Review Online blogger evaluates the potential candidates and Ben Smith discusses the choices for treasury secretary.

Grand Old Party, Key Word Old

Conservative blogger Patrick Ruffini has posted some numbers that illustrate just how crucial the youth was in this election: "Obama's entire popular vote majority is accounted for by his increased appeal to youth and African-Americans." Conservative bloggers are troubled by this news and think the GOP needs to get rid of its image as "a stodgy organization of party poopers." They also point out that this wasn't inevitable—young voters have not always been Democrats. Andrew Sullivan sums it up: "The GOP won't have a future until it appeals to young voters again."

—Gretchen Hannes