MORNING READ

Sen. Ted Stevens’s (R-Alaska) loss to Democrat Mark Begich is met with mixed reactions by conservative bloggers, who don’t like Stevens but worry about a 60-seat Democratic majority. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has yet to decide whether to become secretary of State, prompting online pundits to analyze what’s taking her so long. And Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, in an interview with liberal blogs, seems to be ingratiating himself with President-elect Barack Obama, perhaps in a play for his own Cabinet post.

Stevens, who is refusing to concede his race even though it was called by news outlets Tuesday night, is an “entrenched, pork-stuffed politician” who needs to leave the Senate, writes Michelle Malkin. Republicans should have pushed Stevens out when he was indicted last summer, writes Hot Air’s Allahpundit. Stevens’s loss means that Senate Democrats now hold 58 seats, and are close to winning a filibuster-proof majority, according to QandO’s McQ.

Clinton can’t decide on whether to head up the State Department because she just lost a race she had long geared up for and is only now rethinking what she wants to do with her future, writes The Fix’s Chris Cillizza. The vet of Clinton and her husband isn’t acrimonious, as some have suspected, writes Marc Ambinder. But she may be thinking about how she would work with Vice President-elect Joe Biden and other foreign policy heavyweights in the Obama administration, Ambinder adds. Those who support the idea of her as secretary of State believe that she could help rein in Obama’s “naive” foreign policy, while those against the idea worry that she’ll undermine the new type of policy Obama has talked about, writes Contentions’ Shmuel Rosner.

Dean, on his way out as Democratic Party chairman, ducked questions over whether he wants a Cabinet post, but his stated desire to focus on policy serves as a hint that he would like to serve under Obama, writes The Huffington Post’s Sam Stein. Dean told TPM Election Central’s Greg Sargent that Senate Democrats allowed Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) to keep his committee gavel because that’s what Obama wanted, a position that Dean said he was fine with.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Good Riddance to Ted Stevens – Michelle Malkin
Should Have Pushed Stevens in to Retirement – Allahpundit, Hot Air
58 – McQ, The QandO Blog
Begich After All – Matthew Yglesias
Why Clinton Can’t Decide – Chris Cillizza, The Fix
Inside the Clinton Vet – Marc Ambinder
Pro and Con – Shmuel Rosner, Contentions
Dean Basks in Results, Offers Hints – S. Stein, Huffington Post
Mandate for Reconciliation – kos, Daily Kos
Dean is Fine With Lieberman Decision – Greg Sargent, TPM Election

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Automakers Press High-Stakes Plea for Aid – Washington Post
Democrats Gain as Stevens Loses Race – New York Times
Paulson, Bernanke Rebuked on The Hill – Wall Street Journal
Obama Exerts His Power – The Hill