On this bright post-election morning, let there be no diminishing Defamer's mission to bring you tomorrow's most influential political figures and movements today. A scan of our illustrious archives reveals nearly two-and-a-half years' worth of Barack Obama coverage, dating all the way back to that time in 2006 when we couldn't understand why the Illinois senator was hanging out at CAA. (Hint: He wasn't!) Take an early lunch and join us after the jump in remembering a few key moments from the President-elect's pop-culture trajectory.· June 1, 2006: Barack Obama makes his first Defamer appearance after an operative sent in a sighting from CAA. What was he doing there? Nothing, as one definitive tipster pointed out: "I find these theories equally hilarious, troubling, and ridiculous, seeing as how it WAS A CAA AGENT: newly minted agent Billy Hawkins- a tall, handsome, Barack-ish looking man who spent a good deal of time chatting in the atrium yesterday." Oops! Billy Hawkins gets that all the time.

In 1964, a group of black and white civil rights protesters attempted to integrate the pool of the Monson Hotel in St. Augustine, Florida. The hotel's owner, James Brock, responded by dumping acid into the pool. That was considered reasonable. This year, the Obama campaign opened a field office in St. Augustine, the most organized effort ever by a Democratic presidential campaign to win the Republican county surrounding my hometown. Obama ended up winning Florida and the entire country, a far stronger rebuke to the James Brocks of America than Martin Luther King Jr. was ever able to deliver. Jesse Jackson, who was there when King got shot, cried hardest of all last night. The old civil rights warriors feel this election more deeply than anyone else. The irony is that the civil rights movement never could have gotten to this day itself. Before this Obama election gets too grounded in our national psyche, let's go ahead and banish the hopeful assertion that this marks the beginning of a "Post-racial" society. As has been pointed out by everyone from Tavis Smiley to TAN, we're not post-anything. Race is just as strong of a psychological factor as it ever was. Our socialization has changed, and our expectations have been moderated, but America is far, far away from being a place where people "don't see" race.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy on the results of the U.S. election: "Obama is my buddy... I never believed Hillary Clinton would win." [Der Spiegel]

Earlier this year, noted GOP firebrand Stephen Baldwin vowed to flee the United States if Barack Obama was nominated as the Democrats' presidential candidate. He apparently got as far as Minnesota before settling down again for the end of the election cycle, but now that Obama has triumphed for the highest office in the land, we would like to personally reaffirm our interest in driving the moving van. How about it, Steve? Or were those crossed fingers not your own quirky variation on Hope, but just another way to get away with a garden-variety campaign lie? Tell us while you pack, why don't you?

If there's been anything more contentious and exhausting than the battle to become the nation's next president, it has been The View's high-octane coverage of the election. Emotions still ran high on today's show, as an overcome Sherri Shepherd cried on camera about the impact of Barack Obama's victory. Before that, though, Barbara Walters turned to Elisabeth Hasselbeck and rightly noted, "All eyes are gonna be on you."

America, now you've done it. You just elected an African-American from Chicago President, and traveling with him to the White House will be his good friend Rahm Emanuel. Congressman Emanuel will probably be the new Chief of Staff, which is quietly the most important job in most administrations. Emanuel is the powerful young former head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and his reputation is that of a political bruiser. The Emanuel selection demonstrates that unlike Clinton in 1992, Obama is not fucking around. The Chief of Staff runs the White House internally, and this is a signal that Obama's transition will not be beset with the public infighting and embarrassing selections of the Clinton takeover. Emanuel is perfect for the role, because it's not a particularly public one, and Emanuel is a dirty-mouthed vicious partisan. It also sounds like Obama's going to work hard to get Congress in line with his Administration early on, which he'll need to do, once again, to avoid the mistakes of Bill Clinton, who got pushed around by old Democratic party leaders in the Senate and House. Also, yes, Hope time is over. All the complaints that Obama's an aloof, vague hope-monger who won't accomplish anything, Jimmy Carter-style? We're going to see those stories switch to "Obama's a mean, hard, Chicago-style hack who'll run the White House with an iron fist." Rahm's brother is, of course, super-agent Ari Emanuel. The Emanuel brothers are a treat, and we look forward to them enraging Conservatives almost as much as we look forward to four hilarious years of Vice President Joe Biden.

Diddy on the election last night: "I felt like my vote was the vote that put him into office." Also, he says he felt like Martin Luther King when he stepped into the voting booth yesterday. [AP]

The Mayflower in Washington has quite the offer for anyone interested in going to D.C. for Barack Obama's inauguration. The "Ultimate Presidential" package includes a three-night stay, limo service, "his and hers inaugural jewelry," Dom Perignon champagne, in-room massages for two, 24-hour butler service, and his and hers "inaugural garb" from Burberry ("to keep special guests warm during the inaugural ceremony"). And it's only $51,000. What a steal! As for whether you'll be staying in the same room where Eliot Spitzer shared some special time with Ashley Dupre, you'll have to call and ask. [HotelChatter]

Yay Obama! Net neutrality! Whatever that is! We're having a little spat over Barry O this morning. Owen thinks he took the Internet's money and ran. I think Obama thanking the Internet for his win would be like thanking telephones. Either way, Obama's presidency will be a comedy goldmine for Valleywag. Bay Area liberals have bitched about Republicans nonstop for eight years. Now, with the GOP out of the way, it'll be hilarious to watch the Dems come up with newer, more complex excuses for not getting anything done. (Comic by Hugh MacLeod)

♦ ABC appears to generated the highest ratings as the election results rolled in last night. NBC came in second and CNN ranked third. [TV Decoder]
♦ Time is rushing to produce a commemorative issue of the mag by the end of the week. [HuffPo]
♦ Both People and Us Weekly will feature Obama on the covers of the next issue. [NYP]
♦ Can The Daily Show survive an Obama presidency? and how will other media outlets deal with the post-election dropoff? [Politico, AdAge]
♦ An explanation of that holography thingie on CNN last night. [YouTube]

Man what a wonderful hopey week for America. Let's see how hopeful Robert Novak is, shall we? The headline is promising: "No mandate for Obama, no lopsided Congress." Hah! It's funny because we thought Obama became the first Democratic president since Carter to win with more than 50% of the vote, winning by a larger margin than any Democrat since LBJ, and the Democrats picked up enough Senate and House seats to keep a very comfortable majority? No, apparently that's all wrong. As Novak says:

Natalie Portman did it! Her eleventh-hour phone-banking put Barack Obama's campaign over the top, eking out a nail-biting victory of 349 electoral votes to McCain's 173, and ushering in a tidal wave of jubilation we were thrilled to let sweep us away.House parties spilled out into the noisy streets and local bars—if our own destination was any indication, all of America was marking this seismic moment by getting down to Jermaine Stewart's one hit, blissfully wasted on a heady mixture of well vodka and hope. There was of course that one gigantic bummer hanging over the proceedings, and the party would occasionally pause to hiss at a TV monitor showing a Yorba Linda Ramada ballroom of inbreds cheering wildly over their successful attempts at snuffing out the happiness of thousands people they don't know, and hope never to meet. "Prop 8 = Religious Freedom," read their signs. Well, then, free at last, free at last, thank God almighty they are free at last, and marriage's sacred definition as something that can only be shared between a Michael Jackson and a Lisa Marie Presley has been secured, for the time being at least. Hurray! But let's not let the bastards get us down, shall we? Let's focus on what we do have: A new President! One who possesses a kind heart, a probing intellectual curiosity, a masterful command of the English language, and a general air of giving a shit! In other words, everything we haven't had for the past eight years. A new era has begun. Let's see what famous people think about it: · If the night belonged to anyone whose last name isn't Obama, it was Oprah Winfrey, weeping during Obama's victory speech like a proud Mother Earth: "I'm vibrating. [I want] to be fully present. I'm just trying to take it all in. I can't even talk about it. This has been the greatest experience of my lifetime. I haven't seen a sense of unity like this since 9/11. Now, we're all brought together in the name of hope." [Us] · George Clooney: "I congratulate President-elect Obama on his historic victory and now it's time to begin unifying the country so we can take on the extraordinary challenges that this generation faces." · P Diddy: "I felt like my vote was the vote that put him into office. It was down to one vote, and that was going to be my vote. And that may not be true, but that's how much power it felt like I had." [AP] · Star Jones is filled with pride! [ET Online] · Harvey Weinstein: "It's a great day for America." [NY Daily News] · Jessica Alba: "I was surprised that McCain brought race into his speech. I guess he was trying to bring people together." NY Daily News]

• While you were merely voting and watching television or whatever, Kirsten Dunst was personally investigating the voting process, in North Dakota. She was asking America why it's terrible at voting, and hoping the answer has nothing to do with movies. [Daily Star]

It was a mercifully brief presidential election night, if you consider the period effectively over once a clear winner has emerged. By 10 pm. Eastern, newspaper editors could put crisp, definitive headlines atop their front pages. Some European newspapers managed the same, either by way of special editions or the quaint tradition of afternoon publishing. Papers on several other continents also heralded the election results with some, such as Barcelona's el Periódico below and Diario do Comercio in Brazil, running high-concept covers emphasizing the election's deeper meaning for American culture. One briefly wonders what sorts of words and images they would have reached for amid a McCain victory. But it is much more satisfying, really, to feel the world gaze on America with approving eyes once again. A blow-up of the newspaper headlines is after the jump.

♦ Stock futures were down on Wednesday morning as investors focused on the challenges facing President-elect Obama. Yesterday's gain, however, was the largest Election Day rally in 24 years. [Reuters, NYT]
♦ The former chief risk officer at Bear Stearns is now a senior official at the Fed where he's part of the division that supervises U.S. banks. [DB]
♦ US companies cut 157,000 jobs in October. [Bloomberg]

For screenshots from major websites, see here and here. [via kottke]

What did one of the most despised outgoing presidents in history say to his replacement, who had just been smothered in superlatives and the warmth of a nation? George W. Bush said election night was "awesome," referred oddly to Barack Obama's "good bride" and invited the president elect to what will probably be one of the most awkward dinners in White House history. "Amazing you got so dang far on that 'change' platform, hopey," we imagine the president saying, before reaching for another pull on his non-alcoholic beer. At least the president promised a "smooth transition." Click the video icon for MSNBC's summary of the call.

So apparently Obama rented an actual orchestra for his big victory speech? That sure added to the cinematic drama at Grant Park. And for those die-hard McCain supporters not softened up by Obama's dramatic speech, the president elect deviously called to the stage his impossibly cute, scene-stealing daughters, and then his VP Joe Biden walked his 90-year-old mom to the edge of the stage as if to say, "look, ma, I'm vice president!" This is clearly a White House that's going to play shameless hardball with the opposition. (Video after the jump.) One minor nit:

Spontaneous street parties are forming in the wake of Barack Obama's election to the presidency, and we've been getting emails about it. After the jump, shots taken in the streets of San Francisco, DC, Philly, New Orleans, Chicago and Baltimore and various parts of New York — and even in Freeport, Sierra Leone. Send us shots of your own and we'll add them to the galleries, or feel free to post in the comments. In the meantime, try not to get too drunk or start throwing anything or pushing anyone. (We're hopeful you won't, hopeys.)

Barack Obama's ascent to the presidency tonight was a perfect moment of cinema: A graceful conciliation by his opponent, dramatic music at Grant Park in Chicago, a moving speech and a picture-perfect finish surrounded by family and his vice president. Also: Crying. Not only by the Democrats in attendance but, from what we can tell, even among some Republians. "I was crying and I despise the Dems," one tipster admitted to us. MSNBC cut to a gently weeping Oprah Winfrey as Obama reached the "Yes, We Can" crescendo of his spech; some other criers follow below. Good luck not choking up again.