Yahoo! News, which recently partnered with ABC News on a wide-reaching deal, is gearing up for some 2012 election coverage of its own. The company has hired Steve Chaggaris, the former political director of CBS News, to serve as executive producer, elections. Chaggaris left CBS News in January, 2010 to go to Allbritton Communications. He was first named political director at CBS in 2007.

While Yahoo! was vague about its political plans, it sounds as though it wants to compete not only with other websites, but also the TV networks. With a former CBS News political director and a strong TV partner in ABC News, the idea may not be that crazy.