To those — to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.

- President-Elect Barack Obama

Even going into last night, I had concerns. Would the alleged “Bradley effect” rear its head? Were the pollsters completely wrong?

They were not.

I believe that Barack Obama has the potential to be one of the great presidents of American history. The way in which he has energized the nation with his message of hope is nothing short of amazing. On an historic night, he was gracious, inspiring and firm…giving a speech to 125,000+ onlookers in Grant Park in Chicago and showing that hope always trumps fear.

I watched that speech with tears in my eyes. This is something that people will remember for a very long time. We’ll tell future generations about watching this election and I feel blessed to be a part of it.

I am looking forward to the next few months as President-Elect Obama puts together his transition team - a team that he has stated will be bi-partisan and contain very few hold-overs (most believe that one of the only hold-overs will be Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense). Whomever he brings in, the administration has many challenges ahead, the first of which is carrying the energy and inspiration of the campaign into true action as well as reaching out to those who were strong McCain supporters.

Either way, it’s an exciting time.

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Alli and I got up early this morning (and by early, I’m talking like pre-6:00 am) to walk down the street to our polling location and get in line to vote. As we walked back, Alli said, “Getting up early and walking to the polls made me feel like I was doing something important.” And she’s totally right.

It’s an important thing that we did at 6:15 this morning…to cast our votes in a general election. This is what makes democracy great…we have a say in who our leaders are. Sure, it’s anything but a perfect process. But there’s a process and it’s better than most.

Regardless of who you support (I support Barack Obama and you should too), it’s important for your voice to be heard, even if you live in a state like Kansas that has voted for a Republican for like…FOREVER.

Go vote.

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Tomorrow night is the next of the cavalcade of Democratic debates that we’ve endured over the last several months, this time in Pennsylvania, which is this week’s “most important state!” to host a primary. Since the last primaries in Mississippi (which I had to look back to CNN’s political page for - BTW, Barack Obama TROUNCED Hillary Clinton in those 61% to 39%), a lot has happened in the campaigns. We’ve had major gaffes on both sides (”sniper fire” vs. “bitter”) and some serious questions about the people these candidates surround themselves with (Mark Penn vs. Jeremiah Wright).

Previous debates have been extremely short on fireworks as the Democrats have been cordial to each other’s faces, choosing to do their back biting at events and stump speeches.

KC Joke Blogster Tony Botello opined today on the Democratic race and it is an example of the truthiness that can come out of a blog that generally just tries to make people mad.

Both he and I agreed that the outright hypocrisy of Hillary on this issue was utterly mind boggling. A woman with $109 million expects to be taken seriously when she casts stones about elitism?

Hillary has truly pulled the wool over the eyes of her supporters. I can’t figure out how her “beer and shots and my daddy took me huntin’ by the lake” doesn’t get her called for BS every time. It’s fascinating, really, because I think it is THE CLINTONS who are elitist and they take advantage of the ignorance of those less fortunate with their “we’re just like you” schtick.

Barack Obama has his flaws. We all do. Some of his recent errors in judgment have kept this race alive longer than it should, but one thing I won’t call Obama is elitist. He knows that he’s been blessed in his life and he knows that his politics aren’t favorable to everyone. But he doesn’t change his stripes depending on where he is in the country, changing his story depending on his audience.

The people that continue to vote for Hillary Clinton are being duped. In a blog post on Anderson Cooper 360’s blog, Hillary Clinton biographer Carl Bernstein stated:

What will a Hillary Clinton presidency look like?

The answer by now seems obvious: It will look like her presidential campaign, which in turn looks increasingly like the first Clinton presidency.

Which is to say, high-minded ideals, lowered execution, half truths, outright lies (and imaginary flights), take-no prisoners politics, some very good policy ideas, a presidential spouse given to wallowing in anger and self-pity, and a succession of aides and surrogates pushed under the bus when things don’t go right. Which is to say, often.

This is what we would be in for if Hillary Clinton were to become the next president of the United States. Anyone who doesn’t make that same assessment hasn’t been watching the campaign closely enough. That’s why I’m going to continue to support Obama. The thought of another Clinton White House is too much for me to bear.

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This could be a defining moment, not just of the Democratic primary or the 2008 national election, but in the history of our country. Rarely do politicians speak as frankly as Barack Obama did today. My hope is that his speech perhaps turned the tables in Pennsylvania and that he will defeat Billary there, thus ending the Democratic primary and allowing the race to move completely toward the general election.

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I voted for George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004.

I can’t deny this. The evidence is buried deep in the archives of this blog. If I could be assured that Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Karl Rove were not a part of the package, I might vote for him again. I believe that Bush is a decent man who is in WAY over his head.

This is an important time in the landscape of our country. Abroad we are viewed more negatively than ever, despite our constant efforts to keep the world a safer, better place. The next president faces many challenges in achieving their agenda. Congress is more divided than ever. Democrats, who have been out of favor with the American people for several years, have regained control and, thus far, their achievements have been few. Very little happens during the tail end of an 8-year term and with a president as universally disliked as Bush, we’ll be hard-pressed to see any significant legislation from a government that argues more than it works.

Going into this very long election season, I first wanted to figure out who I liked. I knew that I didn’t like Hillary Clinton. I still don’t. I don’t trust her. She’s Old Washington. She has built friends and enemies over the course of her “35 years of experience” and there are many who believe that another Clinton administration would be similar to that of the Hoover days of the FBI where there’s a file on everyone who ever dissented from the Clintons (if she does happen to get elected, this post may come back to haunt me). Not only that, but people who called her “strong” or “brave” for staying with her husband through her numerous indiscretions are just what I like to call “stupid” and “naive”. If you think for one second that her staying with Bill was about anything more than political gain, you are kidding yourself.

There are many reasons why people like the Clintons. I just happen to not be one of them. Under Clinton, the military was weakened and mistreated so much that George W. Bush seemingly had to overcompensate when the realities of September 11 set in. It’s arguable that he did the right thing, but there is plenty of evidence to suggest that Clinton’s weakening of the military and his refusal to go after Osama bin Laden led indirectly to 9/11. The post-9/11 landscape made it really difficult to find the Al Qaeda leader since there were so many sympathetic to his cause by that point.

My journey to Obama was caused by a series of events. First, Mitt Romney’s poor showing in early primaries meant that my favorite Republican was quickly fading. John McCain seemed OK, but as I watched the debates, he seemed more an more smug; more and more self-important. Even back then, I was intrigued by Obama, but like many supporters, I knew very little about him.

Watching his speech after South Carolina made me want to learn more. Then there was the remix of his speech done by Will.i.am that got a lot of run on the news. So my initial interest was similar to those of many. I was drawn to him because he spoke of hope and the power of the American people, not the power of politicians who were Ready on Day One™.

I watched that Yes We Can video 3 times in a row one morning and then immediately went out to Obama’s website to read his issue statement. I read every one and realized that perhaps I was closer to his beliefs than I originally thought.

I began to take much more notice of the democratic side of the campaign. After Super Tuesday when McCain was crowned the Republican front-runner, I thought it was important to focus my attention on the race that was still being run. I’m addicted now. I check the CNN political section of its website everyday and I’m reading everything I can get my hands on.

A couple things helped to solidify my belief in Obama. The first was a Keynote presentation that Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig put up on MetaCafe and YouTube.

It’s 20 minutes long. Consider yourself warned.

A couple weeks later, I was directed to a post on the highly liberal democratic blog, the Daily Kos. The post had done what many “Obamicans” had not up to this point. It had looked at the facts of Clinton and Obama’s history in the Senate. It analyzed their voting record, the bills put forward and the co-sponsors who had joined them on their bills presented.

What the article helped prove to me was that my initial thoughts were correct: Barack Obama was a more likable politician and while he is a young senator, that has not kept him from thinking big. He had more co-sponsors on most of his bills and not only that, the bills about similar policies that were put forth by Obama and Clinton overwhelming favored the junior senator from Illinois because his ideas weren’t safe…they took risks in order to try and solve problems.

A key example on the subject of lead paint:

For example, she introduced one bill that offered tax credits for building owners who clean up lead paint. Which is a very good thing. And Obama is a co-sponsor. “S.1793 : A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a tax credit for property owners who remove lead-based paint hazards.”

Obama’s anti-lead bill (S. 1306) directed the Consumer Product Safety Commission to classify certain children’s products containing lead as banned hazardous substances. He had another bill prohibitting the interstate transport of children’s products containing lead. (S.2132) And Hillary co-sponsored each of these.

In other words, they both care about protecting children from lead.

The difference is in the scope and the approach.

Obama’s bill shows how he thinks big: do everything we can to make sure that lead-painted Thomas the Tank Engine toys don’t get into the hands and mouths of millions of toddlers in this country.

Or Hillary: encourage people by offering tax credits to clean up lead paint in old buildings. People have been talking about lead paint in old buildings hurting kids in living in inner cities, since, well when I was a kid — for decades. If it is still a big problem, is offering tax credits for clean up, i.e. scrape down the walls and repaint, the best way to protect kids from lead?

How many of you parents have lead paint problems? How many have (or had) toxic Thomas the Tank Engine Toys? They are everywhere. The local bookstore and kid’s shoe store and the doctor’s office and the preschool and the toystore all have train tables. There is nowhere you can go anymore with toddlers that doesn’t have a Thomas the Tank Engine train table covered with toxic toys. But that’s just my feeling.

Obama’s bills risk pissing off the toy industry and the Chinese. Hillary’s risks nothing.

If you read the article, there are countless examples of how Hillary is a lifelong politician and Obama is a man who seems to be trying to make the world a better place.

I believe that the next president of the United States is going to have many challenges ahead of them to get their agenda accomplished. In my opinion, candidate who has the ability to unite the American people behind his causes because of his dynamic nature and his big thinking is Barack Obama. That’s why, come November, I’ll be doing something I’ve never done in my voting history - I’ll be voting Democratic. That is, unless Hillary Clinton manages to come up with a miracle.

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The state of Kansas chose Mike Huckabee as its Republican candidate of choice today. I didn’t make it out to the caucus because my preferred candidate on the Republican side is now out of the race.

I don’t get these people that like Mike Huckabee. I’m guessing that they just want something different out of Washington or they like his big cheeks. I don’t trust him. He seems like a guy who is trying to be clever. I just don’t see him that way. For a minister, he just seems entirely too slick. Too much like that dude who sells the holy spring water (isn’t his name Piper?).

Huckabee’s win in Kansas signals one of two things: either the state is (like I said above) very tired of politics as usual (which was evidenced by Obama’s overwhelming win here on Tuesday) or there are WAY more evangelical voters in the state than I thought.

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I had a meeting until about 10 p.m. last night so I got to catch the results as they came in. I heard Obama and McCain’s speeches last night on the way home and was somewhat surprised when I turned on the TV and Obama had not won California. Here are my thoughts on both races:

Republican

As a registered Republican, my caucus in Kansas is not until this weekend. Since it’s looking more and more like Mitt Romney is going to drop out of the race, I’m not sure I’m going to participate any more. Romney has been my favorite Republican, particularly since the Florida debates, but unfortunately, he has not resonated with Republicans, who are not voting for him for two reasons I can think of:

1. They want to say they voted for a winner. As McCain gains momentum, it is difficult to stop him.
2. He’s Mormon.

The second part is the one thing that no one is talking about, but I think that we are ignorant to think that it isn’t a factor, particularly in a lot of these close races. McCain has been portrayed as temperamental, the anti-conservative, and frankly, as of late, a little smug.

Mitt Romney looks presidential. Is that why people don’t like him? Is this the year of the atypical candidate? I felt like the back-room deal that was brokered in West Virginia was a dirty trick by the McCain camp, one that the Straight Talk Express used to be above. Apparently, it’s politics as usual with John McCain. I don’t trust Mike Huckabee as far as I can throw him. If those two run on the same ticket, I’ll be hard-pressed not to vote for a Democrat, unless of course that Democrat is Hillary Clinton.

Democratic

Barack Obama won 13 states last night (as of writing this, the New Mexico results still had yet to be determined, but Obama is ahead), while Billary won 8 states. However, she won the massive states of California and New York, which was what she was aiming for.

The interesting thing about this race is we’re now looking at a very interesting situation. The Republican party has somewhat congealed behind one candidate (despite the desires of ultra-conservatives who don’t like McCain), while the Democratic race may not be decided for a couple more months.

The discrepancy between Obama and Clinton is one that was very easy to see. Clinton won the coastal states, which solidified her as a typical Democrat - one who doesn’t care deeply about the flyover states in the Midwest. Obama, however, managed to get great turnout in states like Kansas, because he is a man that people can believe in. He inspires young voters and non-voters to believe that their vote actually matters. That is a good thing.

This is a defining moment for the election. This is where the Democratic party can either screw it up badly or become the party of the people. Barack Obama is a man of the people; at least he seems that way. He inspires folks like me, lifelong Republicans to reconsider who he’ll vote for in November. America needs the inspiring message that he can bring. They certainly don’t need 8 more years of a Clinton in the White House and politics as usual.

If the Democratic party wants to win in November, they should do their best to stay above the fray of dirty politics that have clouded the Republican side as of late. The longer it stays close like this, though, the more I expect Billary’s claws to come out. As many saw in South Carolina, that doesn’t bode well for the Clintons. We’ll see in the upcoming weeks what happens, but it is certainly shaping up to be another exciting election year.

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I’d like to participate in both the Democratic and Republican caucuses in Kansas. Since the Democratic one is tomorrow and the Republican one is on Saturday, I can physically do it, but is it ethical?

I am a registered Republican, but Democratic caucus information states that you can change your registration on-site. I’m assuming the same is true for Republicans.

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