The End is Near

It's almost hard to imagine that tomorrow the Presidential campaign is over. It's been going on for what, five or six years now? Actually, Obama announced his candidacy on February 10 of last year and McCain announced his bid a couple of months later. Still, even for a political junkie like me, it seems that this campaign has been going on for a long, long time and taking place in a galaxy...oh, never mind.

Anyway, it seems virtually impossible for McCain to squeeze out a victory tomorrow, so we can probably expect to inaugurate our first black President. While that is certainly not a reason to vote for Obama, I think it can be said to be a good thing for our country. Much of the world and indeed even much of our own country is not white. Having a leader that is not will help our image in the world and give black kids someone to look up to that looks like them and is not a rap artist or athlete.

I almost feel sorry for Obama, though. Would you want to be taking over our country in a time like this? John Stewart asked Obama about this. Of course Obama gave a standard political answer, but you've got to wonder if he doesn't lay in bed at night thinking to himself, "Damn it! Why now?"

The hardest part for the Democrats will be the fact that they are now going to own the problems America faces - the economy, Iraq, Afghanistan, al-Qaeda, and so on. It's not going to matter much how we got here if they can't get us out of it. Obama's leadership will be tested from day one. I have more faith in his leadership than I do the Congressional Democratic leadership to be sure.

Well, whatever happens tomorrow, the Presidential campaign is over (you hear that, Florida? No hanging chads!) and I think that's something we can all be happy about.