Today, as you are probably aware, is the day that Barack Obama took the oath of office and became the 44th President of the United States of America. Many of us have been waiting for this day since George W. Bush first took this oath in 2001, yet no one imagined this would be such a historic occasion. Some are in awe because Barack Obama is now the first black President. Some are in awe because this was their first election and their candidate won or, like myself, the first time the candidate they voted for actually took the oath of office. Many are just happy to watch the 43rd president leave. Still more are simply excited to see Democracy in action and the hope for change that Obama inspires. For whatever reason today is exciting to you, it is now the dawn of a new era in Washington. Whether Barack Obama does everything he promises or even only a fraction of it, one thing is certain: He won’t be worse than George W. Bush.

So I present to you the best picture I’ve seen on the news and Internet thus far today: The new President, Vice President, and their wives waving away the previous President as he takes off in Marine One to go back to Texas.

Unless you’ve been living inside of a cave with poor tv reception or perhaps under a rock, you’re probably aware that tomorrow is election day in the United States. Any and all issues that could possibly be discussed have been thoroughly dissected by the candidates, the media, and the blogosphere. Therefore, unless you’re still squeezed in to that increasingly small piece of the pie chart labeled “undecided” (and are therefore likely also categorized as a moron, racist, ignorant, or all of the above), it’s time for you to go out and vote. If you are still undecided at this point, after what seems to have been the longest election campaign ever, you might be better off staying home so that whichever candidate wins, you can still say “it’s not my fault, I didn’t vote for him!” when you disagree with future policy changes. Obviously I’m hoping you vote for Barack Obama, but because this is a democracy, it is important that whoever you support, be it Barack Obama, John McCain, or even if you plan on writing in Optimus Prime, your vote matters. That isn’t to say this isn’t a flawed and corruptible system, as demonstrated in the 2000 election, but when more voices are heard it is harder to corrupt the process.

So whatever you have to do tomorrow, find time to go to your local polling place and vote. If you still aren’t sure where you vote, the following website will help: VoteForChange.com

You might not know this, because it hasn’t yet officially aired, but today’s Meet The Press, currently taping and airing in less than an hour, will be big. MSNBC, CNN, and most other major news sources are already reporting that Colin Powell has officially endorsed Barack Obama. It’s uncertain exactly what this will mean in the polls and how it will effect the race, but this certainly isn’t a good omen for John McCain. To say this is the final nail in the coffin is probably premature and Barack Obama supporters shouldn’t get cocky (as Obama has been saying himself in his stump speeches), but this is a huge bonus to his campaign, especially at such a late date.

Here’s the clip from Meet The Press:

If you watched last night’s debate, you probably saw John McCain claim that he isn’t President Bush. Well, it’s true, they do have different DNA, but here’s the Obama campaign’s response:

The following picture was taken of a recent absentee ballot sent out to about 300 residents of Rensselaer County, New York.

Notice something wrong there? Your eyes aren’t deceiving you, that does actually say “Barack Osama“. I’m willing to accept the word of the officials responsible for this that it was indeed accidental, but there’s just no way that this was a simple wrong key press. “S” and “B” are no where near each other on the keyboard – you don’t even type them with the same finger. Someone clearly was thinking Osama when they typed his name and typed it wrong without realized that their id had overpowered their conscious mind. That happens. There are plenty of times when I’ve wanted to type one word and my mind just typed out something else, but I always catch it with good old fashioned proofreading.

So what’s the lesson to be learned here? With something as important as a Presidential election ballot – especially in the shadow of the 2000 election fraud that elected George W. Bush – any and every ballot being shipped out to early voters or presented to them at the voting booth should be thoroughly proofread by multiple officials.

I’ve talked before about how McCain’s attempt to paint Obama as an elitist is a joke, and I just found the following picture elsewhere on the web and just had to post it here.

No idea where this originated, so if you have the original link feel free to reply with it.

Most of the following McCain ad is garbage that you can ignore, but watch extremely closely at about the 25 second mark and try to identify the shirt that the woman shaking John McCain’s hand is wearing.

Did you catch it? If you did, you’re probably chuckling to yourself right now if not actually laughing out loud. If you didn’t, she’s wearing an Obama campaign shirt. Someone clearly wasn’t paying close enough attention when they put that commercial together. If this is the level of effort they are putting in to their campaign ads, I can’t wait to see what else we have to look forward to.

Still straining to see it? Here’s a freezeframe:

Not too long ago, John McCain proposed a gas tax “holiday”. Essentially, the 18¢ federal gas tax will be lifted for a period of time to, in theory, save Americans money. The only problem with this is that most economists don’t think this will work. Decreased price will increase demand, thus raising the price of gas. That’s how capitalism works. Then, once the gas tax is over, it will end up higher than when it started. On top of that, if it does save the average American any money, it will only be about $25. Not much. So this isn’t really the best idea, but that’s what can be expected when it comes to Republicans and taxes.

What makes this all interesting is that now Hillary is following suit (insert pantsuit joke here). She has already taken campaign strategies straight out of the republican playbook, so why not borrow McCain’s tax proposals? I am failing to see how exactly she is the “more electable candidate”, as her supporters would like me to think, if she just copies what the Republican candidate proposes. What baffles me even more than her recent republican tendencies, is that fact that the media is acting as if she came up with it. The very second she opened her mouth in favor of McCain’s gas tax suspension, mainstream media somehow developed selective amnesia about who had actually proposed it and declared it Hillary’s Gas Tax Holiday.

Thankfully, Barack Obama has the chutzpah call a gas tax holiday exactly what it is, a “classic Washington gimmick”. Plenty of his opposition will come back and say he voted for a suspended gas tax in Illinois when he was a state senator. What’s his response to this? “I voted for it. Then six months later we took a look and consumers had not benefited at all. I learned from a mistake.” A politician who is willing to admit his mistakes and subsequently demonstrate he has learned from them by taking the risky step of opposing a tax cut (no matter how fool heartedly it may be) is exactly what this country needs in our next President.

He obviously hasn’t endorsed Hillary, or for that matter McCain, but in watching him continuously harm the Obama campaign with every new word he utters, one has to wonder what his true motivation is. Or, more likely, I’m looking for deeper meaning out of someone simply attempting to stretch out their 15 minutes.

A tie or a loss for Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania this past Tuesday would have more or less forced her out of the race, allowing Barack Obama to finally mount a national campaign, with the support of the DNC and other pro-Democratic groups, against John McCain and the Republican Party. Alas, this did not happen. Everyone (even the media!) knows that Barack Obama is going to walk out of the convention with his name on the ticket. He has won more states, he has more of the popular vote, he is leading her in pledged delegates, and none of the remaining primaries are going to change that. By winning Pennsylvania with a 10 point lead, Clinton has gotten the ego boost that she so desperately needed to convince herself and her supporters that it is worthwhile to stay in the race through the convention. No one quite knows what this will mean, as there hasn’t been a brokered democratic convention since the 50s, so this should be interesting.

I forsee an Obama/Clinton ticket to reunite an increasingly divided party and defeat McCain.