November 6th, two days since the making of history

"When you have to be cheerful all the time and try to perform and act like [the tape is unclear; Obama appears to be poking fun at his opponents], I'm sure that some of it has to do with nerves or anxiety and not having done this before, I'm sure. And in my own head, you know, there's—I don't consider this to be a good format for me, which makes me more cautious. When you're going into something thinking, 'This is not my best …' I often find myself trapped by the questions and thinking to myself, 'You know, this is a stupid question, but let me … answer it.' Instead of being appropriately [the tape is garbled]. So when Brian Williams is asking me about what's a personal thing that you've done [that's green], and I say, you know, 'Well, I planted a bunch of trees.' And he says, 'I'm talking aboutpersonal.' What I'm thinking in my head is, 'Well, the truth is, Brian, we can't solve global warming because I f–––ing changed light bulbs in my house. It's because of something collective'."

This is a quote from Senator Obama early in his primary campaign, one of many collected by Newsweek for their insider issue on the Presidential campaign.  I find it refreshing to see that, though Obama was considered too professorial by some, in reality, he is still, on the inside an average guy (well actually, much more than average, considering he just won the presidency).  I totally agree with him about the debates.  They really were way too restricting, or they did not require the candidates to actually engage the subject matter, but rather just spout out talking points.  The good thing is, no more televised political debates for two years...

Of note today is that now, after being reported yesterday by Fox News, Rahm Emmanuel will be Obama's Chief of Staff.  This was an intersting move, as Emmanuel has been a long -time ally, as well as a fellow Chicagoan.  Emmanuel, the fourth ranking Democrat in the House, is seen as both pragmatic and forceful, someone who can really get the job done and push things through.  While Obama's style is often a bit lofty and idealistic, Emmanuel is a tough guy who will be able to get things done.  In CNN's coverage of the selection, they got a quote from David Gergen, who said "They are obviously setting up a good cop/bad cop routine in the White House. ... Barack Obama can be the good guy."  

The last votes are just about all in from different States' congressional races and a few interesting scenarios are sure to arise. Oregon's Senate race has now been called for Democrat Jeff Merkley over incumbent Republican Gordon Smith.  We are all still waiting on what will happen now that CONVICTED FELON Ted Stevens has won re-election in Alaska.  Will Sarah Palin potentially appoint herself to the Senate seat?  It is a sure bet that the newly controlled Democratic Senate will not allow Stevens back.  Also of interest will be the run-off election in December between Jim Martin and Saxby Chambliss in Georgia, as neither were able to receive 50% of the vote total.  Will the Democrats be able to pump money into the state to pick up seat 58 (or 59, if the recount in Minnesota puts Al Franken ahead of Norm Coleman)?  We will see what happens in the weeks ahead, as we enter a hugely important transition period.