Hey friends, bet you thought you'd never hear from Readerreader again. I have now voted voted, absentee, and have officially resigned myself to your victory. Congratulations. You earned it. Barring a miracle, the McCain/Palin campaign is finished.

Why did this happen? Two reasons. First, race. Back in the day, a black politician would be expected to push for closer integration of blacks and whites in schools. That day is over. Whites who could afford it have jumped county/township lines and insulated themselves from busing. They are now free to be as exquisitely liberal as they choose, on vaguely defined and ultimately empty slogans like "racial relations." If they believed there was 1 chance in 100 that Obama would change any of that, many would not vote for him. White flight ultimately triumphed over both Brown v. Board of Education and forced busing, and made the world safe for an Obama presidency.

Second, the pull of the party platform. If Jennifer Flowers had popped up a month or two sooner, the Democrats would have scrambled mightily to find the right alternative to Clinton and not proceeded with a nominee who had obvious sex problems. But instead they closed ranks, and supported the nominee him they cared more about the platform than about future bimbo eruptions. Not an unreasonable choice, if you think about it. Same thing is happening with Obama. His Jeremiah problem (especially videos) arose late in the game, and the Democrats again closed ranks. I know hard bitten racists who are voting for him because they want the Democratic agenda.

Third, I'll be very blunt, as I think some others have here as well. His biracial nature was a factor. I had my hair cut by a girl back in the spring who volunteered a discussion on politics and told me, "He's half white. He'll be o.k." She also told me, "Women are too emotional to lead. We can't have Hillary."

A more interesting question would be: why did otherwise persuadable women (i.e., those who would have tolerated a man with an identical resume) turn on Palin? I predict here and now we will never have a woman president. Men will not go down that road again, and women clearly did not enjoy it much this time, either with Hillary or Sarah. All hail Obama! And God help us all.

Well, I'm never surprised by what you can learn talking to a barber or a hair stylist.

We are now headed for what the Romanians call Gypsy democracy. Here, it will be south side of Chicago democracy. It's government by hustlers, fraudsters, grievance mongers, Rezkos, Wrights, casino community trust fund embezzlers -- and the liberal suburbanites who love them. The whole posse will be coming to Washington, in one way or another. A whiff of corruption will surround it all, but the high expectations of the media, coupled with the soft bigotry of low expecations for Mr. Obama, will help ameliorate the effects. Billboards will assure us that the emperor is doing well. None of his followers will want it to end, and someone may perceive that steps can be taken to help match wishes to reality.

Folks, take a good, long last look at John McCain and Sarah Palin in the rear view mirror. A war hero and a basketball champion turned PTA mom turned popular governor. Then look again with pride at the callow ACORN hack you're choosing in their place. Once again, all hail Obama! All hail! All hail! All hail!

Oh, and by and the way, in case you wonder which emperor and court Obama and his gypsy democrats will resemble most, it would probably be Julian the Apostate. Julian fought like the dickens to stamp out the radical taliban freaks of his time; i.e., Christians, but while they lost the secular battle, the Christians won the historical war. Julian also witnessed many struggles over land and income redistribution; we're now on the front end of such struggles, historically speaking.

Palin and her kind (like me) will now go back in their holes, much to the delight of Salon readers. :) But don't worry. We won't go away completely. And we won't forget how you treated us. Remember too, Herod the Great was awfully great, but a bunch of lowly rabble ended up writing his most famous entry in history. So too it may be with Obama and issues like taxpayer funded abortion.

Three times a charm. I'm finally out.

I may be the only poster here who has contributed to the fund from which Palin's wardrobe allowance was drawn. Thus, I am the only one with standing to object.

I wholeheartedly support this expenditure, and would gladly give more. As I said in one of my original posts (the first one starred by Salon), Palin is the conservative Evita. And like Evita, she must outshine the enemy. After her RNC speech, the Wash Post ran a lead story trashing her homespun appearance. Now, the Postly hags can sit back and see how stunning she truly is, especially with a little help. (Not that I saw anything wrong with her initial wardrobe).

Folks, I actually pity you. I really do. I wish you could see how exciting it is to see a nominee plucked from small town America, deal with adversity like a cinderella story (e.g., the first hour or so of Rocky, Rudy, or even Seabiscuit - with respect to the owner/trainer/jockey), be smashingly charming, beautfiul, and admired, and then -- even when facing imminent and almost certain defeat -- earn the respect and love of millions across the country. She's high flying, adored. Those who can see it are thrilled.