I awoke at 5am in order to be on line at the polls at 6:45am - 15 minutes before the polls opened in my little exburb of Santa Clarita, CA This is my 9th presidential vote, but only my second in CA. The lines were already beginning to grow, and there was a definite sense of civic pride hanging in the air. When I got to my office, half the staff was already there an hour early as a result of having gotten up early to vote. The big topic of conversation was where to get voting day freebies - coffee, donuts and even ice cream. My assistant even typed up a memo with the nearest locations of each of these high calorie retailers. Democracy has it's rewards, and this year those rewards are sweet and fattening - a perfect tonic for the this very bitter election cycle.

Camille - you used to be a breath of fresh air, but like almost every other pundit, you completely fail to see the success of Obama for what it is - a strong desire for intelligence combined with a total rejection of the baby boomer idealogies. No one cared about Ayers in the press because it wouldn't sell and that's what the press does - sella product. If the mainstream media devoted hours of in-depth analysis of the Obam-Ayers connection, the whole country would have tuned out en-masse. We are no longer interested in the culture wars of the 60's and 70's, and many of the "domestic terrorists" of that era hold a romanticized, "Jesse James" like, place in the American psyche.

In terms of Palin, she got what she asked for - attention. This was a woman who, like President-Elect Obama, actively sought the medai spotlight. She made a point of saying "look at me - I don't need no stinkin' intelect", and America, after 8 years of hearing the same line from George Bush, resoundly said "YES YOU DO" and the media reflected that. Neither Charlie Gibson nor Katie Couric asked Gov. Palin any questions that she herself did not invite based on prior statements. There is no doubt that Gov. Palin has a tremendous amount of charm and charisma, but she never behaved like a serious candidate and the media, rightfully so, never treated her like one

As the Republicans ponder their fate, a fate caused not by the left, but by the middle, Democrats should pay heed. We were sent to the doghouse of American political prominence after going further and further to the left after Johnson left office. Finally, in 1980, moderate Democrats could take no more and threw in their lot with Republicans for decades to come. It has taken a long time for us to realign ourselves with mainstream American values - somewhat liberal on social issues, moderate on spending, tough on national security and big in economic opportunity. Add to that a desire to provide a safety net for those who truly need it and you have the Democrats that ruled throughout the 30's, 40's 50's and early sixties. Above all, these Democrats compromised, and for the most part did not harbor ill will towards Republicans. The moderates put Obama in office as well as all those Congresspersons and Senators. It's always the moderates, and as the moderates go, so goes the country. We should consider ourselves lucky that a Senator who was elected as an independent wants to caucus as a Democrat. I don't hear anyone asking Harry Reid or Jim Webb to leave because they support the right-to-life movement (something that affects far more Americans than the Iraq war). I like being in the majority even if that means not always agreeing with some of it's policies and compromises. Let's not go backward - it takes a consensus to govern, and as we've recently learned from the Republicans, you cannot govern effectivley by appealing to the base.

We have a financial crisis, two wars and a president-elect who won on a strategy of post-partisan politics. We all know Bush was small-minded and quite possibly a criminal, and we certainly should get the facts out (behind closed doors) so this does not happen again. But a political witch hunt for bureaucrats would send Obama home after four years. The entire affair would become immensely political and discredit Obama's whole appeal to the MIDDLE MAJORITY. No self respecting Democrat wants to see America's dirty laundry aired after we have just won back a big dose of good will from our international friends. We have bigger fish to fry than this. Thank God you fringer's only have a big media presence and very little presence in the actual electorate. When will you crybabies learn - if we lost your (the supposed left base) vote we would still win elections, but if we lose the middle we are sunk. The "mythical middle" (as DailyKos refers to us) is mythical only in it's very real massive proportions.