After eight long years of Bush/Cheney, don't mind me if I appear presumptuous about changing the direction of the country.  And if I get a little presumptuous about bringing our sons and daughters home from Iraq, I hope you'll understand.  If I come across as presumptuous about working to turn the economy around, rebuilding our infrastructure and providing affordable health-care to all Americans, you'll have to forgive me. Yes, there has always been a certain level of presumptuousness and excitement in hope and change, it's something the status quo will never understand.

The 2006 mid-term election was a watershed moment. The negative attack ads that have become a republican staple surprisingly didn't work. Despite the republican mantra that terrorists would win if Democrats were elected, and the promise that the country would be in a shambles with a Nancy Pelosi congress, the country voted overwhelming for Democrats ensuring a Democratic majority. Despite a long presidential campaign and our national reputation of having a low attention span, the public remains energized and is tuned-in to the issues, and this election is being followed very closely. We have seen record turnouts in the Democratic primaries in state after state, with multitudes of new voters registering as democrats. And we have witnessed record numbers in small donations to the Obama campaign. In previous elections, the negative attacks and misleading ads that McCain is using would certainly have been effective, but thus far they aren't gaining any traction. Such ads rely heavily on an uninformed and uninspired public. Not only are McCain's negative ads proving to be ineffective, but with each misleading statement about Barack Obama, McCain is damaging his own straight-talk brand. Ironically, McCain's negative attacks have become more of a negative on him.