During the months to come, it will please Republicans if their Dear Leader vanishes from the media, the better not to upset independents with delicate constitutions. McCain will leapfrog Bush and embrace the ghost of Reagan. There will be much talk of a post-Bush era even as New Leader McCain dances his tightrope dance. McCain is already running commercials in which he claims to have "enlisted as a foot soldier in the Reagan revolution" while he was imprisoned by the North Vietnamese--at a time when Reagan was governing California, not commanding the national revolution. Movement conservatives will chalk up the disasters of recent years to Bush's not having been sufficiently conservative. George who?

But never forget that leaders come and go while the bulldozer of movement conservatism rolls on. So tune up your memories with this poster that needs no words:

Old-timers will recall the 1972 Warhol poster of a fangy looking Nixon adorned with these words only: VOTE MCGOVERN.

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"Doesn't it seem like Chelsea's sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?" mused David Shuster on MSNBC last night, opining about Chelsea Clinton calling celebrities in behalf of her mother.

"To the extent that people feel that I was being pejorative about the actions of Chelsea Clinton making these phone calls, to the extent that people feel that I was being pejorative, I apologize for that," Shuster added today.

Don't you think that the General Electric network is unlikely to feature anybody referring to Cindy McCain's campaign appearances as pimp-out sessions?

Don't you think that women wig these guys out in some weird sort of way?

That's the headline from the Christian pollster, The Barna Group. Whether you're fretting or glowing over tonight's returns, take a moment to gladden your Democratic heart:

In the 2000 election, the born again constituency gave Republican nominee George W. Bush a resounding 57% to 42% margin over Democratic challenger Al Gore. In 2004, the born again segment again sided with George W. Bush, giving him a lopsided 62% to 38% preference over Democratic hopeful John Kerry.

In the past couple of elections, the born again vote represented about half of the total number of votes cast in the U.S. Given the razor thin margin of victory achieved by President Bush in 2000, and the close tally in 2004, the born again vote was vital in both of the Bush victories.

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A couple of weeks ago, I was still agonizing, though leaning Obama. The New Republic asked me to tell a waiting world where I was going. At that point, I celebrated the dawn of each new day with a ride on the roller coaster. Well, a few days later, by the time my little piece came out, I'd tilted. For what it's worth, the path of my pilgrim's progress might be of interest to other wobblers.

Here was my reasoning on Jan. 21:

"Between Clinton and Obama, on paper, not much daylight shines through....On positions, totting up the apples and oranges as best I can, it’s Clinton on points, though not a knockout....Then, the question of governing method....If nothing else, the egregious Bush years ought to instruct us that it matters hugely how the president thinks, or fails to think; whom he or she consults with. On foreign policy, each would be far better than the simple absence of Bush, splendid as that would be, but I prefer Obama’s Brzezinski and Samantha Powers to Clinton’s Albright and Holbrooke. (On domestic matters, which of course aren’t strictly domestic, I’m rather tired of Robert Rubin.)"

A big question, then, was what kind of governing will these candidates do?

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