Did you watch the debate last night? I actually forgot about it. I've read some debate reax and none of it is surprising. I particularly liked this from Rich Lowry; I think this sums up the entire election pretty well:

I thought McCain was good. It's as passionate and well-informed as he's ever been on domestic policy. His debate briefers did their job well. I think he repeatedly scored points in the first hour, but they were jabs rather then crosses—blows that Obama could absorb. If McCain were running in a year when his party wasn't getting crushed by a series of calamites, he might be winning this race. But tonight obviously wasn't enough. Obama, meanwhile, just has to appear plausible and he did. In fact, he's a kind of genius at appearing plausible. If the Nobel committee had a prize for appearing plausible, he'd win it every time. He carries himself with confidence, he never appears flustered, and he has mastered his material. If he's losing these debates on points (as I think he is), it doesn't matter. Every day the race drifts in the same direction it is now is a day he's closer to becoming president.

Obama is gaining the look of inevitability. So I wanted to list my thoughts on what will be good and bad about an Obama Presidency.

Full disclosure: I'm voting for McCain.

The Good

• Are you tired of the hatred and divisiveness coming from the left the past 8 years? Yeah, me too. When Obama takes office, hopefully that will tone down a bit, since the object of their hatred (GWB) will be safely out of the way at his ranch in Texas. Maybe they'll calm down. I don't expect conservatives to be as unhinged as the left has been these past few years. I remember the angst and, yes, hatred some conservatives felt toward Clinton, but it never rose to the levels, or was as accepted in the mainstream, as what we've witnessed these past few years in what's been directed toward Bush. If Obama is elected, the left will be happy, for awhile. And don't discount that - these people haven't won a Presidential election since 1996. Our liberal friends are going to be ecstatic with joy, and good on them. This will give Obama a nice long honeymoon and, hopefully, give all of us a break from the awful tone of today's politics.
• This will be an historic event. The United States will finally be electing an African-American to the Presidency. This is huge, and I think we should be proud of our country for getting to this point (finally). There will be absolute joy in the African-American community on November 5. They will deserve it, and we should be happy for them. And hopefully, in the years that follow, we will move closer to the day when we quit thinking of ourselves in terms of race-identity and start just thinking of ourselves as Americans. I have a dream.
• There will be joy all over the world if Obama wins. We can't discount this. The world positively, absolutely hates us. I don't think they will quit hating us when Obama becomes President, but at least they'll have one less reason to hate us. To be honest, I have a fear that if McCain wins there will be riots and violence abroad and possibly here too.
• I think it's time the Democrats start proving they can lead, rather than just being the disloyal opposition. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is worse from a governing perspective than Democrats running the congress during the tenure of an unpopular Republican president. They are awful at it, and its disgusting to watch. Republicans have proven in the past that they make a pretty darn good loyal opposition. If we ignore that impeachment business, Republicans actually worked pretty well with Clinton from 1994-1998, and some important, relatively conservative things got done, such as Welfare reform.
• I don't know if there's any hope for our horrible mainstream press to redeem itself after their shameless behavior this election season. But perhaps now that they have someone they support in the Presidency, they'll get back to reporting real news. And some of them will do their jobs and keep the Obama administration honest.
• Finally, this is a chance, just maybe, for Republicans to take a good hard look at themselves and decide what kind of party they really are. There are rising stars in the party (Palin, Jindal, et. al.) with true conservative credentials. The Republican party of today had it all and has squandered it horribly. It's time to regroup and rethink. Maybe something good will come from this. Ford lost in 1976, paving the way for Reagan. Who knows . . .

The Bad

• There is a large potential for giving up our gains in Iraq and Afghanistan, and for the Democrats to overreach and move us even closer to socialism. The thought of Obama, Reid and Pelosi holding the reins of Government is a frightening thought.
• We will now have a pro-choice, abortion-supporting-at-all-stages-of-pregnancy (and possibly after pregnancy) Federal Government, with activist judges being appointed, not just to the Supreme Court, but to all levels of the judiciary. I've seen the liberal vision of America, and it's not a pleasant place. It's particularly deadly for those of us who have not yet been born. For all his elegant smoothness, Obama considers unwanted pre-borns and even unwanted just-borns to be subhuman and expendable. That disgusts me.
• Obama has a bad habit of trying to silence people who disagree with him. For all their talk of free speech, many liberals have a totalitarian bent, and truly feel that the world will be a better place for having them run it. Prepare for a lot of nanny-state, it-takes-a-village-isms coming out of a Democratic government. The Fairness doctrine comes to mind, as do a million other regulations and laws that could be passed "for our own good".
• Class-warfare does not good economic policy make. The economy is already in shambles. Perhaps the Democrats will surprise me, but I've got no great hope of a quick recovery if the industry and ingenuity of the American people is shackled through even more regulation and taxes on businesses. Ironically, where regulation has been needed, the Democrats have stood against it. In general, they tend to get things exactly backwards. Of course, Republicans have not covered themselves in glory these past few years, economically speaking. I guess I'm not sure where to turn now!
• Obama's judgment on how best to prosecute the Iraq war has consistently been wrong. I hope he's learned something during this campaign, because I don't yet trust him to secure this nation. Say what you will about W, he's kept us safe since 9/11. Will Obama do as well? Time will tell, but what a gamble.
• I could go on for awhile in this list, but that's probably enough for now.

Here's my pledge: If Obama wins, I won't like it, but I will be praying for him. He needs to be successful. The country needs a successful presidency, and for various reasons, I believe it's very important that our first African-American President do well. My hope is that those of us who opposed him will put the "loyal" in "loyal opposition" over the next four years. We are all in this together.

Thoughts?