Obama's Daughters on Hannah Montana?

Seriously? Add it on to the celebrity status of the Obama family. In an interview with Access Hollywood, Billy Ray Cyrus spoke of his extended invitation for Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, to appear on an April episode, the UK Telegraph reports.

Obama has said in recent interviews that his daughters were big fans of the show. However, Barack and Michelle have made an enormous effort to keep the girls out of the media. Should be interesting to see how this shakes out. 

Patriotic Man Flies Flag Upside-Down in Protest

In Arlington, TX, Patrick O'Toole flew his American flag upside down beneath a solid black flag. O'Toole has proudly raised and lowered his American flag since 9/11. In protest to Obama's win, this has stirred up the entire neighborhood. Neighbor Sharon Garner said, "I just don't think its American. We have children in our neighborhood, and I'm sure their parents have to explain to them why that flag is hanging like that." 

When asked by a WFAA reporter, O'Toole defended his action by saying "The black flag is because our country is dying. It's never been as divided as it is right now. And the upside down American flag is because our country is in distress." O'Toole, who is a Navy veteran, further explains that the black flag has absolutely nothing to do with race. 

O'Toole stands behind is action and will continue to fly his flags as he sees fit. This is ultimately a free speech issue. His neighbors can ask him to take it down, however he seems pretty set in his beliefs on this. 

Video Clip: 

http://www.wfaa.com/video/?nvid=301731&shu=1

Get your papers!

Print news publications did not predict the overwhelming desire for a piece of history and printed proof that Obama is the President Elect. Newsstands were empty mid-day on Wednesday and now copies of the various newspapers are being sold for as much as 200 dollars on e-bay. One man in Baltimore snagged 90 copies at once, reports the International Herald Tribune. Most front pages have a gigantic photo of Obama and a short headline about change, plays on his campaign slogans, history or victory. Above is a collage from the Chicago Sun Times.

You can check out nearly all the newspapers headlines of Obama's victory here.

Even with the internet immortalizing just about everything that goes on in this country from the high school break up to the peaceful transition of power, the value of a printed paper is not lost on Americans


Here are some other front pages from Wednesday. Each of these headlines emphasize the historic victory of our nation's first black president.

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Election Day Forecasting

The weather might have an effect on voter turnout thus affecting the numbers at the polls.  An upper level trough has brought snow to the mountains in the western portion of the U.S.  In Virginia and North Carolina, where polls show both candidates in a virtual dead heat, rainy and windy weather will combat with voters there.

The rest of the U.S. doesn't look so bad with moderate temperatures appropriate for this time of year across the board.  What possible effects this will have on the election is yet to be seen, but certainly Virginia and North Carolina will feel the effects if nothing else.

As if the bad weather in Virginia weren't enough, there have been reports of problems with the voting machines.  In Richmond Virginia, a breakdown of the electronic voting machines "led to a three-and-a-half hour wait to vote".  

The FINAL count....One day to go!

As we have analyzed each state over the course of the past few months, our class calls the race for Obama-Biden with 321 electoral votes to McCain-Palin's 217.

The swing states were called as follows:

Obama: Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia
McCain: Missouri, North Carolina, and Florida

Maine was called 3 electoral votes for Obama and 1 for McCain.

We will be keeping a close eye on the battleground states, especially looking at the number of voters who turn out at the polls.

Continuing the attacks: Palin on Obama and Coal

While speaking in Ohio today, Palin attacked Obama for a recording by the San Francisco Chronicle in an interview with Obama in January. Palin said, “This interview was given to San Francisco folks many, many months ago. You should have known about this, so that you would have better decision-making information as you go into the voting booth.”

Race continues to look different from 2004

Obama has purchased ad time in Arizona, John McCain's home turf.  The Obama campaign has said that the ad will be positive, rather than critical of McCain, in an effort not to offend any voters in the state.  In Arizona, polls show that the race has been tightening but is very unlikely to tip to Obama's favor before Election Day.  So what's with the ad buy?  Obama campaign manager David Plouffe says that with a Democratic governor and an increasingly influential Hispanic population, Arizona is worth a try (and after all, they can afford it).

"It's enough in the realm of possibility that we want to put a little extra effort in the end," Plouffe said. "We're just going to give it a go in the last three or four days and see how close we can get it."

It could also be meant to throw the McCain campaign further off course in the last days of the election - McCain was seemingly prompted to appear in Arizona after Obama made the buy.  

The Obama campaign is also venturing into Georgia and aiming for a possible victory based on the support from the youth and from black voters.  Obama is also working hard for support in Colorado, Nevada, and Missouri, all of which Bush won comfortably in 2004.  Ultimately, this is shaping up to be an election very unlike the last two.  States that were once assumed to be easy grabs for McCain, red states that Bush won in 2000 and 2004, have become very uncertain for the Republican candidate.  On the other end, McCain is making inroads in Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, two states which voted Democratic in 2004.