Yesterday was - how do I say this without risking profound understatement?

In her post today, Congratulations President-elect Obama: Now, BlogHers, what will YOU do to change America?, BlogHer co-founder Lisa Stone asks us to make our own "transition plan," and ask ourselves how are we are each going to help create change in America.

With all of the political buzz going on today, there's just one topic weighing most heavily on everyone's minds: What kind of dog will the Obamas get? (You mean... that wasn't your primary concern? I don't understand. Don't you care about our country at all?)

My son informed us at dinner last night that the entire third grade at his school voted in a mock presidential election. The result? Obama by a landslide -- 68 to 14. We chuckled and cheered, 'round the table, and talked about how we'll head to the polls as a family and vote for Obama.

Obama's campaign is bringing out both the most hopeful and the most heinous attitudes in the world. Most people fall between those two attitude-camps. There is a full and very complex spectrum of attitudes about race in play in this election. So let me start by telling you what I am NOT saying. I am not saying that anyone voting for McCain is racist. I am not saying that everyone voting for Obama is NOT racist.

And now for some uplifting news. Louisiana Rep. John LaBruzzo, R-Metairie, has lost his position as vice chairman of the House health care committee in that state's legislature. In September, the Louisiana statesman unofficially proposed paying welfare mothers $1,000 to undergo sterilization as a solution to poverty. He further proposed giving incentives to "well-educated" citizens to broaden the state's tax base, suggesting that both "positive" and "negative" eugenics would save America.

Neither heavy rain nor three thousand members of the media all crowded into one large tent nor the realization that Greta Van Susteren can't possibly weigh more than 90 pounds could keep me from last night's presidential debate.

I'm not a Democrat. I'm not a Republican. I'm not liberal and I'm not conservative. I'm moderate and I'm Independent. I vote for the candidate, not the party, and typically my ballots include votes for members from both parties. So at this point in the presidential election, I'm feeling a little lost. 

They are both nice men. It seems like an obvious observation, but it was the main thing I took away from the Presidential Forum on Service at the Service Nation Summit last night. Of course you have to have an ego to run for President, but I didn't feel like that was either of the candidates' core motivations, which is refreshing. It's sad though, that they both could only take the gloves off because it was September 11th, like going to church once a year at Christmas.

It's not often that a little do-good blogger like myself gets invited to cover a big 'ole event, but I am!

A new report is out about insurance and health care, and it's not good. If you think the cost of health care is high now, just wait...It's going to get even higher. Who would have thought that you could have insurance, and still not be able to afford healthcare? How is that possible? Only in America.

A few weeks ago, it occurred to me that reproductive rights were not a priority issue for women this election year. This insight struck me while I was in a writing class with nine other (mostly liberal) women in prime childbearing years (20s and 30s), and I was the only person who mentioned that repro rights were among the three issues I considered most important in this election. I wondered what this meant.