I feel like she will be a great First Lady. She is perhaps a mix of many who came before her. She has said she appreciates Laura Bush’s laid back, non confrontational style. She has said Hillary has also given her some very good advice. Her style and what she wears will be followed like it was back in the days of Camelot and her girls are her first priority. I wonder how many First Ladies she has heard from and what their advice has been. I think that from what I have heard Michelle say she has really enjoyed spending time with the military families and talking about their needs and doing round tables with them and I feel like with everything going on in the military and the conditions of the VA Hospitals and all the vets trying to rehab, with the injuries they have sustained and the homelessness that has been reported, mental issues etc this might be a real great platform for her. it should be fairly non controversial because whether or not we as citizens supported this war and whether we are Repubs or Dems none of us want to see these families and soldiers forgotten and mistreated like many of them were after Vietnam.

I agree that Oprah has her own thing going on, I do not think she would be interested in a government position and why should she. I also heard she was starting her own network, so her plate is full and she is far more influential doing what she does now. President elect Obama has run one of the best campaigns in history, he has shown he knows how to make smart decisions and from what I have seen so far like his press conference and the people he had gathered around him who seem to be respectable, reasonable and not rash; to me that is reassuring and I think we need to be patient and believe that he will introduce us to a very well qualified team. I do not believe we will have a cabinet of celebritys.

GG, very interesting post. I did not agree with Sarah Palin on many issues but I also recognized that Alaska is very different then other parts of our country. Important issues up there may play very different in the lower 48. she may be ready someday but she needs more prep then what time she was allowed to be ready for this election. She has a lot to learn, can she, you betcha, but she has to figure out how to unite and not divide for one and learn more about what goes on outside of her world in Alaska. Negativity did not play well this cycle and she was part of that real america platform. I feel like in some ways she was used but in others she perhaps gave as much as she got. Hard to tell the inside story of what was real or fiction and whos throwing someone under the bus.

susan, thanks for joining our discussion. If it is a boy you are potty training you might try the cheerio trick little boys like it, makes it a game.

We have a full house 3 kids and 4 pets. all the pets have been rescued in one way or another. We chose our Siamese mix Princess from the humane society when she was a kitten and our older rat terrier mix came from a rescue service, they said she was between 3-5 when we got her she is a great dog, everyone loves Harriett but she sheds like crazy we have had her over 5 years and now she is getting older so we put her in our bedroom when toddlers come over they make her nervous she is also frightened when people try to get her to fetch she is afraid of toys. Max our big huge cat, we took when friends moved to Louisiana and couldn’t take him and my daughters beagle Molly. When my daughter Samantha came to live with us it was last year when she was 14 through the system we are relatives so it was called kinship fostering but we couldn’t leave Molly to be neglected and starved and abused either she wasn’t quite a year old. She has turned out to be a very nice dog but because of the neglect and being left out and forgotten as a young pup we had to really work with her. We had to crate train her and she stays in the bathroom with her crate and toys during the day she tends to be destructive she was never worked she loves to chew op the toilet paper if you forget it. My advice dog pure or mixed breed make sure they are crate trained or crate train them from the beginning. Harriett was older and so mellow that was not necessary but with a younger puppy I would recommend it. Rescue dogs are great but take some love and work they are just like a hurt child, they need lots of hugs and reassurance. I will say Rat Terriers are great companions and Molly the Beagle just adores children, she is sturdy, loves to fetch and play and loves to curl up with anyone who will let her. I think there are unfortunately to many great pets out there that are pure breed or mutts that just want someone to love them and take good care of them, it is always good to find another good home. Maybe that could be the platform for the Obama girls, responsible pet ownership, what a great cause and totally without controversy. It will be really fun to have a younger family in the White House and I think Michelle will do a good job of protecting the girls from all the pressure this new life will mean for their family.

As the big day drew closer and closer I held my breath and dared to dream. when the race was called I exhaled and then went outside in my suburban neighborhood in a repub state and chanted Obama, Obama, Obama, YES, YES, YES and it felt damn good and then I celebrated with my teenagers and my husband. I feel very hopeful. It is a good day to be an AMERICAN. I did think John McCain gave a very classy speech and seemed like the John McCain of old and that was also very nice to see.

Elizabeth, To quote Star Trek, Live Long and Prosper, seems more possible today.

Diana Rye, I have two words for you sore loser

She has been a good governor and a Democrat which is difficult in our state because our Repubs (extreme social conservatives) ran off all the moderates and now they rule the repub party. I grew up in a family that always tended to be fiscal conservatives and I find the ideology of the soc. cons. now a days to be very confining, and narrow, I used to consider myself a moderate Republican but they are way to far to the right anymore at least in my neck of the woods thats why I am a reg. Indie. That crap you saw in N.C. for Dole looks real familiar to the stuff we see around here. I know Repubs who are respected business people here who would like to run but unless you want to sign the Right to Life pledge they will not allow you to run and I don’t think they should have that type of power to decide who gets backing from the local GOP. As I said before I am an evangelical christian and I do not respect the tactics that go on. You’ve perhaps heard of the book Whats a Matter with Kansas, it ticked some off but it had some true points too. I do not know about her being part of the anti Hillary conspiracy but if she wants to stick around in Kansas politics it was far less risky for her to back Obama rumor is she wants one of the senate seats after her term is up. I sure would like to get rid of Brownback only problem is rumor is he wants to be Gov. and that stinks.

Tanja, I don’t discredit Sarah Palins achievements shes just not who I would choose for VP. I didn’t vote for Bush Sr. either didn’t care for Dan Quayle, I didn’t find him ready either and besides I had enough of Reagan/Bush. I am very conscious of the younger gen, I have a 15 year old daughter and son and an 11 year old son and I want my daughter to know you should never vote for a women because she is a women but because she is the best candidate that most validates your views, that is why I was for Hillary but Sarah Palin is opposite of HRC, that is why I am not for Palin.

My Alias, Sparkle, that makes her sound like a baton twirler trying out for the Rose Parade. I guess I was just looking for more substance, shame on me. I think my Governor Kathleen Sebelious is far more impressive then Sarah Palin, she is a second term governor but then again she is a Dem.

Taoungnja, Hi I was born in the early 60’s I was cheated out of my grandmothers name of Caroline because my family was afraid people would think it was because of Caroline Kennedy, my family was very Republican. However my parents and my mom’s siblings who were all young adults became increasingly fed up with the war in Vietnam, so while my g-parents continued to back the war their children (my parents) became war protesters and involved in womens rights and civil rights. These discussions and protests and events are some of my earliest memories. Nixon caused a lot of arguments between the generations and I remember watching this unfold through the eyes of a child. Because my parents didn’t buy into the war they didn’t think the gov. was always right or could be trusted, my grandparents did. I bought in to all the Glamour, Seventeen, and Cosmo articles in the 70’s that formed my opinion in my teens about what a feminist is. ERA and Roe V. Wade were an integral part of what defined what a feminist is and at 45 I still feel like if you call your self a feminist you need to embrace those issues if not a personal choice one woman would make it is still a womens choice not the gov. to legislate my reproductive rights. I remember the stories my mom would tell about girls in her sorority that had illegal abortions, I believe we should all work together to bring down the # of abortions and make sure that teens are encouraged to use birth control to not only prevent unwanted pregnancy but to also keep stds from running rampant. I do not agree with abortion as birth control or late term except in defined circumstances but we should have better access to the morning after pill or RU486, better non surgical options. One women who was very involved in the early feminist movement made a comment that What we have learned is you can have it all but sometimes it is not all at the same time and we needed to learn to keep it all in balance. It was gals like her, sorry can’t remember her name but they fought hard so our daughters can take it for granted because I certainly took advantage of all the opportunities that those brave women and the women before them who fought for the right to vote gained for us. I do not want future gens to take it for granted whether they choose to stay home and raise a family or to have a career because bottom line if you work it is better to have a career then just a job and if you are at home an education is an insurance policy in case of divorce or becoming a widow.

My Alias, I was for Hillary but there are Repub women who are senators or governors like Kay Bailey Hutchison, Christie Todd Whitman, Elizabeth Dole, Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, Condie Rice. Many of these women she serves in the senate with and others she has known like C.T. Whitman who was a secretary in this admin and left, she had differences with Bush and she was Gov. of New Jersey, all I meant was John McCain could have chosen a women with a more rounded resume, many of these women have been involved in public service, have a better track record and have a greater grasp on some of the issues and challenges that we face then Sarah Palin. I think Hillary would have been less surprised with some of these women being chosen, I did not mean to infer that they rival Hillary because I like Hillary but at least I have heard interviews with many of these women in the past and they seem to be more informed on a plethora of issues then Sarah Palin.

My Alias, I just want to ask you how do you think Palins pick made all the Republican women of Hillarys generation who many would argue were more qualified then Sarah Palin feel ? Do you truly believe that many of them have not wondered what was wrong with them and the experienced women colleagues in their own party ? I feel like that they too got thrown under the bus by McCain, he could have chosen a more substantial running mate.

Diana, Thanks for listing them again I had posted many of their names after Sarah P. was picked because I was surprised at who was overlooked. I have heard that the problem with some of them was that they were considered to old the ticket wanted a younger person and the fact that many GOP women in office have pro choice records because many of them are from the North East. I do not think the backlash would have been like it has been if one of these women had been chosen.