Jessica Jondle

You have spoken of post-partisanship and a post-racial society. Many (including myself) are concerned that your record shows otherwise, and that there is little to no precedent suggesting a desire to find middle ground between your own positions (often to the left of left) and those of the right and center-right. With your party making gains in Congress, the temptation may be even greater to use your power to implement liberal, far-left policies across the board. But while the results of this election and the office of the presidency grant you the right to & govern and promote your political ideas (which have proven popular), you have an obligation to consider the opinions, concerns, and needs of the population as a whole. Likewise, in our dealings overseas, you have been charged with the difficult task of repairing our international relations while at the same time protecting our nation and ensuring its security. It is my hope that your vice president's predictions prove untrue, and that you do not face a difficult attack from another nation or nations - because in spite of being a supporter of your opponent in the presidential race, I have no desire to see you or our nation fail.

When asked the seemingly benign question, "What does this election mean to you?" I have trouble giving an uplifting answer. I'm sure a lot of voters (

But with a Democrat majority in Congress and a sympathetic president,

So how to distinguish these candidates when they all have seemingly noble agendas? Refer to party recommendations? Look at affiliations and endorsements? These are actually very telling - but I'd like to be able to individually ask each candidate the "hows" and "whys" of their priorities, and also how they feel about more controversial issues such as bilingual education and school vouchers. However, this is not easy for a citizen such as myself who has two jobs, is pursuing her master's degree, and has been married for 15 months to someone who was 8,000 miles away on a Navy ship for seven of those months. There are only so many hours in the day. And yet, growing up with a family member teaching in the public school system, I know that school boards can be extremely influential and hotbeds of dispute.

What Obama has promised as a "tax cut" for the majority of Americans is actually a refundable tax credit. This means that non-taxpayers can receive checks from the government; people who pay no federal taxes or less tax than the tax credit amount are still eligible. Of course, Obama would not call this a "welfare check" - but that's essentially what it is. These tax credits will be paid for by the wealthy, who will experience a tax hike. While this may be justice for some, there are a number of reasons why welfare states are problematic. As mentioned by the

1. The National Journal rankedyou as the most liberal senator in 2007. What will be the status of the system of checks and balances should you be elected…