First, I’ll be talking with my fellow MOMocrat Jaelithe, who also writes State of Discontent. We’ll be talking about her home state Missouri — the efforts to turn out the vote and support there for Barack Oabama, and mull over the question of why Missouri still hasn’t been called for either Barack Obama or John McCain!

Then joining us for the ssecond half of the show will be Liz Mair, Online Communications Director for the Republican National Committee to talk about what the RNC might have done differently in the just-ended presidential campaign and where the RNC turns it’s attention now, especially in light of the fact that there are still two Senate races to be determined.

It should be a lively show, so I hope you’ll join as at 10:00 a.m. Thursday!

Also, I’m over at D.C. Metro Moms today, pondering the whole private school discussion for the Obama girls. Hey, it’s a hot topic in DC!

… Hillary Clinton?

Seems to be the popular speculation at this point.

Since my blood has run Democrat blue for as long as I can remember, I would vote for Senator Clinton if she ends up being the Democratic nominee in 2008, but I think the chances are pretty slim this country is truly ready for a woman president, let alone someone who has been as polarizing as Hillary.

In any event, in recent times, Senators have had a rough go getting elected to the White House. Voters, for whatever reason, seem to like governors — George W. Bush (go figure), Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon.

So I say, the woman to keep your eye on is Kathleen Sebelius, the Democratic Governor of Kansas.

Yesterday, Sebelius was named the first woman to head the Democratic Governors Association, which is tasked with, among other things, helping other Dems get elected nationally and taking back the White House in 2008. Depending on her level of success, there will be a lot of chits she’ll have built up she’ll be able to call in when she’s ready to leave Topeka.

More importantly to Sebelius’ national electability, Kansas is a VERY red state — think Bob Dole and Sam Brownback. If she has been able to convince the conservative Republicans there that she is a “good” Democrat, then she’s a gal the party ought to be paying very close attention to as a model.

Having lived in the lovely Sunflower State for six years (Rock Chalk Jayhawk, go KU!), a token spot of blue in a very flat field of crimson, I can tell you it is no easy feat for a Democrat to get elected to statewide office there. So with her two-term success as governor, Sebelius already has the imprimatur of many of the Midwest’s less-than-liberal voters as a Dem they can live with. Her views are across the political spectrum — pro-choice, anti-gay marriage and opposes allowing gun owners to carry concealed weapons, among others — a little something for everyone.

So keep your eye on this Sebelius, as we start hearing all the hype about the Democrats hopes for the White House in 2008 or 2012. She could just be the stealth candidate who could go all the way.

And, of course, I’d love to see Baby Jayhawk visiting the Oval Office!

What do you think? I saw Governor Jennifer Granholm standing with Barack Obama at his first news conference as President-elect. Think there’s a place for Sebelius in Washington?

And, yes, as someone who straddles the line between the baby boomers and Generation X, I thought there would be many advantages to finally have a woman — a qualified woman — sitting in the Oval Office.

So by the time Clinton dropped out and Obama was the Democratic candidate, I felt that I had expended all the electoral energy I had to give, at least for the presidential race. One on level, I knew that I would vote for whoever the Democrat was, if for no other reason than for the impact that would have on future Supreme Court nominations. But Obama left me cold for a really long time.

The speeches that many described as moving, soaring and inspirational did nothing for me. While “change” is a wonderful message, I didn’t believe that American would go for it.

Yes, I had become jaded. Plus, it was hard for me to be criticized by friends who got on the Obama bandwagon early and who mocked me and felt that the political choices I had made weren’t worthy of respect, yet they demanded it from me for their candidate of choice. To be honest, that didn’t make me want to support Obama more. But it did make me wonder why some Obama supporters couldn’t understand making a different choice. I wasn’t used to that sort of intolerance among those of my same political persuasion.

Since the moment that I wrote that I didn’t think I could support Obama, one friend continued to challenge me on my reservations, in a good way, because it kept me focused on how I was approaching the election and the reasons for my ambivalent political feelings.

But now that the election is over and President-elect Obama is headed for Washington, I have a favor to ask of all those who felt that anyone not supporting Barack Obama needed to have their heads examined — it’s time for all the Democrats to support one another, but more importantly I think it’s important to remember the lessons learned and keep from alienating each other in the future, because that’s what the GOP will seize on.

Friendships have been significantly altered because of the Obama phenomenon. Usually, I’ve seen that sort of split reserved for disagreements between Republicans and Democrats, but never before within the Democratic fold.

So, I’m asking all those Obama supporters who had a hard time cutting Hillary fans some slack, to reflect and try to see things from our side now that your man has won. Plenty of Obama fans thought Hillary was a political gamesman (or woman) who would stop at nothing to be in the White House. Maybe. Probably. But let’s at least admit that Obama is, essentially, the same — he had his strategies (remember not wanting to count Michigan or Florida votes in the primary?) and he had his own share of belittling comments that helped propel him, a relative neophyte to the political world, to his goal.

He is not a political saint or savior. He is a person. And now he is the President. But he is as political as anyone else whose ego and personality has pushed them to want to be the most powerful person on the planet.

So I’m asking, Obama fans, can you at least factor that in to your thinking now that he is going to be the president and remember that those of us who supported one (or more) other candidates in the process had our good reasons for doing so. We weren’t stupid or blind, we just saw things in a different way.

Barbs and insults hurled between Democrats need to be put away now so we can be on one page for moving our collective agenda forward.

As an adult, it probably is a gift and an amazing experience, but for a seven-year-old and a ten-year-old, I’m thinking — not so much.

Of course, I don’t know their kids, but I do have a third-grade daughter who is just starting to get to the stage where she couldn’t care less about what’s going on in her parents’ lives. PunditGirl has her own agenda these days and it doesn’t involve the imposition of our schedules, professional responsibilities or what we think are enriching learning opportunities. As far as she’s concerned, it should be no problem for us to shelve work or social obligations for ice skating, soccer or sleep-overs.

Malia does seem pretty self-possessed, but I have to imagine that the thought of leaving her school, her friends and the home she’s grown up in will be a bit traumatic — it would be for any child, no matter how exciting a move to a new city sounds. Sure they’ll get the run of the White House (though probably not as much as Sophie on the Disney show Cory in the House!) and they are getting a new puppy, but the first daughters are going to have a very different life when they get here.

Odds are, they’ll be attending one of the premiere private schools in D.C. Even though they’re used to a private school setting, tossing in a Secret Service presence can only make it awkward to make new friends, fit in and carve out their own space, especially in the middle of the school year.

PunditGirl has been friends with her classmates for four years and I shudder to think how she would take it if we told her that we were moving to a new town and a new school where she knew no one, the neighborhoods were unfamiliar and where we couldn’t see extended family often because the logistics would be too hard to manage.

I haven’t taken a poll of Amy Carter, Chelsea Clinton or the Bush twins, but I hope one of them reaches out to Malia and Sasha to prepare them as much as is possible for the irrevocable life change that’s about to befall them.

As for making new friends, I don’t have a lot of room for the Secret Service to hang out, but Malia and Sasha are welcome to come over and hang out with PunditGirl in her tree house anytime!

When I told her the outcome, she sat up, made a fist and said, as if it was her own triumph, “YES!”

That’s the tone I want to be able to savor as we move forward from the eight years of disappointment and worry this country has been through, eight years of deception and greed, eight years of losing ourselves.

We’ve survived one of the longest and most emotionally taxing elections in memory. And I want to feel that elation that PunditGirl showed this morning, but I’m still hesitant. Not because I have any more reservations about Barack Obama, but because I have reservations about us as a country.

We did something truly amazing last night — something I never thought I would see in my lifetime, and I don’t just mean the election of the first African-American President.

I didn’t think, given the state of divisive politics, personal attacks and gamesmanship that had become the status quo of our political world, that I would ever see red and blue truly become purple.

But last night, as the states were being turned colors on the news network’s maps, the red and the blue did begin to blend together. And I started to weep.

I feared for my eight-year-old growing up in a country where it had become accepted practice to attack politicians’ families, to mock people’s education and intellect, and to believe it was alright to say and do whatever it took to win a vote, regardless of the consequences, be they tangible or moral.

This morning, for the first time in many years, I have hope that our nation is on the road to recovering its political soul.

I’m not letting Barack Obama off the hook. I will be there making sure that our new administration takes seriously the issues of equal pay for equal work, that it gives back our right to reproductive choice, that it makes sure that our sons and daughters have quality day care and health care and that, on some level, we acknowledge that we are our brothers’ keepers.

If we have learned nothing else from the last eight years, it should be this — if we continue to allow our government to throw its hands up and say “It’s not our responsibility,” we are doomed.

Thank goodness doom is not the feeling I have this morning, just joy tinged with a little pragmatism. Because the words and the spirit of being one country again are wonderful, but the work that needs to start today to keep that going will be hard and frustrating at times.

This morning, I can exhale because voters stood up to the politics of deception and division and sent a clear message — we are done with that.

I can inhale because there is fresh political air blowing today. And its breeze feels wonderful.

Isn’t this great? I’d do my own state, but so far things seem calm here.

And don’t forget the Twitter Vote Report and the Voter Suppression Wiki for more Election Day information!

From 866-OUR-VOTE:

ELECTION ALERT: VIRGINIA AND PENNSYLVANIA VOTERS FACE SERIOUS THREATS TO THEIR VOTING RIGHTS AT THE POLLS

Voters can call 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683) to report issues at the polls

November 4, 2008 – Voters are reporting major obstacles to casting their ballot in polling locations across Virginia and Pennsylvania, which could disenfranchise thousands of [state] voters. Long lines, broken voting machines, ballot shortages and misused absentee ballots are just some of the problems that threaten to rob thousands of eligible voters of their right to vote.

In Virginia:

• Dozens of polling places are experiencing varying degrees of machine malfunction. Some polling places are either completely closed or have been closed for hours.
• Thousands of voters may have been turned away illegally by polling workers.
• Voters have illegally been issued with provisional ballets where machines have been broken.
• Students at Virginia Tech, previously the victims of misinformation, have seen their polling place suddenly and unexpectedly moved six miles to a location with little parking.

In Pennsylvania:

• Voting machine malfunctions are widespread and at least a dozen locations, mainly focused on Pittsburg and Philadelphia.
• We have received reports of campaign materials are being illegally distributed at polling locations in Pittsburg.
• Voters across the state are reporting that they never received their absentee ballots, which is creating additional chaos at the polls.

Several other states like Florida, Ohio, Colorado and Michigan are reporting long lines due to problems with registration lists and poll locations.

Election Protection legal volunteers are working to resolve these issues quickly to ensure that no one leaves their polling location without effectively casting a ballot. Voting rights experts urge voters to stay patient and cooperative in the meantime and to report all instances of voter intimidation or disenfranchisement to Election Protection’s 866-OUR-VOTE hotline immediately.

All voters have the right to vote without intimidation or problems. There is no excuse for these sorts of problems, which not only threaten individual voters’ rights, but also the integrity of our election. The only way to prevent such failures in the future will be to institute comprehensive election reform to improve the registration process, voting systems, and administration and to prevent disenfranchisement of all voters.

If voters have questions about their rights, the 1-866-OUR-VOTE Hotline has thousands of trained Election Protection volunteers and legal experts available to provide direct assistance to voters in across the country. Experts can help voters understand their rights, verify their registration status, find their polling place, and resolve Election Day issues.

For ongoing reports about voter irregularities, go to the OUR VOTE website.

My problem is this — I’m too anxious to get too emotional –

I’m a Democrat through and through, but I’ve seen enough times when things looked promising and then, well, they weren’t. I worry about the stories I hear about places like Pennsylvania, where a lot of my family lives, and how the GOP are actively trying to suppress turnout in places like Philadelphia because they see that as their only strategy to possible winning the state.

My family hasn’t hears stories like that (yet), but there were still some difficulties –

I’m hoping that as I spend the rest of my day wrapped up in the fuzzy robe, sipping tea to ease the flu symptoms, that there will be something to get excited about at the end of the day.

But I’m not ready to show or feel that enthusiasm yet.

But I understand it’s not going so smoothly in Virginia. And there are definitely lessons to be learned as parents, as we wait in voting lines.

Want to hear more moms talking about their election day experiences? Check out the Moms Voting Circle at The Motherhood!