President Obama? Vice President Biden? or President McCain? Vice President Palin?

Last night I watched - although I was very sleepy! - Barack Obama accept the Democratic party nomination for president. I have to admit I was disappointed with his speech though. In earlier speeches, he was "Mr. Optimist", ready to transcend the country's problems with hope for the future. Last night, though, he was "Mr. Democrat", attacking John McCain at points where I thought he could be more positive about himself. It's thus not surprising to me that multiple tracking polls have the two candidates about even. The Republican convention should be interesting to watch, too, especially with that surprising VP pick of McCain. I was reading about the pick and racking my brain to remember if I'd ever even heard of Sarah Palin before. And the honest answer is ... well maybe. The news article I was reading mentioned some of the more recent problems in Alaskan politics, and I probably read about her there (in replacing one or more of the senior politicians / political families as governor). Plus with the impending landfall of Gustav (question, readers: if Gustav looks to come ashore at least 200 miles west of MSY, should New Orleans evacuate anyway?), next week looks busy.

Here's the front-page photo of Obama in El Mercurio. (Also, quick question readers: when's the last time you've seen another world leader splashed across your newspaper's front page? I should correct myself here as well by saying "potential world leader", because Obama is only a candidate!) El Mercurio is the conservative paper in Chile, and probably the editorial board supports McCain, but nevertheless they have covered the democratic race quite fervently!