In a whole-hearted approach of consistency, I have resumed my blog after a near-9 month hiatus. Let's blame it on the rain, shall we?

Actually I took a break after things started to tumble politically for my then-dream candidate, Senator John Edwards. I had been love drunk with the idea that Johnny Boy could stage a Matt Santos-esque run through Iowa and then show great improvement in NH before sealing South Carolina. After the Obama build-up and the solid lock down of a Clinton v. Obama title weight match on the looming night sky, my hopes to see a President John Edwards inaugurated in 2008 were eliminated.

AND then... Edwards sealed the deal by announcing that he had been in an affair with a contracted journalist while his wife was battling cancer. Awesome. Way to go from #1 Dream Candidate (The rest of the list includes: Gov. Mark Warner, Sen. Jim Webb, Gov. Tim Kaine, and Gov. Ted Strickland if you're curious) to the basement, Johnny Boy.

Followed by... the emergence of the Obama machine. While it has been great to see a progressive candidate clean the GOP's clocks and help pick up more seats in Congress; I am worried that the far-left agenda might way too much on the shoulders of President-Elect Obama in the coming months. I personally would like to see a President Obama tackle working family issues primarily in the first 100 days of office. Some economic answers must be forged, and a focus needs to be placed on stabilizing the mortgage fiasco and then moving on to truly address issues that deal with the working, middle-class.

We need health care reform that focuses on the patient and their ability to seek/pay for quality treatment rather than throw their case at an insurance giant like a marble in a glass guessing jar of anonymity.

We need an increased level of dependability and trust in our Social Security retirement system. Al Gore wasn't crazy when he talked about a "lock box." At least he was talking about securing funds to pay for future services. We can not allow an executive branch to dictate that interest from the account can be used to pay for pet projects or military excursions.

We need positive job growth to tackle the increasing toil of manufacturing/industrial loss. Factories can be re-tooled and redesigned to meet the needs of a green economy, but that means capital investment in areas of the country that have been hurting directly from capital flight (Erie, Gary, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Youngstown, etc.) Pairing alternative energy needs with current manufacturing/industrial potential is a win-win for the long-haul. We need a president to put eventual real progress ahead of short-term wins for re-election.

Are the days of self-sacrifice and true leadership behind us? The American people needs a president to forget about potential legacy and start focusing on solving real problems. I hope that is what we just voted for. We'll see.