I’m not going to belabor this point here tonight, because it is late, I’m tired, and there are no doubt going to be a million posts across the internet breaking down the results of this election and analyzing it to death (at least until the next time around).

But the election was conceded not that long ago by Senator McCain, and while I had some real problems with the way the campaign was run — especially towards the end — the concession speech was gracious, well spoken, and McCain clearly gave the impression that he didn’t want any of his supporters to harbor long-term ill will toward the winner, or his party (time will tell whether that actually happens or not).

I will close out tonight with two thoughts; one positive, one negative. First, the negative — I’m sorry to say that I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Governor Palin on the national stage. In many respects, that woman personifies everything that has gone wrong with the Republican party over the past several years. It would be great if she would go back to her snowy home and never trouble us again, but… I just don’t think that’s likely.

On a positive note, there is a clear victor in this race. Unlike the previous two elections, which were both very close and resulted in a lot of bitterness and hard feelings, this one will not be dragged out past all sanity, and while there will no doubt be those who are unhappy with the results, they cannot argue with the numbers or the results.

I believe we may have just given ourselves another chance.