Sen. John McCain's concession speech was a class act; a lot like the 2000 John McCain, before Karl Rove got a hold of him. Sen. McCain said he would help with Sen. Obama's transition to the White House and I believe him. Obama was equally generous towards McCain in his speech.

Let it be duly noted, any Republican would have had a difficult chance to win after eight years of Bush and Cheney or vice versa. We're still at war, five years after we declared victory. Our financial institutions are a mess (I heard a guy bought a toaster -- and they gave him a bank). Our economy is a mess. Wall Street is acting like a Worlds of Fun roller coaster. The only thing worse than their foreign policies are their domestic policies.

That's probably why you didn't see Bush and Cheney at too many (any?) rallies for McCain and Palin.

At the same time, it seemed like McCain had hired folks that usually run our Party's national campaigns. First, he opts for Sarah Palin, because she's one of us. But I don't know how many of us go shopping for $150,000 worth of clothes to tide us over for a couple of months. Now, Cindy McCain goes on $150,000 shopping sprees all the time; she calls it buying a blouse, Sarah was supposed to be one of us.

I found it amusing that the pundits who raked John Edwards over the coals for his $400 haircut found it easy to justify the 150K clothes allowance. At least Edwards used his own money. And you have to admit, if any hair deserves a $400 cut, his hair is it.

And I never did get the Joe the Plumber thing. Most campaigns would have kicked Joe to the curb after they found out he really wasn't a plumber; and most likely he wouldn't be affected by any tax increase, because he didn't pay the taxes he owes now. But this campaign refused to let go; stubbornly continuing to embrace him to the bitter end. It was border-line bizarre.

On the other side, the Obama campaign was nearly flawless. It was a machine. There were a few bumps in the road, but the campaign was well-managed, well-financed and stayed on message.

Let the change begin.

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I read a story where Rush Limbaugh railed against Gen. Colin Powell for endorsing Sen. Obama. Limbaugh vs. Obama -- now that's just special.

A war hero versus a loud mouth, hypocritical doper. A statesman versus a chickenhawk who avoided the Vietnam War draft because of an in-grown hair on his hind end (It's true. You can look it up).

All Limbaugh did was add credibility to Gen. Powell's endorsement.

* * *

No election notebook would be complete without yard sign stories.

For whatever reason, both Obama and McCain signs were regularly stolen from yards. I had one person who replaced his Obama sign three times before he gave up.

I read a story about an electrical engineer who became frustrated by his McCain sign being stolen, so he rigged a new sign to give a jolt of surprise to the perpetrator-in-waiting. The 9-year-old who tried to steal the sign told his ma and pa of the shocking experience. The parents are threatening to sue.

I will assume that will be the last sign that kid ever steals.

I saw a 4-by-8 sign for Larry Salmans that had a "For Rent" sign next to it. Of course, my first thought was "You can rent him?" (You can add your own joke here)

* * *

I've saved my favorite election story for last. As we were driving home from the Kansas City airport, our son Kevin called and let us know he was driving to Hays from Wichita to vote. I asked him, "You are really driving up to Hays just to vote?" He assured me he was.

I'm proud of our kids. And I know he should have requested an advanced ballot, but allow me to be a little extra proud of Kevin to respect his right and privilege to vote enough to drive a total of 360 miles to exercise that right and privilege.

Only 1,462 days until Election Day 2012.