Barack Obama

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- Two retired U.S. military officials and John Dalton, secretary of the U.S. Navy under President Clinton, took aim at Republican presidential candidate John McCain during a roundtable discussion in Martinsburg on Sunday afternoon and threw their support behind Democratic candidate Barack Obama in the Nov. 4 general election. Appearing with Dalton at a Democratic headquarters on Queen Street was Pat Foot, a retired U.S. Army general, and David M. Stone, who had a 28-year naval career and who is considered an expert in homeland security, serving in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under Tom Ridge.

HAGERSTOWN -- The T-shirts, buttons and banners tell of their allegiance. They are supporters of Barack Obama. Some previously had worked for Hillary Clinton, others had been undecided. But now, they firmly are in the Illinois senator's corner. They are Women for Obama -- a grass-roots effort to connect women with information about the Democratic presidential candidate and his position on issues. "We want people to learn as much as they can about Barack Obama," said Lucretia Jefferson, chairwoman of the local organization.

The T-shirts, buttons and banners tell of their allegiance. They are supporters of Barack Obama. Some previously had worked for Hillary Clinton, others had been undecided. But now, they firmly are in the Illinois senator's corner. They are Women for Obama - a grass-roots effort to connect women with information about the Democratic presidential candidate and his position on issues. "We want people to learn as much as they can about Barack Obama," said Lucretia Jefferson, chairwoman of the local organization.

Which of the presidential candidates do you like, and why? In less than a year from now, the race will be over. The race for our country's leader, the commander in chief, the decider. Although some teens aren't old enough to vote yet, they still have their favorite candidates. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were the winners in my survey of 16 local teens. For the most part, girls preferred Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. "Hillary Clinton is definitely my pick for this year's election," said Alexi Fulton, a 17-year-old attending Hagerstown Community College.

To Obama's critics: Get over it; he won To the editor: It's amazing. It has been about two weeks since the election, and the letters to the editor concerning President-elect Barack Obama are pouring in. People are complaining about who he associates with, and who he has associated with in the past. They continuously speak of his inexperience, and some even blame him for the state of the economy. My advice to you is, "get over it. " The American people have spoken and he is going to be the president for the next four years (hopefully eight)

When Abraham Lincoln got to the last line of what he apparently believed would be a few boilerplate comments memorializing the war dead at Gettysburg, he tentatively mentioned a "new birth of freedom. " Sen. Charles Sumner of Boston picked up on the significance. The battle, he later remarked at the great president's funeral, was less important than the speech. History's movements are both slow and fast. A half-century later, President Woodrow Wilson marked the Gettysburg anniversary by calling the Civil War a forgotten quarrel.

TRI-STATE -- Passionate supporters of President-elect Barack Obama and die-hard political activists from the Tri-State area will be among the crowd of millions gathered in Washington, D.C., for Tuesday's presidential inauguration ceremony. All of those interviewed have different personal reasons for braving the crowds and the commute, but all say it will be a day to remember: The day they were part of history. Alesia Parson-McBean Hagerstown city councilwoman It was about three years ago when Hagerstown City Councilwoman Alesia Parson-McBean first met President-elect Barack Obama.

Picture it: Somewhere in a red state, an unhappy woman sits down at her computer and starts brainstorming for her latest chain e-mail against the country's 44th president. She bangs out ideas on her keyboard: "Barack Obama used stimulus money to tear down a bald eagle sanctuary. " "Barack Obama wants to tax grocery-coupon savings. " She stares at the screen, wondering which idea to run with. That's when she notices the squiggles. Underneath the president's first and last names are Microsoft Office's telltale sign of a misspelled word.