Barack Obama

Even as I write these words, an awful realization is creeping across the world of humor: Barack Obama isn't funny. Not that he doesn't have a sense of humor himself, the problem is that he is proving terribly difficult to make jokes about - much to the chagrin of late-night comedians, political cartoonists and, of course, me. Jimmy Kimmel described him as "too polished. " There's nothing to hang your hat on. He's not Al Gore (nerd), Jerry Ford (clumsy), Dennis Kucinich (Martian)

At the tender age of 7, I made the casual statement to my grandparents that I was "kind of for Hubert Humphrey," an announcement that stopped the presses in my family and caused simultaneous coronaries among a group who traced their legacy back to the Yellow Rose and Richard III and had just barely gotten over the execution of Charles X. They straightened me up, dusted me off and taught me to be a good Republican, an effort that lasted as long...

View the "Voters and Voices" slideshow. WASHINGTON COUNTY -- There were strong feelings Tuesday for both major-party presidential candidates at Washington County's polling places. "Without a doubt -- John McCain," said Todd Drust of Hagerstown, voting at Horst Fencing Service at Huyetts Crossroads. "I voted for Barack," said Robert Click of Hagerstown, whose polling place was Williamsport High School. "We need fresh choices. " As democracy played itself out, turnout was high throughout the day in numerous precincts.

"If you are interested in presidential politics, please Google 'Atlantic Council of the United States' and look at the board of directors, found under 'people.'" - Rohrersville "I didn't see much coverage of this utter failure in preparations for winter weather in the news, so I wanted to make sure you were aware that, yes, it was a failure. If a nominal half-inch of snow crippled the highway to such dramatic volume as was seen on Saturday evening on I-70 between Hagerstown and Frederick, then it is going to be a very long winter.

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - The polls in Pennsylvania are tightening between Barack Obama and John McCain, prompting Gov. Ed Rendell to criss-cross the state for the Democratic nominee, including a meeting with a group of students Thursday morning at the Ceddia Union Building of Shippensburg University. "My gut feeling is that this is a single-digit election," Rendell told the group of about 200 students, citing a Mason-Dixon poll showing Obama with a 4 percent lead with five days left before the election.

Tuesday's presidential election ended in a landslide victory for Barack Obama. Local students interviewed Wednesday agreed Obama's election is a historic event that will bring change to the nation, but did not agree on whether it is the change America needs. Colleen Ayers, 24, of Chambersburg, Pa., said she was unsure whether Obama can live up to expectations. "Obama's victory represents a change for our country; it's a moment in history that this nation, and the world for that matter, will never forget," said Ayers, a freshman at Hagerstown Community College.

Perhaps this election was not as significant to the people who did not live through the civil rights movement of the '60s or, further back, the time when blacks were not permitted to use the same restrooms as whites. But how significant must it be to those older people of both races who grew up with a great divide of color, a great divide between the people in power and those who perhaps never hoped to achieve it? In some respects, the greatest thing about this election was how little color mattered.

TRI-STATE -- In winning the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Barack Obama has taken the historic step of becoming the first black presidential nominee. Local members of the black community talked Wednesday about what that means to them and the country. "It's unbelievable," said Princeton Young, who described himself as a black man who grew up in the 1960s and never thought he'd see the day that a black man would be a nominee for president of the United States. Young, 61, works with youths at Antietam Academy.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. - Rod Snyder always had kept his music separate from his politics - until Friday night at The Apollo Civic Theatre. Snyder, who tried out for "American Idol" in 2004, also is president of the West Virginia Young Democrats, and his father, former state Sen. Herb Snyder, is on the campaign trail again this year. With his father and U.S. Sen. John Rockefeller seated among an audience of more 300 gathered for 2008 West Virginia Serenade, Snyder admitted he was a bit nervous.

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. -- One way to try to fix this country's health-care system is to ask the public for ideas and solutions, and this community will have a chance to contribute. A Community Health Care Forum is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 5, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Springs High School to discuss solutions for health-care reform in the United States. The health care forum was organized by Morgan County residents Kate Evans and Dr. Matthew Hahn. The forum is in response to President-elect Barack Obama's early December request for Americans to hold town meetings across the country to provide ideas for how to fix the health-care system, Evans said in her press release.