I've stayed out of re-debating the election, DK. It's over and there is a pretty clear winner. And unfortunately -- for all of us -- a lot of what was debated in the campaign is now moot, particularly anything having to do with the economy or fiscal policy. All that changed about two weeks before the election when several big banks went bust.

But, addressing other issues where Obama and McCain had differences, here are a couple where I thought Obama had a better idea...

• Both candidates had some ideas regarding providing healthcare insurance for the 50 million or so Americans who are living without it. Obama's plan would provide coverage for all of them; McCain's plan as I recall would have left a substantial number uncovered. I simply can't accept that a country as developed and advanced as the U.S.A. should have almost 20% of it's population suffering by being deprived of adequate health care.
• Obama's healthcare plan would provide the negotiating weight of the U.S. government to hold down the prices of healthcare and prescription drugs; McCain's specifically would not do that. I took the example of the Veteran's Administration, which does negotiate prices for their drug formulary provided to veterans. It's well-known that veterans covered by VA pay close to 50% less for their drugs than do those covered by Medicare Part D. I liked the idea of leveling the playing field between the people and the big drug companies and their lobbyists.
• I definitely believe that the U.S. involvement in Iraq has gone on long enough. So obviously I was for Obama, who proposed an immediate withdrawal rather than McCain, who was willing to extend our presence in Iraq indefinitely.
• I preferred Obama's tax reduction proposals to McCain's. As the election grew closer and the economy showed even more signs of weakening, I liked Obama's plan even better. His plan would cut the taxes of lower income taxpayers who would probably spend the tax savings thereby stimulating the lagging economy. McCain's tax reductions had a decided tilt towards more tax reductions for the wealthy, who have proven to use their savings more for investment and savings, with only a small portion being spent with the effect of stimulating the economy. I also agreed with Obama's proposal to return the tax rates for the top 5% of Americans to the levels which existed at the end of the Reagan administration.
• And as important as any other issue, I finally succumbed to the idea of having the President and the Congress from the same party. We have experienced almost two decades of inaction by the Congress, as they carped and argued back and forth for purely political purposes, as the control of the Whitge House and the Congress flip-flopped back and forth between the parties.. If McCain had been elected, particularly with his admitted "maverick" attitude, I foresaw yet another four years of polarized and fractionalized inactivity by the Congress. We have too many problems facing the country to be able to afford more of the same. There would have been no way that McCain could have gotten very much from his agenda passed by what was going to be a Democratic House and Senate. I would normally prefer the White House and the Congress being controlled by different political parties, but I was willing to "try a different way" for the next four years.
• I had no confidence whatsoever in John McCain's knowledge or ability to provide leadership on economic matters. He admitted that knowledge of economic issues was his weak point. While people were being critical of Obama's youth and inexperience, he was seeking the counsel of a group of experienced and respected economic advisors, developing his campaign platform and saying that his economic team would be chosen from among them. As I recall, John McCain never gave any indication of who he might choose as his key economic team, even with his admitted lack of knowledge in that area. Now, a few months later, I am doubly glad that I voted the way I did on the economic issue.
• Lastly, I was turned off by the negative campaigning carried on my McCain's political advisors. At the outset, I admired and even favored McCain because of his experience and personality and willingness to speak his own mind. As the campaign proceeded, I was disappointed to see a man I admired sell out to his campaign advisors. The John McCain I so admired was the one who made such an uplifting concession speech, not the one who was negatively campaigning and touting the ridiculous Joe The Plumber.

And by the way, I did anticipate change if Obama was elected, and I definitely believed that President Bush had done a simply awful job of leading the country in almost every area and on every issue except for the war on terror. But my vote was based on a lot more thoughtful consideration than just "change" and "dislike".

For the record, my vote for President Obama was only the second time in my life that I voted for other than the Republican candidate. The first time was when I grudgingly voted for John Kerry as a "lesser of two evils" choice, after George Bush had completely abandoned his campaign promises from the first term. Remember, "compassionate conservative" and "we'll bring people together"?