Matt Taibbi...

[Yankees]

...is without question my favorite writer, and is a liberal-leaning independant just like me. In his latest article (http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/st ... n_memories), he hit the nail on the head for my thoughts on the election:

OBAMA'S CALM
Hempstead, NY – October 2008
At Hofstra University, in the final debate, McCain rails on about Ayers and accuses Obama of voting to deny treatment to fetuses "born alive." In Obama's place, I would have lunged at McCain's throat. But Obama isn't interested in jacking up mine or anyone else's bloodlust. He calmly answers the questions and moves on, simultaneously putting McCain and me in our places.

This is called being better than your supporters, and it's a new thing in modern American politics. Year after year, even the president of our country has been consistently too small and too cheap to stand up and face his problems like a grown-up, forever passing the buck to this or that group of Americans. If it wasn't Reagan crying about "freeloaders" or George H.W. Bush blasting the "apologize for America" crowd, it was the Clintons whining about the "vast right-wing conspiracy."

We were all educated in this culture of blame-the-other-sap, and that's why we Americans are always whining about getting jobbed by someone: the media, Hollywood, Big Tobacco, anybody. But this year, the more the other side whined and pointed fingers, the higher Obama's star climbed. It's reassuring to see that someone in this country is finally doing some growing up. Let's hope that it says as much about us as it does about the presidency.

[Nationals]

He has his moments of bombast and over-statement to the point that he detracts from his journalism, but when he's on (like here), his righteous rage inspires literary awe.