Between the long shadow cast by the economy and the excitement of the historic election of Barack Obama as the new president of the United States, there's one subject which has barely made it into the headlines. Among the ballot initiatives that were decided in the fifty states were three referenda which would have banned or restricted abortion. These measures, in South Dakota, Colorado, and California, were all defeated.

An analysis in the Los Angeles Times today posits what could prove to be a tipping point for the health care crisis: the current economic slump.

The process – not the rhetoric – of change.

If change is to come, we cannot return to business as usual. We have seen so many elections that promised hope and more responsive government. And time and again, we have returned from our polling places to our homes and just waited for change to come. This time, something must be different.

Is a diploma by any other name a diploma? I suppose it depends on who you ask. Graduation rates in the country are just under 70 percent, meaning that fewer than seven in ten freshmen who enter the system graduate from high school four years later.

To get a sense of how public attitudes about race have changed, you need only look back at the America Barack Obama was born in, and compare it to the one that has elected him as the first African American president.

Election day is also exit poll day for many in the chattering classes, with much discussion of whether the exit polls might leak and whether they're accurate in predicting the election. Tonight, if the results are lopsided enough, there's even the possibility that the networks may call the election before the polls close on the West Coast.

There's time for one last look at the issues before the presidential election, and one thing seems worth remembering as the voting starts: Very little happens in this world without money, and one of the biggest challenges for the next president and Congress is the fact that the federal budget is in such bad shape.

I always hope the president will be wise and make good decisions which will protect us from harm and respect each of our individual rights to pursue life, love, liberty and happiness.

But very few politicians have made it onto my list of heroes and heroines.

Not that I don't have any.

Studs Terkel, the author, oral historian, radio star, actor and all-around unique American who died Friday in his adopted hometown of Chicago at age 96, was a superstar to me.

So whatever happened to immigration policy? It's been one of the nation's fiercest disputes for several years and a hot issue even during the primary season. Yet immigration never even came up during the presidential debates and even though the candidates may be shifting their positions, it isn't getting much media attention.

By Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson

It's official: the economy shrank in the third quarter, the clearest sign that the global financial crisis isn't confined to Wall Street. When the economy actually gets smaller, we're moved beyond the realm of financial gyrations and started affecting Main Street as well.