The Times is running a cover story on Obama's plans for the final 96 hours of the campaign:
He is scheduled to visit at least eight states across three time zones, focusing on liberal and conservative regions from Nevada to Florida where his strategists believe the Democratic margins could be increased by one or two percentage points.
“Don’t believe for a second this election is over. Don’t think for a minute that power concedes,” Mr. Obama said, imploring his supporters to consider the critical importance of their ballots. “We have to work like our future depends on it in this last week — because it does.”
The article also reveals that Obama will be abandoning his campaign for three hours tomorrow afternoon --->
Mr. Obama also wanted a site near Chicago, where he is planning to take a three-hour respite from politics to celebrate Halloween with his two daughters.
Now, consider. This is a man who has been running non-stop for between two and four years to become President. We're now within one hundred hours of what will certainly be the most important day in his entire professional life (not to mention a day of momentous importance for the country). In a sense, Obama's whole life has been leading up to next Tuesday.
And he's taking the afternoon off to trick or treat with his daughters.
The circumstances of Senator Obama's life and mine are superficially similar. I'm his age. I'm married to an intelligent, strong, professional woman. I have two daughters. I work hard -- not the kind of hours Obama puts in, but hard enough. Sometimes it's difficult to make the time I know I should for my family. And tomorrow I'll be checking out of work early to take my daughters trick or treating.
Just like Senator Obama.
And mind you, he's doing this on the sly. No press release "Senator Obama to Suspend Campaign for Family Values Moment". No press, I'll bet, at the celebration. No comparisons at some campaign rally of his "family values" and (air quotes here) the "family values" of his opponent. He's not doing this for his campaign.
He's doing this because he's a father.
Just like me.