Both candidates are battling it out in Pennsylvania today: Senator Obama said his “closing arguments” in Pittsburgh, and Senator McCain highlighted his economic policies in Pottsville.

In Pittsburgh this evening, Senator Obama reverted back to what distinguished him as a candidate during primary season: instilling hope. He said, “the biggest risk we can take is embracing the same-old McCain-Bush policies.” This quote represents the image he paints of McSame-I mean McCain. What Obama is saying makes sense, especially since McCain wants to focus on records, and his own record says that he voted with George Bush 90 percent of the time. Obama continued by saying McCain’s tactics include calling him “every name in the book,” which is a tactic utilized often in Washington. His hopeful words, “not this time, not this year, not when so much is at stake, not now,” resonate clearly his campaign’s cornerstone of “Change We Need.”

Obama is not just words. His words not only inspire people, but create a sense of hope for a better future that America has not felt since the Clinton Administration. His words reflect his character and the foundation which he bases his policies. Running a successful grassroots campaign requires the amount of charisma that he possesses. Senator Obama has grown throughout this campaign. He has proved himself worthy of respect, and worthy of being President of the United States of America, even though his executive experience is lacking.

McCain spoke in Pottsville tonight, emphasizing his economic plan. He promised to cut business taxes, create millions of jobs, stating, “I’m going to make government live on a budget, just like you do.” McCain also said that he would not endorse any pork barrel spending, and that we would make them famous if the bills containing them crossed his desk. Highlighting the need to fix the housing market, where our economic troubles began, he said, “We’ve got to buy up these bad mortgages.” He also made a snipe at the French saying something along the lines of there being a pro-American French President, and that he could “live long enough to see anything happen.” His crowd, just as during the RNC, chanted “Drill Baby Drill.”

I respect John McCain; he has served our country admirably. But enough is enough and he can continue serving us in other ways besides the presidency. His campaign is also crumbling around him, much to the fault of Sarah Palin, who on Sunday went off script to say that the clothes bought with the $150,000 from the RNC were not her property, “just as the stage and the lights are not [her] property.” She continued that she has “gone back to wearing clothes from [her] favorite consignment shop in Wasilla, Alaska.” She hinders McCain’s campaign to the point that I don’t know why McCain even picked her. She hasn’t even been governor of Alaska for a full term. It’s too late now though, and you can be sure that McCain is feeling that mistake, no matter what he says on the outside. His frustration has expressed itself through his aides that are calling Palin a “diva.”

On a side note, I would like to briefly address this whole “spread the wealth” issue. The context of Obama’s statement has been skewed by the Republicans (of course). Obama meant that the wealth of our nation should not be primarily controlled by the top 5 percent of our nation, and that Bush’s filter down policy has not worked in the favor of the middle class, much less the poorer class. He’s not a socialist! He’s not a Marxist! He’s not this evil being that this one phrase has made him. Both Obama and McCain are patriots and voted for the $700 billion bailout/rescue mission (pick your own title). Obama is an American politician, and thus believes in its system of government.

And now we come to the final week-a week full of heated, passionate arguments, a week full of even more ads, a week full of the beauty of the election process that America embraces so appreciatively, especially this year.