CNN

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
In 12 days Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. He has huge challenges in front of him starting with the crumbling economy and two wars.

Is the honeymoon already over?

Hopes are high for him to turn things around and indications are that he will. According to a new Gallup Poll 65% of Americans are confident in President-elect Obama's ability to be a good President. This is down slightly from the 70% approval rating he had a week ago.

Last month a CNN Opinion poll found that 82% of Americans approved of how Obama is handling his transition.

Since returning from his Hawaiian vacation, Mr. Obama has encountered a couple of bumps in the road. The situation in Gaza (which he's stayed away from by deferring to President Bush), criticism of Leon Panetta as his choice for CIA Director, Bill Richardson withdrawing his nomination for Commerce Secretary, and official stats that the deficit is projected at more than $1.2 Trillion this year. All this before he's even moved into the Oval Office.

Here’s my question to you: Has your confidence in President-elect Barack Obama declined any since the election?

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FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

Barack Obama really didn't need this. Roland Burris declared he's the Senator from Illinois despite the controversy surrounding his appointment. He was picked by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who is accused of trying to sell the seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

But when Burris made his way to Capitol Hill this morning, the Senate refused to seat him. Senate Majority leader Harry Reid said it's because of incomplete paper work. His certificate of appointment is signed by the Illinois Governor but not by the secretary of state. But it's really much more than that.

Burris said his lawyers will handle it and he has a private meeting scheduled with Senate leaders tomorrow.

He said he didn't want to make a scene on Capitol Hill-but he did. It was a circus.

People are speaking out on Burris' behalf, saying his appointment is legal and he should be seated.

But this whole thing smells. There are criminal charges pending against the Illinois governor who appointed Burris. Those charges include trying to profit from naming Obama's replacement in the U.S. Senate. It's sort of like letting Bernie Madoff run a hedge fund while he's awaiting trial on charges of stealing $50 billion from investors.

Our Question is: When it comes to Roland Burris, the controversial Senate appointee from Illinois, what should the U.S. Senate do?

Here’s my question to you: When it comes to Roland Burris, the controversial Senate appointee from Illinois, what should the U.S. Senate do?

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(PHOTO CREDIT: GALLUP ORGANIZATION)

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

One of the longest, nastiest, most divisive presidential races this country's ever seen is now in the books. A little more than half of us are pretty pleased with the results. The rest of us? Not exactly.

But that doesn't mean we're without hope.

According to a new Gallup Poll, fewer Americans see the country as divided now as it has been after other recent presidential elections. We're still a long way from all being on the same page, but it's better. After the 2008 election, 57% say the country is more divided on major issues than in recent years. But that's down considerably from polls taken after the previous two presidential elections. In 2000, 64% said we were more divided, and in 2004, 72% said so.

A lot of Americans think Barack Obama is just what the doctor ordered. 54% of those surveyed said the Obama administration will be able to heal the divisions in the country. 44% say it will not.

Here’s my question to you: What does it mean that fewer Americans see the country as divided?

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(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

Barack Obama made history Tuesday night, after voters came out in record numbers to support him and many voting for the first time.

It was a stunning rise to the presidency for a 47 year-old freshman senator, let alone one who is African-American.

Along the way, he beat out a handful of familiar Washington names for the top spot on the Democratic ticket...Former Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards, Senator Chris Dodd, Senator Joe Biden who eventually became his running mate and, of course, most notably, Senator Hillary Clinton.

Her star power and powerful ties weren't enough to beat out Obama, but was there something more at play?

Women, who make up more than half the U.S. population, earned the right to vote in 1920. And while African-Americans were granted that right about fifty years earlier, for about a hundred years, voting was easier said than done for blacks. So what does Obama's victory say about us as voters?

Here’s my question to you: What does it mean that the U.S. elected an African-American president before it elected a woman?

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What was the likable 'maverick's' biggest mistake?

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

What happened to John McCain? The likable "maverick" who beat some pretty strong competition to capture his party's nomination had morphed into something else by yesterday.

After promising to run an "honorable" campaign, McCain quickly became another symbol of the divisive politics of past Republican presidential campaigns. Name calling, insults, pettiness, and empty gestures replaced the once likable McCain we all look to to challenge the status quo. His campaign got nasty, and his lack of judgment was on display for all to see a couple of times late in the race.

Sarah Palin was an act of desperation. With little vetting McCain named an unknown from Alaska to energize the Republican base. But she came with too much baggage and quickly went from an asset to a liability. Openly ignorant of the issues in press interviews, Palin began to offend women and anger McCain's campaign managers who sniped that she was a "rogue" who frequently went off the reservation in pursuit of her own interests instead of McCain's.

When the financial crisis exploded, McCain made a huge empty gesture. He suspended his campaign, threatened to cancel the first presidential debate-he was the one who wanted all those town meetings, remember? - and rushed back to Washington where he accomplished absolutely nothing. In the end, he looked silly.

He might not have been able to overcome the damage to the Republican brand anyway, but he quickly became his own worst enemy who gave away any chance to win.

Here’s my question to you: What was John McCain's biggest mistake?

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FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

A lot can change in politics in a year. Just think about it. Last year at this time, the race for the White House looked entirely different. John McCain was far from being the front-runner on the Republican side. And Barack who? Senator Hillary Clinton and former V.P. candidate John Edwards had to be considered the odds on favorites for the Democrats.

And, of course, most of us had never even heard of Sarah Palin.

Different issues held different weight with voters and candidates too. In late August of last year, a CNN poll found that 31 percent of voters saw the war in Iraq as the top issue facing America, while 23 percent said it was the economy. Health care came in at 17 percent and terrorism at 10 percent.

Watch: Cafferty: Most important issue?

Flash-forward to this fall and everything has changed. In a CNN poll released Sunday, more than half of voters listed the economy as the top issue - 57 percent– followed by health care and the war in Iraq, tied for second at 13 percent each. Just 11 percent felt terrorism was the top issue.

Here’s my question to you: What single issue was most important to you?

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FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

The prescription for tomorrow is comfortable shoes and patience. It's going to be awesome.

Never in recent memory has there been so much interest in a presidential election. More than one-third of Americans are expected to have already voted by the time the polls open tomorrow, a 50 percent increase from 2004. But that doesn't mean there won't be a lot of people in front of you in front of you in line when you get to the polls.

Young people have signed up in unprecedented numbers. New voter registrations have broken records in almost every state. Turnout in many of the primaries was staggering. So be prepared.

Watch: Cafferty: Wait on voting line?

Be aware also that tomorrow is a chance for all of us to strike a blow for democracy, and God knows she could use a shot in the arm. We're at our best as a nation when we're all involved. But that involvement tomorrow will come with a price. You're probably going to have to wait. Maybe for a long time.

While you're standing there grumbling that the line isn't moving, or the machine is broken, remember what it was that got you into that line in the first place. This may well be the most important election we've ever had.

Here’s my question to you: How long are you willing to wait in line to vote?

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With only one more day until the election, how will you handle election-withdrawal Wednesday? (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

So what are your plans for Wednesday? A twelve-step program? Maybe a little one-on-one counseling? You know you're probably going to need some help. We all will. There won't be anymore election to fixate on.

What a ride it's been– Historic and interesting. Historic because of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and just when it started to get a little boring, Sarah Palin rode out of Alaska and energized the whole thing all over again. Interesting because we have ourselves quite a mess here: The economy, wars, etc. You know it all by now. Those problems awakened the American electorate like never before.

But Wednesday, the party's over. Except it's really not. For whoever leads us, it's just beginning, and my guess is we will all be called upon at some point to be part of the solution.

But what are we going to do in the meantime? I know for a fact Wolf is going to need help with this.

Here’s my question to you: How are you going to deal with election-withdrawal?

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(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

Voters have a distinct choice between John McCain and Barack Obama in this presidential race– two very different approaches to arguably the most serious set of challenges we have faced in a hundred years. Whoever wins will have his hands full.

But what about the rest of us? Our part is finished after we cast our ballots on November 4th, and after all the votes have been tallied, the excitement will be over.

Most of us will be happy with the outcome, but if you look at the latest polls, a good number of us won't be rushing to embrace the new leadership.

Either way a new administration means new faces at the top and new policies that will trickle down to all of us little people. The form of that trickle will determine the way a lot of our lives will go in the future.

Here’s my question to you: How will your life change if your candidate loses?

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FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

Former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger - a Republican and supporter of John McCain - told national public radio yesterday that Alaska governor Sarah Palin is not prepared to take over the job of President if she had to. He said, "I devoutly hope that [she] would never be tested."

But the fact is that if some people in the Republican Party get their way, she could be tested one day. Should John McCain lose the race for the White House, you can bet your last dollar this moose huntin', gun totin', pro-life hockey mom will not fade from the political spotlight. She's a huge hit with a group of social conservatives who embrace her values and see her as a fresh face for a divided party… to them, a 2012 Palin run for President may be on the horizon.

Watch: Cafferty: What's next for Palin?

But a lot of other people feel quite differently. Sarah Palin quickly became a national joke for her lack of experience, failure to grasp the issues and inability to handle herself with the media - especially those awful interviews she did with Katie Couric. Recently she's gone off script and off message on the campaign, angering several of McCain 's campaign advisers. She's been called everything from a "diva" to a "whack job," and yet through it all she remains remarkably unphased.

In an interview this week on ABC's 20-20, Palin said, "I'm not doin' this for naught." Yet another pithy utterance.

Here’s my question to you: If John McCain loses, what’s next for Sarah Palin?

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