By 11 p.m. on Election Day, about 25 people were at Integrity Hall in Bond Hill talking or dancing to the music of a DJ. Just 25 people in a room with that DJ, a TV and a snack table with corn chips and sheet cake with red, white and blue frosting, watching in amazement as the first biracial person was elected president of the United States. "His life is the perfect example of inclusion," said Ken Ghee, a psychology professor at the University of Cincinnati. "His color is a merging of Caucasian, African, Hawaiian."  

Read up on CityBeat's coverage of the presidential campaigns from throughout 2008, starting before the Ohio primary up through this week's election endorsements. Plus coverage from other alt weekly papers on the Democratic and Republican conventions.  

When Sen. Barack Obama explains why he entered the 2008 presidential race even though he's relatively young (46) and relatively inexperienced on the national stage, he invokes a phrase attributed to Martin Luther King Jr.: the fierce urgency of now. The nation's problems can't wait any longer to be solved, Obama says, and if he can make a difference he wants to do it now. The sentiment behind that phrase was on display Feb. 25 at the University of Cincinnati, where Obama brought his Rock show rally to a crowd of more than 10,000 at Fifth Third Arena.   

At CityBeat, we’re fired up and ready to go. We’ve worked for months to explain the candidates and issues on Tuesday’s ballot, and this is our third (and final) week of endorsements. Are you ready? Let's go!  

With just a few hours to go before last week’s final presidential debate, Sen. Barack Obama’s supporters at Smokey Bones BBQ & Grill in West Chester were furiously busy. These Democratic volunteers, seated at tables and booths in a set-aside area with their cell phones out, were calling Butler County voters classified from previous research as “undecided” or “persuadable.” They were making calls as quickly and politely as possible before the debate began.   

John McCain today did his best to try to halt Barack Obama's increasing momentum, arguing during the final presidential debate that the liberal senator will raise taxes, spread everyone's money...  

The National and The Breeders come to Fountain Square to rally support for democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and his running mate Joe Biden. Speakers include actress Natalie Portman. The Hamilton County Board of Elections will be open late and concertgoers are encouraged to walk over or take a shuttle to the Elections office to cast their vote. 5-9 p.m. on Fountain Square. Free.  

In light of Sen. John McCain's badly managed presidential campaign and series of outlandishly false statements, some prominent Democrats and media pundits now are saying the only reason many polls show McCain essentially tied with Barack Obama is due to the latter's ethnicity.