--- First, please pray for Elizabeth Edwards and the Edwards family today. One day after the concession of the presidential election, we find out that Mrs. Edwards has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Reports are that it was caught early, and that a full recovery is expected.

--- Also watching as the condition of Palestinian Authority/PLO leader Yasfar Arafat continues to decline. Although the media pundits are basically guessing at this point due to conflicting reports, my guess is that Arafat is within days, if not hours, from death. We must be careful to watch for flareups in the days after Arafat passes on, as we shall likely see a power struggle between the legally legitimate successors and the various armed factions involved there. It will be a tense few days/weeks/months.

--- And The Sayfie Review will be going on hiatus until further notice. While I don't necessairly agree with Justin's political leans, it has been an excellent source for me since launching this blog for insight from many of Florida's newspapers. He says he plans to bring it back in the near future, possibly with a different format, and he also has a subscription based site, The Florida Insider, which Justin launched with Insider Advantage, Inc. The Sayfie Review will definately be missed. Thanks to Elizabeth Donovan at the Miami Herald's Infomaniac: Weblog for the heads-up.

--- So, we bring the curtain down on the 2004 election. Now we can start thinking about 2008.

Many of you are probably going "What the Hades are you thinking? The ink hasn't even dried on this one, and you're ALREADY talking about four years from now!?!?"

Why not?

On the Democratic side, we have Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York ready and rarin' to go. But IMHO...bad idea. Many traditional liberal Democrats love her, but there are many that hate her as well, seeing her as simply a overambitious political animal. She's simply too much of a lightning rod to be a winner on the national scene.

Then there's John Edwards, the most recent vice presidential candidate. Young, great charm, and who brought a positive message to the campaign. Probably the best our party has to offer at this time, but will be forever tied to the John Kerry campaign which lost in 2004. Not only that, but his decision not to seek reelection to his North Carolina senate seat will keep him out of the spotlight for the next couple of years. Also, his opponents will concentrate on Edwards' lack of foreign policy and general political experience (his run for the Senate was his first campaign).

Some are even touting Illinois Senator-elect Barack Obama as a possible candidate four years from now. Young, extremely intelligent African-American but who just won his seat. Let's watch closely how he handles himself in the Senate before putting him in a run for the Oval Office.

And there will be calls for former Vermont governor and presidential candidate Howard Dean to consider a run in '08. Dean galvanized a lot of people who had not participated in the process before in a way not seen since Bobby Kennedy, and was first to use the Internet to raise a large amount of money to support his campaign. Dr. Dean would be a wonderful choice to replace Terry McAuliffe as Chairman of the national Democratic Party, if he decides not to run again.

On the Republican side, several are already working toward replacing George W. Bush in 2008. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee is already taking to the road on a "victory tour" of the south with Republican senators-elect. Expect him to get away from the Beltway more and begin appearing on the "talking head" shows to get his name into the national scene.

One cannot forget Arizona Senator John McCain, which is most likely the reason why he didn't even consider John Kerry's overtures as a possible VP running mate. Unfortunately, he'll likely be eaten alive by the hard core right wingers within his own party as he was four years ago running against Bush.

Then there are the others: Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, Nebraska's Chuck Hagel, Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, and two familiar names from New York: former NYC mayor Rudy Guiliani and Governor George Pataki.