We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way.

Some of necessities go astray, because for them there is no such thing as a right path.

Presidents are elected not by direct popular vote but by 538 members of the Electoral College.

While Republican voters have remained universally supportive of their President, Democrats and Independents are returning to a more naturally critical stance.

But presidential approval also became a surrogate measure of national unity and patriotism.

First, his job approval ratings have been trending down for many months, a trend that has accelerated in recent weeks as the war on terrorism has been supplanted in the public's mind by corporate scandals, stock market declines, and a growing sense of economic insecurity.

America is an outlier in the world of democracies when it comes to the structure and conduct of elections.