But all speculation aside, this election proves one thing above all else: For better or for worse, America has changed and will continue to do so. The (pun intended) elephant of a question in the room, however, is whether the GOP will be able to as well.

9 p.m. EST Wednesday night. Grab your popcorn and plop down in front of the television, because I hear the networks are carrying it. The presidential debates. It’s the Super Bowl of electoral politics. And boy am I excited.

If campaigns believed that people didn’t start paying attention until after Labor Day, then why have they spent hundreds of millions of dollars on ads until they can’t buy any more T.V. time? Why do they care so much about campaigning if we allegedly do not.

While conventional wisdom says that embracing a plan as unpopular as Ryan’s is not smart politics, Romney and Ryan might be banking on the fact that most of the negative attention the plan has received is based on the claim that the plan would hurt seniors by cutting Medicare – a claim that is utterly false.

Voters always knew this election would be about a choice, and the stark contrast between the two tickets provides the electorate with a very meaningful choice to make. Prepare yourself America; this is going to be a fiery election indeed.

It’s clear from the past four years that Obama and the Democrats are either unwilling or unable to do what a majority of Americans elected them into office to do. They’ve betrayed us or they’ve failed us.

This election just got an upgrade. Ryan will force Romney to talk about the budget, and therefore, it will force the president to talk about the budget.

But even more importantly, the selection of Ryan sends the message that Romney will push for policies that he believes are best for this country, even if they may be politically unpopular.

Eventually, negative attacks begin to backfire, particularly if they hone in on personal history details. While he may be an ineffective leader, Obama is certainly a genius campaigner, and now his own tricks are being used against him.

It’s been a tiring primary season filled with mostly broad, sweeping statements from both sides with figurative or actual “booing” from the opposite side. As we enter into the next phase of presidential and legislative debates, I hope we will hear more details.

Still battling the disdain for his Mormon faith from hardcore religious-right groups, Romney can benefit from getting on the good side of the Christian friends of the Holy Land.

Mitt Romney can run a campaign by telling Americans about everything they’re missing, and what he would do to fill the void. It is efficient and clear. He sees the problem, and sets out to fix it. His strategy is sensible (notwithstanding the sometimes ironclad rigidity). It follows the mind of a businessman. But the president is more than a jobs plan.

Although we may not be sure whether what we know is absolutely right, we should in the spirit of civic-republicanism still strive to seek, critically evaluate, and express our beliefs. My generation cannot afford to ignore the political process.

However, using Wright in any way to attack Obama, or even mentioning Wright at all, would be about the most foolish thing either the Romney campaign or any of his supportive Super PACs could do.