The conflict between the nations of Russia and Georgia, a serious and fairly complex crisis, caught much of the world by surprise. It also gave both Presidential candidates a chance to demonstrate their savvy in the area of international relations, as well as their potentially different ways of leading during such a crisis. And of course it presented the opportunity for a candidate to make a completely bone-headed faux pas.

If you've been watching the Presidential campaign at all this year, you might have seen John McCain demand that Congress reconvenes and votes on a new energy policy. Our question to McCain: where have you been the previous 26 years on energy policy?

How the US will possibly reduce its dependence on fossil fuels is becoming an increasing national question. Lots of innovation will be needed, but it's increasingly clear there will be no magic bullet.Which makes common-sense conservation very necessary. But apparently Republicans don't want to hear it if it doesn't involve drilling.

The latest line of attack by the McCain Campaign against Barack Obama is that he is a celebrity, along the same lines as Britney Spears or Paris Hilton. Clearly, McCain has always thought that being a political celebrity was a bad thing. Right?

One of the promises we've been hearing from both sides during this Campaign Season has been that the race for President would be civil, respectful, and focused on the issues. Has this campaign lived up to those ideals? Not anymore, it seems.

One of the defining contrasts between John McCain and Barack Obama has been Obama's desire for a timetable to withdraw US troops from Iraq. Apparently there is no longer a contrast.

As Barack Obama finished up his tour on the world stage with a speech delivered in Berlin, Germany, John McCain suggested that he would not deliver speeches internationally until being President. Fortunately, the record doesn't dispute that. Oh, wait...

Stem cell research has been an increasingly prominent issue in American politics. Because the stem cells that are recovered are often from aborted fetuses, stem cell research has gained strong opposition from traditionally pro-life groups. Interestingly, though, a number of conservative voices have come out in favor of research, considering the hopes that such research could ultimately lead to treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

John McCain once again has shown his vast knowledge of international relations. Apparently Pakistan now borders Iraq.

There are countless children in this country who do not have a stable home and loving parents. Children who manage to get adopted have the potential for a much happier and more successful life in the long-run. However, many social conservatives feel that it is much better for these children to remain wards of the state rather than to be adopted into the stable home of a loving, same-sex couple.

Czechoslovakia was a country that ceased to exist in 1993. That's about all the background you need to know.

George W. Bush didn't waste much time once he took office to press for tax cuts: in June of 2001, he signed into law a measure that would result in a $1.35 trillion tax cut over ten years. Shortly after the Iraq invasion began in 2003, Bush signed another tax cut bill into law; this legislation cut tax revenue by another $350 billion. John McCain's reaction to these and other tax cuts as well as the subsequent renewal votes, illustrate some of his most dramatic position shifts.

One of the major pieces of legislation to surface in the Senate in 2007 was known as the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007. It was sponsored by John McCain as well as Ted Kennedy, and took a multi-faceted approach to fixing immigration. This included a clearer path to citizenship for the illegal immigrants in the country, as well as additional physical border security, and more.

"Intelligent Design" is a notion put forward to compete with the theory of Evolution. It suggests that the excessive organization of the universe can only be explained by the existence of an intelligent force. There is no way, however, to test this notion. The concept is one step removed from Biblical creationism, which has already been deemed inappropriate for public school science classes.

Martin Luther King Jr. is still widely known as one of the most important figures in the struggles for civil rights. The fact that there is a nationally recognized holiday in his honor speaks to the huge mark he left on the nation. However, the road to creating that holiday proved long and difficult.