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The task force created by the legislation recommended that the state aim to cover 90 percent of the uninsured by requiring everyone to buy insurance and offering subsidies to those who couldn't afford it. Many of those changes were embraced in proposals offered by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D).

Those hopes remain unfulfilled. The cost of the proposals and the governor's personal scandals doomed them, leaving Illinois residents to wait with the rest of the country as Obama pursues similar goals once again.

President-elect Barack Obama, the first major-party nominee to reject federal funding for the general election, spent $740.6 million.

First, as someone who works with and on behalf of the poor and homeless, for more than a year, I have looked and asked but found little to suggest that those who depend upon others for meeting their basic human needs are going to be a priority for an Obama administration. I am also troubled that Obama supports the death penalty. I was and remain saddened that he does not endorse the right of all women and men to marry whom they choose. I am disappointed that he did not recognize how taking piles of money from the financial services industry compromises his ability to bring order and justice to the mess our economy is in. Obama's apparent readiness to intensify our involvement in Afghanistan, even expand it into Pakistan is, also, deeply troubling to me.

Mr. Obama, the candidate who has expressed far more willingness to sit down and negotiate with the Iranians, said in an e-mail message passed on by an aide that in any final deal he would not allow Iran to produce uranium on Iranian soil, the same hard-line view enunciated by the Bush administration.

Consider the delicate issue of Pakistan, where it is Mr. Obama who has been far more willing than Mr. McCain to threaten sending in American troops on ground raids. Mr. McCain, by contrast, argues that Pakistan must control its territory. “I don’t think the American people today are ready to commit troops to Waziristan,” he said, months before Mr. Bush signed secret orders this summer authorizing ground raids in Pakistan, including the violent sanctuaries of North and South Waziristan.

Seeking to preserve a measure of flexibility, Mr. Obama said that he would “reserve the right to pause a withdrawal” if it led to a major increase in sectarian violence. He also reiterated that he planned to keep a residual military force to pursue militants from Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, protect American installations and personnel, and, if Iraqi forces conducted themselves in a nonsectarian manner, train Iraqi troops. Mr. Obama said that such a residual force would probably include Special Operations forces, teams of military advisers, combat planes, attack helicopters, medical helicopters and perhaps some smaller-scale combat units to protect the advisers.

BACK IN MASSACHUSETTS, Barack Obama's words always sound familiar, whether he is promising hope or a magical way to roll back taxes and increase government spending. His friend and rhetorical inspiration Governor Deval Patrick promised all of the above.

Until we take the incentives for maximizing income out of health insurance and medical services, we will remain tied to a dysfunctional system that is adding an intolerable financial burden to our already staggering economy.

The administration has pushed ahead with high-level diplomatic negotiations with Iran and North Korea, agreed to a "time horizon" for a reduction of U.S. forces in Iraq and announced plans last week to shift troops and other resources from Iraq to Afghanistan. U.S. officials also confirmed last week that Bush has formally authorized cross-border raids into Pakistan without that government's approval -- an idea that Obama first endorsed, and was heavily criticized for, last year.

Campaigning in eastern Ohio, Obama quoted McCain campaign manager Rick Davis as saying that the election would be decided not on issues, but largely on voters' perceptions of the candidates' personalities.

"As president, I'll make our space program a priority again by devoting the attention and resources needed to not only inspire the world with feats of exploration but also improve life here on Earth," Obama said.