Historical contingency.

This was an election for historians. The kind of caesura that punctuates dissertation titles. That frames textbook chapters.

But let's not forget those details that will be skimmed over in the future narration of Obama's inexorable march to the White House.

Those bizarre historical moments at the conjunction of the personal with the accidental.

Like the 2004 Illinois Senate race.

Jack Ryan, the Republican primary winner, withdrew from the Senate race because the press leaked embarrassing details [look them up!] from his divorce with Jeri Ryan.

Yes, that Jeri Ryan, who played Seven of Nine in Star Trek: Voyager.

You could not make this up.

Even better: the Republican's initial replacement for Jack Ryan? Mike Ditka.

Yes, that Mike Ditka. Former Bears coach.

Mike Ditka eventually turned down the offer because he did not want to give up his lucrative casino endorsements.

Plan C for the Republican Party? Alan Keyes.

The rest, as they say, is history.