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Archbishop of Washington Donald Wuerl walks with John Roberts, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, after the celebration of the Red Mass at St. Matthews Cathedral in Washington, D.C., Sunday. The Red Mass is celebrated at the start of the Supreme Court term.
(Joshua Roberts /Reuters)
INTERACTIVE TIMELINE: The Lives and Careers of Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain
As the Supreme Court begins its work anew today, public attention is focused less on the cases at hand than on the court's future. It is a future entirely dependent on whether Sen. John McCain or Sen. Barack Obama prevails in November.
![[Tamara
Briggman ]](http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia/player/images/100108-22v_80.jpg)
Purple States citizen journalists join forces with washingtonpost.com to cover the issues that matter most to Americans leading up to election day.
Here's your chance to prove it. Pick which candidate will get to 270 electoral votes and you could win the most competitive contest outside the presidential race.
Check into every national Senate and House race, as well as gubernatorial contests throughout the country, in the Politcal Landscape 2008 interactive map.
Anne Applebaum writes that despite Palin's obvious contradictions she's convincing on screen? Post opinion writers weigh in.
![[Campaign Button]](http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/images/thetrail_45x35.gif){kind=small}
![[Ben Pershing]](http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/images/pershing_45x35.gif){kind=small}
