Voting in little ol' Wisconsin and Hawaii is dwarfed by two stories of huge international importance this morning. Fidel Castro has stepped down as the leader of Cuba after 50 years, and the Pakistanis have delivered what is being reported as a "crushing defeat" to Pervez Musharraf at the polls.

British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan once famously responded to a question about the greatest challenge facing statesmen by saying, "Events, my dear boy, events." Today's events won't affect the election, but MacMillian's phrase is something to keep in mind as we ponder a potential match up between grumpy old John McCain and the youthful, hopeful Barack Obama. I can think of a number of events that might intervene in the final days of the race that would work to McCain's advantage but hardly a single one that would do the same for Obama.