By Paul Gully

Special Projects Editor

There may be a chance that as you read this, I am safely within the borders of another country. As I pen this column the day before Election Day, the United States next leader has yet to be decided.

So, naturally, I am preparing for the worst. I’ve managed to fit all of my belongings into a few duffle bags and am waiting things out in the Green Lot at Detroit Metro Airport.

But even as I do so, I can’t help but reflect upon what has been one of the most interesting and entertaining political seasons in recent memory.

I think we can safely say it even out does the epic 1852 showdown between Franklin Pierce and Winfield Scott. But enough about what happened during John McCain’s childhood.

It’s amazing to look back on how far we’ve come. It was just 10 short months ago that it all began. Both parties, with a handful of potential presidents, eager to follow up the Bush-Cheney era.

In prior years, the primaries took place with much less fanfare, as the consensus among voters was that they would be stuck voting for the lesser of two evils when all was said and done. But that all changed after the past two elections, when doing so still resulted in two evils running the country.

The Republican Party’s primary was full of surprises. Arkansas’ evangelical former governor Mike Huckabee, fared better than anticipated, relying on the support of the mythical bearded man with super powers — Chuck Norris.

Another surprise came when early favorite Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City, was only able to secure one delegate — and spent $11 million doing so.

And perhaps the biggest surprise came when everyone’s favorite maverick, 72-year-old John McCain, was able to secure his party’s nomination.

On the Democratic side, things were equally as interesting. The Democrats proved that they, quite frankly, actually had some balls. With the mess caused by the current administration, the Dems could have easily run away with this election had they played it safe and gone with a typical white dude with a nice smile and decent hair.

But instead, they chose to make things a little interesting. Sick of the status quo, a woman and a black guy whose middle name is Hussein seemed like better options.

After a heated primary season we had our candidates — Barack Obama and McCain. The young versus the antique. A new face versus a really wrinkly one. The candidate offering a lot of change versus the candidate that you want to exchange.

Yes, shortly after things were set, you could find many Republicans asking, “Hey, I got an old maverick over here; Can I get that religious nut or the actor back? How ’bout the guy that married his cousin, or the Massachusetts Mormon?”

But McCain was able to rally the conservative base and become a formidable opponent. Many hoped that the presidential debates would help settle things, but they turned out to be some of the most lackluster events of the season.

In fact, the most interesting of the debates was probably between the two vice presidential candidates. This, of course was due to one Sarah Palin, McCain’s surprise choice for running mate.

Yes, McCain stunned the world when he chose Alaska’s governor, an evangelical gun-toting, wolf-sniping, moose-eating, baby-creating, book-banning, eye-winking hockey mom.

Much was made of Palin’s lack of experience and lack of intelligence. But the former pageant girl quickly quieted all doubters when she spoke of her foreign policy experience with Russia and her thoughts on the Bush Doctrine.

Obama’s vice presidential choice, Joe Biden, was also a bit of a surprise. In the primary season Biden said Obama was “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate, bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” according to cnn.com.

Biden also proved that brushing twice a day has its drawbacks.

As the political season wore on questions were raised about Obama. But, in due time, we have our answer. It’s clear that Obama is a communist Muslim who pals around with terrorists and is “too radical for this country.” How does he conceal his forked tongue and horns so well?

As the campaigns wore on, it became apparent that McCain and Palin had missed their true callings — showbiz. McCain showed off his vocal prowess with “Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran,” a clever rendition on the Beach Boys’ cover of “Barbara Ann,” at one of his town hall meetings.

McCain also proved that he’s actually a funny guy, as evidenced by his “Saturday Night Live” appearance. He’s almost as good at telling jokes as he is being the butt of them.

And Palin proved that she is a more-than-capable Tina Fey impersonator.

And finally, how can we forget about the new symbol of the American everyman, Joe the (unlicensed) Plumber? This confused attention whore from Holland, Ohio, has once again forced the country to ponder the question: Has anything productive ever come out of the Buckeye State?

Joe was thrust into the national spotlight when he was caught on tape questioning Obama about the senator’s proposed tax plans. The McCain campaign decided to capitalize and invited him to campaign with his team. Joe even recently hired a publicity management agent to handle his growing stardom.

Yes, this is the same man who feared that Obama’s tax plan would take money that he may earn if he started his own plumbing business, which he has no real plan to do. But apparently he has no problem giving an agent a cut of the cash he’ll never have.

So here we are; less than 24 hours to go. I’m hoping for the best, but my bags are packed in the case that the unthinkable happens. Excuse me for a second, I’m going to try and fit my pocket-sized copy of the Constitution in my carry-on. It seems a bit lighter since the last time I pulled it out four years ago.