My thoughts here. Jonathan Bernstein looks beyond the horserace and points out that "things will happen that have nothing to do with electoral outcomes but are still important, especially for whichever side wins":
Both candidates have already made a number of policy commitments. They'll make more. They'll also make choices about which ones to emphasize, and the more visible a commitment is, the more it tends to constrain the winner after the election. Think Barack Obama's threshold for tax increases — or his choice to push for health care. Politicians can break those types of promises, but there are costs, and so what happens in the campaign tends to set up what they actually do in office.
The Dish 