November 5, 2008 question

Last night, we witnessed the beginning of a new era, something I never thought would be possible in my lifetime. Last night was a landmark, a watershed, a milestone . . . I can't find the words.

Last night our country rose up as one and decided that we were no longer going to accept the mistakes of our past as the inevitability of our future. Last night we spoke in one voice, "Never again will we bow to at the altar of pretense and mindless tradition." Last night, America spoke, and the verdict rang loud and clear as the Liberty Bell . . . before it cracked. Last night we declared, perhaps for the first time, as the United States of America:

We will not use the words "an historic" ever again. Yes, that's right. Tears were rolling down my eyes as I heard commentator after commentator, pundit after pundit, leader after leader loudly and proudly saying phrases like, "a historic moment," "a historic achievement," and "a historic event" again and again. The most pretentious, inexplicable little n in all of English usage has fallen off the map for good. I believe that America has decided it is time for change. Our united voice has said with unprecedented clarity that "an historic" is a stupid, stupid phrase.

It is a historic moment in the world of grammar, and I, for one, am overcome with joy. But let us remain vigilant. If you hear someone saying the "an" word in what should be a historic context, don't let their articlely incorrect speech go unchecked. Pounce. Lash out. Glare. Glower. Tsk. Tell them, "It's a new day, buster. We say, 'a historic,' now!" Then turn on your heel and march off in a grammatically superior huff.

Oh, and yesterday, the answer was Obama. Don't worry, I checked Google before I asked the question. Today, there are about 50 million additional Obama results, but it was Obama in a landslide yesterday morning anyway. Here's who knew (or defied the urge to suspect me of tricking them):

Jessie
Charles
Steve T (the T stands for Tsk)
Paul C (the C stands for Change We Can Spell)
Jocelyn
Heidi
Maridee

As for today's question, here it is:

According to MSNBC dot com (as of 9:30 am, ET), what is the only state yet to be declared for either candidate in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election?