First off: I am taking one final vacation day today, sorry. But never fear, original columns will return tomorrow, and it'll be a busy week. We've got the banished words to run down (although this year's list was rather underwhelming, we have to admit), the penultimate column in the Obama Poll Watch series, and then the first regular Friday Talking Points column in three weeks. So you've got all that to look forward to!

But today, I wanted to make a final plea for donations to the site. As you can see above, the needle has moved significantly in the past week or so, and we are within reach of achieving our goal for the 2016 Holiday Pledge Drive. Woo hoo! Thanks to everyone who has generously given already, and I promise I will catch up on the thank-you emails later tonight.

We are so close to reaching our goal that I thought it'd be worth one last entreaty to see if we can make it over the top. We've already reached the point where I can guarantee an ad-free experience for all of 2017, but we've got all the usual bills to pay for the rest of the year as well. It's certainly going to be an interesting year in politics -- no matter your outlook or viewpoint, I think everyone can agree on the word "interesting," whether you read it positively or read it as used in the fabled curse "may you live in interesting times."

So again, thanks to everyone for supporting independent punditry (and reality-based commentary), and if there's anyone out there who was thinking "maybe I'll donate, but it seems like they'll make their goal without me..." then I would ask them to reconsider. Perhaps your donation will be the one that pushes us over our goal -- wouldn't that be satisfying?

Here's hoping everyone had a happy new year and that everyone is fully buckled in for the wild ride that 2017 promises to be!

-- Chris Weigant

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant