"THE PARTY that secures the youth vote secures the power for the next generation," said Norman Ornstein, policy pundit. Asked what he would do while waiting for election returns, Ornstein said: "I will shoot a moose and field-dress him."

HARRY BENSON writes me that back in 1968, covering a Bobby Kennedy speech, RFK told the crowd that in 30 or 40 years there'd be a black president of the United States.

Harry wrote this in his new book "RFK: A Photographer's Journal." Catch this talented man's work opening at the Staley-Wise Gallery today.

"THE REVENGE" might be the title of the movie fashion biggie Tom Ford is directing now with Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and Matthew Goode. But instead, Tom's calling his work "A Single Man." It's based on the Christopher Isherwood novel of the same name.

Carpers had plenty to critique about Tom's ambitions. But the onetime genius for Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, will simply do what he planned all along after leaving fashion -- make movies. He thought he could do it and Artina Films agree. They are shooting in Los Angeles with independent financing.

Way to go, Tom, in an era when "independent financing" has practically disappeared.

O.K. so there was fear over too much James Bond stuff let loose, and all those unprecedented tie-ins/ advertisements cranked up MGM and Sony's worry about "overkill." It turns out that 007 may be simply "a license -- not to kill -- but to print money." Still, the "Quantum of Solace" producers changed Bond a bit.

He doesn't use many gadgets, both Q and Moneypenny are missing, M seems different, the movie's special effects are relatively un-special and the magic has gone out of the music. Daniel Craig as Bond seems less urbane and doesn't even sleep with the latest "Bond girl" -- Olga Kurylenko. (Olga says, "It's stronger this way and it fits perfectly. 'Casino Royale' started a new era of Bonds. I think Bond and the girl became deeper and it was a more interesting story.")

Well, forget that if examined, James Bond is an uncommon kind of spy. He announces himself by name, always has a dinner jacket handy, boasts the most expensive tailoring, cars and wristwatches and has never gone undercover. He is described by the Daily Telegraph: "When he meets the people on whom he is supposed to be spying, his first instinct is to beat them at Chemin de Fer, poker or ping-pong and then go to bed with their wives."

Nevertheless, the movie, cautiously opened first in London, broke all records and became the biggest U.K. opening ever. Success reverberates and 007 wrinkles his brow in the United States on Nov. 14.

Nertz to critics, I guess! But then the Post's own expert Michael Riedel, tells us drama critics are fast disappearing and I expect movie critics will also go the way of the Dodo bird and into the great maw of the Internet.

THE NEW York Public Library was its own phenomenon this week as it presented four new Library Lions. Socialites and book lovers got all dressed up, entered through an autumnal tent and admired each other's posh attire. ("Oh, this thing; I dug it out; had it for years.") Most dashing was Christine Schwarzman looking like a movie star and her hero husband, Stephen, praised by Mayor Bloomberg as the Library's greatest benefactor. (And the Mayor hinted the city might ask Steve for more money!)

Head lady Catie Marron was her red-clad own sweet self. One can't quarrel with the glorious Toni Morrison who emceed and don't fail to read her amazing new novel "A Mercy." Salman Rushdie, Nora Ephron, Edward Albee and Ashley Bryan became lions, putting on, taking off their red-ribboned gold medals as the occasion demanded.

It was fun to sit with the genius Mr. Albee, ready to come back to Broadway with a new play. But one little carp -- can't those in charge step it up on serving the dinner? When people announce at cocktails, "I have to get drunk to get through this!" you know there is something old-hat about repetitious programs and drawn-out dinners at such money-raising events.

P.S. to Web reporters. Literary agent Lynn Nesbit and Broadway star Frank Langella may look like an item but they're not married.

ARE people kidding? November is the cruelest month! Tomorrow night, don't miss "New York Songs: A Love Letter to the City" the New York Pops' 25th anniversary in Carnegie Hall ... Nov. 10 Harry Evans holds The Week's "Media & the Presidency" confab in the Rainbow Room ... The same night Glamour's Women of the Year do their stuff evoking names like Nicole Kidman, Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, Barbara Walters and Katie Couric, etc. High glamour at Carnegie Hall ... And still the same night, director Baz Luhrmann is honored at MOMA for his coming film 'Australia." Star Nicole Kidman will be there, Elton John will sing, and the audience will have a "sneak peek" at the epic ... Nov. 11, I'll quiz the star Elaine Stritch to benefit the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center down in the Village. I'm having a vodka stinger first! Can't they get an acronym for a name instead of all that? Call 212-620-7310 for tickets.

(E-mail Liz Smith at MES3838@aol.com, or write to her c/o Tribune Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, NY 14207.)

"JOYOUS DISTRUST is a sign of health. Everything absolute belongs to pathology," said Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche.

WELL, IF we follow Nietzsche, today half of this country is exhibiting signs of health, and the other half is pathological!

I am writing and filing this column on Election Day, yesterday. Voting has been going on for only a few hours. I voted as soon as the polls opened here in Manhattan. And now I sit and wait. (Actually, I went back to bed for an hour -- feeling as if I haven't slept in 18 months!)

I have seen lots of history in my lifetime, have been electrified, mystified or despaired as this or that dramatic moment changed how we live and think. I count myself blessed with extraordinary good health, and a curiosity that thankfully extends beyond the confines of the show biz life that has treated me so well.

But I was surprised at the sense of urgency and excitement as I cast my vote at 6 a.m. today. Today I felt young. And singularly American!

However it turns out -- Lord, let it have turned out definitively, one way or another! -- I'll always remember how this particular Election Day made me feel. Like a girl of 60 again!

IF BARACK OBAMA is not our president today, well ... we're just going to have to live with it and get over ourselves. Tomorrow is another day. The year 2012 is just around the corner. Barack is young. And let's face it; don't we all want Tina Fey to be gainfully employed? You betcha. (Hard to say anything funny about John McCain. If he won, he owes it to Sarah Palin, Joe the Plumber and Fear. But he'll be the president and we have to hope the "old" John McCain will surface and lead us with care.)

IF BARACK is our commander in chief? Hooray! -- a change has finally come. But ... we're going to have to live with that, too. Campaign promises are -- just promises. "Nobody sets out to make a bad movie," Elizabeth Taylor once said, trying to explain a string of stinkers. Nobody sets out to be a bad president -- no, not even George W. Bush.

So just remember, whomever we have elected, we have elected a mere mortal. Perhaps a transforming figure on the American political and cultural stage -- but still, not capable of transforming water to wine. The president is going to have a tough time, and the pummeling will only increase.

So let's not expect miracles -- isn't a democratic election enough of a miracle? Whatever we're getting, it has to be an improvement on the last eight years.

NOW, I hate to do this, really. But ... a bit of gossip.

Michael Jackson. (Oh, come on, it's been ages since we had anything to say about him.)

There was quite a bit of chatter a few years back that Jackson was "broke" -- down to his last $200 million. Perhaps his pocketbook has seen better days, but Michael is hardly hurting.

Recently, Michael, accompanied by his children Paris and Prince, went house hunting in Beverly Hills. Michael and the kids looked at nothing under the $30 million range. (I told you to put away the handkerchiefs.)

Michael spoke to the children in an adult manner, asked for their opinions on everything, including the architectural style of each prospective home, and "Do you think you'd be comfortable living here?" They were not wearing masks. I understand both are beautifully behaved. In that, I am not surprised.

My own memories of Michael are from that long ago distant time when he was shooting "The Wiz." He was 16, the most soft-spoken, gentle young man. And he looked great, perhaps only one plastic surgery had happened at that point. (His sister, Janet, also conveys a tentative please-don't-hurt-me quality. But there is steel beneath both siblings' vulnerable facade.)

I never considered Michael Jackson a joke; there was never a moment when I thought the bad things happening to him or caused by him, were entertaining. He went from genius to tragedy right before our eyes. I hated covering each successive decline. I hope he'll never attempt a comeback; that he will just live quietly, healthily and wisely.

Don't put your son on the stage, Mrs. Worthington!

MOVIE TALK: At Hollywood's hottest deli, Nate N' Al's, there sat director Brett Ratner, reading the trades, chowing down on a chicken salad sandwich and talking a bit about plans to bring "The Green Lantern" to the big screen. This is the famous D.C. Comics character that flies through space using his emerald green "power ring" as a force field. Comic book superheroes are bigger than ever at the box office. Any actor who can work out enough to look reasonably heroic in tights, or masochistic enough to perform under layers of makeup and latex, wants in on the comic craze.

I predict within a year or so, we'll see Angelina Jolie back in that make-believe, CGI-enhanced arena. Another "Lara Croft" adventure, or maybe an updated revamp of the old "Wonder Woman" legend.

Jolie is so ... larger-than-life. She is brilliant in "Changeling," but her presence, her "Angelina Jolie-ness" is overwhelming and even a bit distracting. (As are her lips, which often seem painted extravagantly in this movie.)

She is now so much more than her material, even when that material is worthy of her talent. The public, I think, prefers Jolie as a spectacle, rather than an actress creating a character. Although, her high emotions in "Changeling" -- as the mother of a missing child -- are pretty spectacular.

Actually, I think the public prefers her on the cover of a magazine, her life played out in simple adjectives -- "Angelina's Joy!" "Angelina's Agony!"

(E-mail Liz Smith at MES3838@aol.com, or write to her c/o Tribune Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, NY 14207.)