On the Election
Wow. What a night. Seriously. This is the first election night since I have been voting that I have gone to bed knowing who the next president will be. Actually, Nicky went to bed knowing and since she goes to bed much earlier than I do that is saying something. They say the third time is the charm, and this is the third election that I have voted in and finally it ran smoothly. There were no dimpled chads, no contested states, no insisting on five recounts. Granted, I saw a state called with 0% of the precincts reporting which was odd, and several with only 26% reporting. That caused me some worry as it felt like a jinx, but in the end it wasn't. More importantly, it seemed like such early calling could come back to bite them in the butt and yet they got lucky this time. I don't know if there was some kind of system I don't understand or what, but the states called at 26% remained as called when they got as high as 93%.
I think this was a good election. It was a long one, but we had two presidential candidates who both seemed to care a lot about the country. I honestly believed that both wanted what was best for the country and just had different ways of going about it. Maybe this is easier to say from the standpoint of one who voted for the winner, but it is what I believe. In past elections, I haven't been so sure. I really had my doubts about both Kerry and Bush in 2004, for example. I said from the beginning that I would have been happy with either candidate getting into office. McCain's pick of Palin really damaged that view for me for several reasons, but even when McCain was acting his most non-McCain-like, I always had faith that the old McCain was in there somewhere. In his concession speech, I was proven right. I particularly loved how he held up his hands at some booing and catcalling and said "Please" with an expression that firmly said "We are done with the campaign mudslinging and catcalls. Obama is not the enemy." That expression meant more than most of his words because it lent credibility to those words. I was choosing between good and better when I voted, even if Good had a devil in a red dress riding on his shoulders.
NC booted Dole in favor of Hagan AND from what I see on CNN.com with 100% of precincts reporting went Democrat for the first time since Carter. How cool is that? Dole really committed political suicide by airing an ad that accused Hagan of being a godless heathen that hangs out with atheists. I never had a problem with her before, but that was really disgusting. I'm glad the people of NC stood up and firmly said that such behavior will not be tolerated. Regardless of which way the numbers go in the presidential race in NC, I am proud of my state.
So...I am 3 for 0 in presidential elections. I'm not so proud of voting for the winning candidate in the past election (in the first, I couldn't have known Bush would be as bad as he was but in the second, it was "fool me twice, shame on me"). Still though, that is kind of neat. I haven't voted for the loser yet. I have a lot of hope for Obama just as I had a lot of hope for Bush in 2000. I am hoping that he will live up to that hope much better than Bush did. He has a tough job ahead of him with a country facing multiple conflicts abroad and big financial troubles at home. It is good that he has a Democratic Congress backing him up, though. A "Yes" stamp isn't always a good thing, but in times like this we need to move forward rather than remain mired in bickering between the legislative and executive branches. Obama is a very smart man, as he has shown in his campaign. In the primaries, I saw a story detailing how his campaign called exactly how all of the votes were going to break down between him and Hillary. If he can call that and handle an uphill campaign, I am wondering how he can handle predicting the world affairs and dealing with them appropriately. It is my sincerest hope that he doesn't get crushed by the problems facing his administration as Carter did so many years ago. Time will tell, though.
Congratulations, President-Elect Obama. I and many others have waited a very long time to say that. :)
>>Spazz Out
I think this was a good election. It was a long one, but we had two presidential candidates who both seemed to care a lot about the country. I honestly believed that both wanted what was best for the country and just had different ways of going about it. Maybe this is easier to say from the standpoint of one who voted for the winner, but it is what I believe. In past elections, I haven't been so sure. I really had my doubts about both Kerry and Bush in 2004, for example. I said from the beginning that I would have been happy with either candidate getting into office. McCain's pick of Palin really damaged that view for me for several reasons, but even when McCain was acting his most non-McCain-like, I always had faith that the old McCain was in there somewhere. In his concession speech, I was proven right. I particularly loved how he held up his hands at some booing and catcalling and said "Please" with an expression that firmly said "We are done with the campaign mudslinging and catcalls. Obama is not the enemy." That expression meant more than most of his words because it lent credibility to those words. I was choosing between good and better when I voted, even if Good had a devil in a red dress riding on his shoulders.
NC booted Dole in favor of Hagan AND from what I see on CNN.com with 100% of precincts reporting went Democrat for the first time since Carter. How cool is that? Dole really committed political suicide by airing an ad that accused Hagan of being a godless heathen that hangs out with atheists. I never had a problem with her before, but that was really disgusting. I'm glad the people of NC stood up and firmly said that such behavior will not be tolerated. Regardless of which way the numbers go in the presidential race in NC, I am proud of my state.
So...I am 3 for 0 in presidential elections. I'm not so proud of voting for the winning candidate in the past election (in the first, I couldn't have known Bush would be as bad as he was but in the second, it was "fool me twice, shame on me"). Still though, that is kind of neat. I haven't voted for the loser yet. I have a lot of hope for Obama just as I had a lot of hope for Bush in 2000. I am hoping that he will live up to that hope much better than Bush did. He has a tough job ahead of him with a country facing multiple conflicts abroad and big financial troubles at home. It is good that he has a Democratic Congress backing him up, though. A "Yes" stamp isn't always a good thing, but in times like this we need to move forward rather than remain mired in bickering between the legislative and executive branches. Obama is a very smart man, as he has shown in his campaign. In the primaries, I saw a story detailing how his campaign called exactly how all of the votes were going to break down between him and Hillary. If he can call that and handle an uphill campaign, I am wondering how he can handle predicting the world affairs and dealing with them appropriately. It is my sincerest hope that he doesn't get crushed by the problems facing his administration as Carter did so many years ago. Time will tell, though.
Congratulations, President-Elect Obama. I and many others have waited a very long time to say that. :)
>>Spazz Out