Feels like New Year's Day
Just like the old Japanese tradition, I stayed up through the night. I was sober, though if I didn't have some business to take care of today, that wouldn't have been the case. In the icy predawn, I drove out and bought a commemorative newspaper. It was not the Seattle Times, which had the gall to endorse Dino Rossi. When the sun finally did appear over the hills, I walked along the lake shore, watching the mists twist and curl over the water.
Yesterday, I was lost in a moment that seemed irrelevant to our society. This morning, the two seemed unified: a new day both literally and metaphorically.
The election went my way about 80%, maybe not by strict numbers, but certainly by impact. That would be a C in my programming classes, and a B- on how I would grade things, but if we're grading along the curve of my past election history, it's a resounding A! In fact, I've been gripped by an emotion I would call indescribable until I remembered what it was: optimism.
I hope this presages a sweet end to the year. Times are rough, people I know are in trouble, but I'm daring to hope that we're going to climb out of this mess, now. Looking at my post from two years ago, there was hope mixed with anger, and I'm not so great as to say that I don't feel that now, too. Apparently two years was not long enough to finish our wretched wars. I still want blood, and it's too late to get Bush impeached, so I have to look forward to gouging it out of the bright red parts of our country. Their ways are what sunk us into this morass; I'm sure that even if Obama is above the fray, a vengeful Congress will be more than happy to make them pay for hauling us out of it.
With a Republican President and a Democratic Congress, all I wanted was gridlock, and I got some of my desire, but not enough. Now, with everything on my side, I want the opposite, but this was not the ultimate victory we had hoped for. The Democrats control less than sixty Senate seats, and that was the magic number. One-party rule eluded us. A minority still capable of filibustering means that we won't be able to look forward to the sort of Supreme Court appointee that will be able stand in ideological opposition to the likes of Scalia, Roberts, Alito, and Thomas. At best, we'll continue with the moderate-to-liberal appointees that characterized the Clinton years.
Even then, victory is victory. All of this is cyclical, and I'm well aware that one day the Democrats will spend the last of their political capital just as the Republicans did this time. Maybe that will be in two years, maybe that will be in twenty. For now, though, I intend to fully savor our moment of being on top.
So, it's premature in some areas, but let's see how I did:
MY WAY
Initiative Measures 985 and 1000 - Those were the two big ones. In particular, 985 would have been devastating to our infrastructure. It went down decisively, and perhaps this will send a message through Tim Eyman's thick skull that we'd like to see him disappear from the public view.
Charter Amendments 2 through 6 - Looks like the no-brainers went my way, as well as a big social victory (Amendment 2) and a small political one (Amendment 4).
Sound Transit Proposal 1 - Look at us go! See, we can pass massive tax increases even when the economy tanks!
Obama/Biden - We pretty much saved the planet on this one.
Gregoire - WOW! Rossi actually conceded today. I thought it wouldn't be settled before next year. I actually got a return on my massive campaign contribution, and the BIAW and their friends are out more than twenty million dollars! I hardly need to add that Gregoire, as the incumbent with a friendly legislature, can start ripping them new ones without having to wait for January to roll around. Revenge is so sweet, sometimes. Also, our state won't be in the doghouse with the Administration anymore, starting next year!
Owen, Sonntag, Kreidler - The offices of Lieutenant Governor, Auditor, and Insurance Commissioner are in safe hands, as expected.
Hunter and Eddy - Easy wins.
Fairhurst - None of the Supreme Court positions were in doubt, but I'm happy to see her back.
Schindler - No problem in the Appeals Court.
Bradshaw and Hill - Only the Superior Court had serious races. I wasn't enthusiastic about these two, but they were my picks and they made it.
NOT MY WAY
I'm going to have to start this by noting the big, festering Red sore that marred an otherwise excellent Post-election Day. In California, Proposition 8 appears to have passed. For starters, this will mean personal tragedy for tens of thousands of honest people, with no humane or material benefit for those on the other side.
This one is going down in the history books as something that Californians will be ashamed of: with everyone watching, they wrote bigotry and hatred directly into their Constitution. I don't know if it will be years or decades before it's evident, but I predict this amendment will be struck away before the next century, just like the Jim Crow laws of the Deep South were, in the last. In the meantime, its proponents have done something that they haven't bargained for: they've torn a deep wound into the "institution" of marriage. A new, progressive generation is growing up, and the more this sort of legislation passes, the more they're going to see marriage as an inherently divisive arrangement, upholding a set of values they can't abide by.
The idea that what we call marriage is an ancient institution is inaccurate. While traditions labeled "marriage" existed throughout history, marriage as we know it now is a dynamic, changing social contract that took its present form less than two centuries ago, and is continuously undergoing modification (no-fault divorce, anyone?). It is not immune to being drastically redefined or even discarded. By getting their short term desires, social conservatives draw ever closer to the day when what they claim to cherish the most will be transformed beyond their reckoning. At this point, I look forward to seeing that happen.
Initiative Measure 1029 - I'm okay with it passing. I do have a question, though: isn't this the sort of costly socialist regulation people claim to hate seeing? I guess it's okay if you regulate people who aren't you. Well, I've always thought so, too.
Charter Amendments 1, 7, and 8 - Welcome, political hacks! Amendments 1 and 8 will make it easier for you to sneak into office without the majority knowing. Amendment 7's defeat will mean that you can continue to get voters to support your crazy schemes if you can bamboozle them enough with funky ad campaigns. If Republicans want to run a stealth campaign to start influencing the local mechanisms of power without anyone know that they're Republicans, we've just left the key under the doormat for them to do so.
Reed and McKenna - Once again, we're stuck with our Dynamic Duo of State Secretary and Attorney General looking out for their friends in the Republican Party.
Johnson - Charles Johnson will hopefully consider retiring from the Supreme Court after this term.
Lau - Looks like she's not going to have to submit a prepared statement next time, either.
Mack - The question is, will this be good enough for her or not?
WHO KNOWS?
Congressional District 8 - Darcy Burner is leading Reichert by 326 votes as I type this. It is one of a handful of remaining US congressional races yet to be called. If she wins, our district will benefit from congressional largess (i.e. pork) once again. Setting that aside, if she wins, it will be great to be represented by a Democratic congressperson for the first time in my life.
Treasurer - McIntire looks like he's starting to develop a comfortable lead over Allan.
Land Commissioner - If we're lucky, Goldmark might pull the only statewide upset over an incumbent. We need this one.
Superintendent of Education - It's looking like Bergeson won't be getting her fourth term. I'm a little ambivalent, but I think she probably did herself in.
Yesterday, I was lost in a moment that seemed irrelevant to our society. This morning, the two seemed unified: a new day both literally and metaphorically.
The election went my way about 80%, maybe not by strict numbers, but certainly by impact. That would be a C in my programming classes, and a B- on how I would grade things, but if we're grading along the curve of my past election history, it's a resounding A! In fact, I've been gripped by an emotion I would call indescribable until I remembered what it was: optimism.
I hope this presages a sweet end to the year. Times are rough, people I know are in trouble, but I'm daring to hope that we're going to climb out of this mess, now. Looking at my post from two years ago, there was hope mixed with anger, and I'm not so great as to say that I don't feel that now, too. Apparently two years was not long enough to finish our wretched wars. I still want blood, and it's too late to get Bush impeached, so I have to look forward to gouging it out of the bright red parts of our country. Their ways are what sunk us into this morass; I'm sure that even if Obama is above the fray, a vengeful Congress will be more than happy to make them pay for hauling us out of it.
With a Republican President and a Democratic Congress, all I wanted was gridlock, and I got some of my desire, but not enough. Now, with everything on my side, I want the opposite, but this was not the ultimate victory we had hoped for. The Democrats control less than sixty Senate seats, and that was the magic number. One-party rule eluded us. A minority still capable of filibustering means that we won't be able to look forward to the sort of Supreme Court appointee that will be able stand in ideological opposition to the likes of Scalia, Roberts, Alito, and Thomas. At best, we'll continue with the moderate-to-liberal appointees that characterized the Clinton years.
Even then, victory is victory. All of this is cyclical, and I'm well aware that one day the Democrats will spend the last of their political capital just as the Republicans did this time. Maybe that will be in two years, maybe that will be in twenty. For now, though, I intend to fully savor our moment of being on top.
So, it's premature in some areas, but let's see how I did:
MY WAY
Initiative Measures 985 and 1000 - Those were the two big ones. In particular, 985 would have been devastating to our infrastructure. It went down decisively, and perhaps this will send a message through Tim Eyman's thick skull that we'd like to see him disappear from the public view.
Charter Amendments 2 through 6 - Looks like the no-brainers went my way, as well as a big social victory (Amendment 2) and a small political one (Amendment 4).
Sound Transit Proposal 1 - Look at us go! See, we can pass massive tax increases even when the economy tanks!
Obama/Biden - We pretty much saved the planet on this one.
Gregoire - WOW! Rossi actually conceded today. I thought it wouldn't be settled before next year. I actually got a return on my massive campaign contribution, and the BIAW and their friends are out more than twenty million dollars! I hardly need to add that Gregoire, as the incumbent with a friendly legislature, can start ripping them new ones without having to wait for January to roll around. Revenge is so sweet, sometimes. Also, our state won't be in the doghouse with the Administration anymore, starting next year!
Owen, Sonntag, Kreidler - The offices of Lieutenant Governor, Auditor, and Insurance Commissioner are in safe hands, as expected.
Hunter and Eddy - Easy wins.
Fairhurst - None of the Supreme Court positions were in doubt, but I'm happy to see her back.
Schindler - No problem in the Appeals Court.
Bradshaw and Hill - Only the Superior Court had serious races. I wasn't enthusiastic about these two, but they were my picks and they made it.
NOT MY WAY
I'm going to have to start this by noting the big, festering Red sore that marred an otherwise excellent Post-election Day. In California, Proposition 8 appears to have passed. For starters, this will mean personal tragedy for tens of thousands of honest people, with no humane or material benefit for those on the other side.
This one is going down in the history books as something that Californians will be ashamed of: with everyone watching, they wrote bigotry and hatred directly into their Constitution. I don't know if it will be years or decades before it's evident, but I predict this amendment will be struck away before the next century, just like the Jim Crow laws of the Deep South were, in the last. In the meantime, its proponents have done something that they haven't bargained for: they've torn a deep wound into the "institution" of marriage. A new, progressive generation is growing up, and the more this sort of legislation passes, the more they're going to see marriage as an inherently divisive arrangement, upholding a set of values they can't abide by.
The idea that what we call marriage is an ancient institution is inaccurate. While traditions labeled "marriage" existed throughout history, marriage as we know it now is a dynamic, changing social contract that took its present form less than two centuries ago, and is continuously undergoing modification (no-fault divorce, anyone?). It is not immune to being drastically redefined or even discarded. By getting their short term desires, social conservatives draw ever closer to the day when what they claim to cherish the most will be transformed beyond their reckoning. At this point, I look forward to seeing that happen.
Initiative Measure 1029 - I'm okay with it passing. I do have a question, though: isn't this the sort of costly socialist regulation people claim to hate seeing? I guess it's okay if you regulate people who aren't you. Well, I've always thought so, too.
Charter Amendments 1, 7, and 8 - Welcome, political hacks! Amendments 1 and 8 will make it easier for you to sneak into office without the majority knowing. Amendment 7's defeat will mean that you can continue to get voters to support your crazy schemes if you can bamboozle them enough with funky ad campaigns. If Republicans want to run a stealth campaign to start influencing the local mechanisms of power without anyone know that they're Republicans, we've just left the key under the doormat for them to do so.
Reed and McKenna - Once again, we're stuck with our Dynamic Duo of State Secretary and Attorney General looking out for their friends in the Republican Party.
Johnson - Charles Johnson will hopefully consider retiring from the Supreme Court after this term.
Lau - Looks like she's not going to have to submit a prepared statement next time, either.
Mack - The question is, will this be good enough for her or not?
WHO KNOWS?
Congressional District 8 - Darcy Burner is leading Reichert by 326 votes as I type this. It is one of a handful of remaining US congressional races yet to be called. If she wins, our district will benefit from congressional largess (i.e. pork) once again. Setting that aside, if she wins, it will be great to be represented by a Democratic congressperson for the first time in my life.
Treasurer - McIntire looks like he's starting to develop a comfortable lead over Allan.
Land Commissioner - If we're lucky, Goldmark might pull the only statewide upset over an incumbent. We need this one.
Superintendent of Education - It's looking like Bergeson won't be getting her fourth term. I'm a little ambivalent, but I think she probably did herself in.