I just got home from the celebration in Grant Park in Chicago. It was amazing. People were just so happy, and relieved - relieved that Obama won (we didn't blow it!) and relieved to be done with Bush, Inc. I would guess 90% of the people there were under the age of 30, and with the streets of Chicago overflowing with people, there was no hint of anything getting out of control. In his speech, I think Obama basically set a tone of "Okay people, we did it. Now we have a lot of work to do to repair what Bush has destroyed" (with the "to repair what Bush has destroyed" part left unsaid). It was so cool to be part of a truly historic moment.
Posted by swimyouidiot at November 5, 2008 12:38 AMOur giant creation museum theme park complete with a grand canyon not only voted for McCain but voted to change the state constitution to ban gay marriage.
Just when America takes a giant leap forward, the wheels come off the stagecoach. If you put your ear to the wagon rut, you can hear knuckles dragging. Godbots.
Posted by TIKI AL at November 5, 2008 02:14 AMThe other day I said that the reason I, a Brit, came to this forum was to be reassured that not all Americans are crazy. So, my congatulations have to be a little muted. I wanted a landslide, but in the popular vote. It now appears that very nearly half of Americans still crazy!
I suppose it could be said that 48% voting for McCain is a small advance on 62% re-electing Bush, and that human progress takes small steps. But as so often in this election, the Palin factor looms. The question of McCain's age and thus the possibility of a President Palin has been so much discussed that nobody can have been unaware of it.
Comparing disasters is complicated, but on balance, I'd consider a potential Palin Presidency even more scary than the re-election of Bush.
As for her, surely she is now consigned to history, or a small footnote thereof. Even the Republicans, or those of them who, whatever we think of them, are really professional, believe that her selection was what sank McCain. So why ever would they choose her as a Presidential candidate in 2012?
So, hearty congratulations, folks, but I just hope Uncle Sam Jekyll will be able to resist the re-emergence of Uncle Sam Hyde.
"So why ever would they choose her as a Presidential candidate in 2012?"
They wouldn't choose her, because they want to win. Every hear of the smell of death?
Darcy Burner is trailing by less than 400 votes in Washington's 8th District with less than half the votes in.
Keep your fingers crossed for her. She's good people.
Posted by snark at November 5, 2008 05:40 AMThe two Uncle Sams, how very well put.
Inspired by the 40th anniversary of MLK's I Have A Dream speech, I've spent this year reading a lot about slavery in America, if for nothing else, to understand the journey that the black man has taken, largely not by his own will, through the history of the USA. Started with Uncle Tom's Cabin. That's right, born and raised in the US but apparently like most Americans, I had never read it. Fantastically great book, I more than highly recommend.
The cognitive dissonance of America is absolutely astounding.
Posted by Rob J at November 5, 2008 05:43 AMUSA voted for change, hope and promise.
I was delighted when they called VA for Obama, finally it is moving in the proper direction. So many states were just a few points either way, and one is still tied! I am glad so many people were willing to work so hard to get out the vote and then go out and vote themselves.
Obama’s acceptance speech was wonderful.
Not only did it contain the hope and promise from the campaign, it even included the extended hand to those who did not vote for him to come and work beside him.
He promised “hard work” was ahead and offered to “Lead” us through these times.
Way to go USA!
We're all slaves now.
Posted by onar at November 5, 2008 05:55 AMWe're all slaves now.
Prettymuch sums up why you people lost.
You have nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
And people are finally realizing it.
Have a wonderful day onar.
Posted by at November 5, 2008 06:00 AMI think that the Democratic Party needs a major shake-up, when you look at the results of this election.
Yes, President-elect Obama won, and thank the Spaghetti Monster for that. But, look at the Senate and Congress results. Look at California's voting.
Ted Stevens might get re-elected? Darcy Brunner isn't running away with her race? Prop 8 passes? House doesn't even get to 20 new seats?
This race should not have been close, and it should have extended way down the ballot. But at least here in CA i didn't. At all.
Maybe P-E Obama should have come out here once in a while to extend his coattails. Maybe his field offices all over everywhere could have pushed the party tickets more.
I don't know, but I'm pretty disappointed in the results in the 12% of the population and 25% (?) of the economy that is California, very disappointed.
We've got a lot of work to do, and it needs to start with the Democratic Party machinery, at all organizational levels. CA State Party is about as hidebound top down last election entrenched as you can get, with people like Art Torres and Feinstein the face of the machine.
Reid, Pelosi, they either need to step aside (Reid), or change focus and start USING your political power (Pelosi). Say what you will about the Goppers, they USED, okay abused and misused, their power, and the Dems are too frightened to do so, for fear of stepping on some toes.
Well, it's time to step on some toes, god dammit!
Posted by Duckman GR at November 5, 2008 06:31 AMColin: The pop vote is 52-46, and Obama's final total could reach 53% as all the uncounted millions of votes (which are overwhelmingly in Democratic areas) are counted. A six point victory is huge in the US these days.
We all would have liked more, but a couple things to remember. First, America is a patchwork -- there are areas like Utah or Wyoming where all th radio stations are so far to the right they make Fox News look liberal. Even in a now-blue state like Colorado, or a firmly blue state like Illinois, there are lots of counties that are as deep red as western Nebraska.
Those people *fear* Democrats. Illogical, irrational, yes. But a very real fear -- they know their health care is horrible, their schools horrible, etc, but they will keep voting in the same incompetent party because of the fear of the unknown. Given them 4 years of a successful Obama presidency and many of them will come over to our side.
Second, voter suppression is still very real. Obama's team focused on the swing states and knocked that down quite a bit, but in states like TN, AL, and MS there is still a lot of undercounting of Democratic votes. We can expect that now that they have all the reigns of power the Democrats will address this nationally, resulting in several points added to the national poll totals in their favor.
Posted by Anonny at November 5, 2008 06:37 AMRepublicans. You know that if they accuse Democrats of something that they are doing it themselves.
One example of this is their want-something-for-nothing attitude. They want gov't services but don't want to pay taxes for them.
Here in deep red El Paso county the voters overwhelmingly voted down tax measures for safety services and schools to cover the recent population growth. In Colorado Springs the aging floodwater and sewer infrastructure is crumbling but no one wants to pay to fix it.
Megachurches, yes. Infrastructure to support them, no. It seems that during the Gingrich/Delay era they got used to having the Republicans funnel massive amounts of federal taxes raised from blue states and pushed to red districts, that they now assume that cash flow will always be there.
Oh well, Colorado does have a lot of great home school programs now for people in the rural areas. Maybe we'll have to use them.
Posted by Anonny at November 5, 2008 06:44 AMDuckman: It does seem like the California Democratic Party has become complacent. It certainly is leaderless, probably a result of the term limits in the state legislature.
But look next door. Obama won Nevada by 11 points, beating the polls by a lot. You know what did that? Ground game. You know where most of those ground workers came from? California.
The energy is clearly there but leadership is needed. The message needs to get to Howard Dean that the 50 state strategy, as great as it is, has resulted in neglect in an area of Democratic strength.
Posted by Anonny at November 5, 2008 07:08 AMA historic victory, but pretty weak coattails, CA especially.
It's unfortunate that the Repubs were not utterly smashed as party, with voters continuing to protect some of the criminal Repubs most vile incumbents.
The case against "conservatism" must continue, there are so many poisoned brains, and so many propaganda outlets for them to scurry to and suck on .
Posted by euzoius at November 5, 2008 07:10 AMAnd here remain the PUMAs, in their cesspool of bile.
Posted by at November 5, 2008 07:56 AMThe next order of TLC business is the "Archive Please!" thread of Cretinous Troll "Predictions", especially the words of the monumentally stupid turd, jj. I predict we'll never "see" him again.
It looks like petr the GOoP pinhead is taking the thrashing of his criminal party and movement rather hard. He usually shambles in fairly soon after elections with some platitudinous pablum about the wonders of democracy, but can't quite bring himself to do it this time. Good.
The Bushist party is now destroyed with the nation's youth, with latinos and with rational, informed people. It has no real future absent a massive refashioning, which white "conservatives" will be loath to agree to, and which they will deny with their last breath. A fine dilemma, and likely not solvable, esecially by a mindless group of pinheads still looking to felons like Rove for "guidance".
These shits will never learn.
Posted by euzoius at November 5, 2008 08:02 AMWow! Those people over at the PUMA site linked above are pretty scary. It's amazing how hatred can cloud your brain.
Speaking of hate, did anyone see Chris Matthews call Tom Delay a hater right to his face last night? Well, about as close to "to his face" as is possible via a live video link. It was classic. I'll look for the video.
Posted by snark at November 5, 2008 08:15 AMThe country is facing such huge issues.
However, we cannot ignore clean elections, winning Sec. of States and recorders offices. Continue to work on repealing the gerrymandered districts.
Reestablish the Fairness Doctrine. In RFK Jr's speech to the Sierra Club in 2005:
...because we have a negligent and indolent media and press in this country which has absolutely let down American democracy.... All this rightwing propaganda, which is planned and organized and has dominated this country, the political debate for so many years is talking about a liberal media. Well, you know and I know that there is no such thing as a liberal media in the United States of America. There is a rightwing media, and if you look for where most Americans are now getting their news, that's where they're getting it...This all started in 1988 when Ronald Reagan abolished the Fairness Doctrine. The Fairness Doctrine said that the airwaves belong to the public. They were public-trust assets, just like our air and water, and broadcasters could be licensed to use them but only with the proviso that they use them to promote the public interest and to advance American democracy. They had to inform the public of issues of public import. They had to have the news hours. (None of those networks wanted to show the news, because it's expensive, and they lose money on it.) They had to avoid corporate consolidation. They had to have local control and diversity of control. That had been the requirement of the law since 1928.
Today, as a result of the abolishment of that doctrine, six giant multinational corporations now control all 14,000 radio stations in our country, almost all 6,000 TV stations, 80 percent of our newspapers, all of our billboards, and now most of the Internet information services. So you have six guys who dictate what Americans have as information and what we see as news. The news departments have become corporate profit centers. They no longer have any obligation to benefit the public interest; their only obligation is to their shareholders, and they fulfill that obligation by increasing viewership.
We have to undo what the conservatives have been doing to this country since the Reagan years. Clinton let most of it pass on by.
Time to be firm Obama and press.
Posted by Seven of Six at November 5, 2008 08:18 AMI posted the same at L&L, am posting it here too. I do not have much time, now that I need to catch up on all of life that I have set aside in order to focus on this election.
I am really, really proud of my country. One thing I am looking forward to...Obama sent an email out last night, just before heading to Grant Park. He said that he will be in touch with us on all of the work that needs to be done.
Obama plans to keep the people involved in our government which is the exact opposite of what the Republicans have done. The GOP can only function if people are kept in the dark, ignorant and too busy surviving to pay attention to what theft that they are doing.
Obama is not going to allow that. The people are involved and I hope that they stay that way.
This is the only way to bring about real change.
Pelosi and Reid are not as important as we might think. Their actions and inactions are directly related to how much pressure the people are putting on them. As long as we are involved there is not a single thing that we cannot do.
As I said over at L&L, I am still crying. I just listened to President Bush and I think that he was genuinely moved by Obama's win. No, I am not being facetious. He really seemed proud of America. But, perhaps I am projecting my own emotion on to him.
When I viewed the pics of the reactions in the US and
around the world I just lost it all over again.
There are so many millions and millions of people who are resting their hopes and dreams on this one man. It is unbelievable...I cannot imagine what Obama feels knowing the weight that he carries.
He literally has the weight of the whole world on his shoulders.
Posted by Anjha at November 5, 2008 08:22 AMWell said, Anjha. My son called this morning to chat about the election - he's on the cusp of watching his job fold away. He was hopeful, even so. It's like watching your company, one that's going down the tubes, finally hire a fantastic manager, who could very well turn things around. It'll take a bit of time, but we're invited to help out, have a stake in the company's success. Our household feels optimistic about the new manager. We can hang on until things get better, because we know for sure now that it's just a matter of time.
Now, how do we get rid of Prop 8? That's some fucking bullshit, right there. Is there a court that can deem it unconstitutional? Fookin' A, there's work to be done. But for now, we dance!
Posted by iamcoyote at November 5, 2008 08:42 AMGuess who's gonna be going to DC for the inauguration?
Posted by snark at November 5, 2008 09:06 AMGuess who's gonna be going to DC for the inauguration?
George Clooney?
Posted by iamcoyote at November 5, 2008 09:13 AMGeorge Clooney?
No doubt.
And if I bump into him I'll tell him you said "Hi".
Posted by snark at November 5, 2008 09:32 AMJust saw over at the big orange the racial breakdown on the vote.
Obama received only 43% of the caucasian vote. WTF. IMO that's pretty disgusting. We'd like to see the Caucasian by age, anyone have it?
Posted by Simp at November 5, 2008 09:32 AMAnd if I bump into him I'll tell him you said "Hi".
You better get pictures! Is the whole family going? And why? How do you rate?
Posted by iamcoyote at November 5, 2008 09:35 AMNow that the hangover has subsided and my early morning depression has ebbed (yes, depression....Michelle Bachman and possibly Ted Stevens re-elected)I have come to my senses and realized that the dinosaur party members will be 4 years older and nearer extinction in 2012. Whereas Obama can keep the youth engaged and this will sound the death knell for the GOP.
I was hoping for a complete blowout and that didn't happen. Here in Canada the old conservative party was so destroyed in 1993 that it had to change its name and re-emerge but has never had the strength of the 1980s....that didn't happen in the US...but the demographics are the problem for the GOP but they will still be trouble for Obama.
The world will be a much better place now that Stumpy and his gang are on the scrap heap....complacency must not be allowed to set in.
A change in the SCOTUS will help to overturn the draconian anti-gay marriage bans....maybe they should just come to Vancouver to get married.
Whew, now I'm happy again...Obama is a hero!!
Posted by Goyo at November 5, 2008 09:37 AMThe mrs is really really psyched. We rate about as much as any other citizen of the country. But she's got connections and I'm sure she'll be working them hard for any little morsel of inside action she can get. She's pretty good that way. If not, we'll just be in amongst the throngs. We've got a place to stay right in DC so that's not an issue. Gonna drive down a few days early with the kids. They've never beeen yet.
Posted by snark at November 5, 2008 09:42 AMGosh, snark, what a cool thing to do, wish I was close enough to drive down. This is frikkin' history, and you guys will be there to usher it in, your kids will experience it firsthand. I'm in awe.
Bring a back up camera, we must have pictures!
Yeah, Goyo, I'm disappointed by Bachmann, and Prop 8. But man, it's still a pretty nice day. We have blue sky right now. Woohoo!
Posted by iamcoyote at November 5, 2008 09:50 AMYes, Anonny, the figures are a bit better than they seemed at first. Even the 3% I first saw represented, by my unreliable arithmetic, about 39 million people, which is more than the population of some countries.
Euzoius, regarding the Latino vote, the BBC correspondent Justin Webb (not my favourite commentator) said today that in fairness to Bush, he was responsible for an increase in the number of Latino voters. I don't know if that's true, but if it is, it didn't pay off for George!
Say, according to the MSM, the proper approach for "conservatives" following their thrashing is to move even further to the right, while the proper approach for the victorious Obama majority is to tack even further to the center or right.
Makes perfect sense, of course!
Posted by euzoius at November 5, 2008 12:00 PMSay, according to the MSM, the proper approach for "conservatives" following their thrashing is to move even further to the right, while the proper approach for the victorious Obama majority is to tack even further to the center or right.
Oh, please conservatives, whatever you do, don't throw us in the briar patch -- i mean, don't go further to the right. Please.
And please don't run Sarah Palin in 2012. She scares us.
Really.
Posted by Anonny at November 5, 2008 12:14 PMHey Coyote, are you able to talk with me a minute via email...got a quick question.
Posted by Anjha at November 5, 2008 12:16 PMsnark, that is really cool. I have never been to DC, always wanted to go. What an awesome treat for all of you.
Posted by Anjha at November 5, 2008 12:18 PMThe inside campaign stories are starting to come out now.
* Turns out the Alaska Disasta spent a lot more than $150k on clothes, and she pissed off the McCain team and Republican donors even more than we learned earlier. Turns out she did the shopping herself (add that to the list of lies) and for her family. Also, apparently she's already lost a lot of the expensive stuff.
* The Palin race-baiting resulted in a dramatic increase in credible security threats to Obama, and even more secret service detail around him.
* Hillary's campaign was an even greater disaster than has been leaked previously. A very weak manager, apparently, who had a staff who openly hated each other's guts.
* When the Obama campaign struggled in May Obama responded by taking over day-to-day management to get them focused again.
* McCain's team realized in June that they had no message about why McCain should be president, so they chose instead to focus on lots of attacks on why Obama should not be.
* Obama's team focus tested lots of possible responses to the Muslim and terrorist smears in June, and found that the most effective counter was to have him talk directly to the camera about who he was and what he'd do.
* McCain's staff debated telling him, just before the last debate, that it was over, but decided not to.
* Palin asked to also speak last night but McCain turned her down cold.
Posted by Anonny at November 5, 2008 12:21 PMGregoire won!!!!
What I think is so cool is the awesome spontaneous parties that broke out all over the world.
Posted by Anjha at November 5, 2008 12:22 PMCoyote, nevermind. I called the geek squad; they answered my questions.
Posted by Anjha at November 5, 2008 01:55 PMSorry to have missed you, Anjha - I had to go out and get food, life's been on hold for so long!
Anonny, I figure, despite Blitzer's announcement that "we haven't heard the last of Palin, for sure!" we've pretty much heard the last of Palin. The talking heads are inartfully dumping all the problems on her head, while saying they don't want to place blame. Still, it wasn't her mistake, it was McCain's, for choosing her. If she'd been honest with herself, she should have said no, but since when is a narcissist honest with themselves? McCain got taken in by a low-life grifter, that's his fatal flaw, not hers. She was just being herself.
Posted by iamcoyote at November 5, 2008 02:23 PMAnonny, I figure, despite Blitzer's announcement that "we haven't heard the last of Palin, for sure!" we've pretty much heard the last of Palin.
Oh, we'll continue to hear news stories about her, just like we do about Lindsay Lohan and other celebrity train wrecks. The Alaska Legislature looks like it turned Democratic in this election, which should make for some interesting investigations.
Meanwhile, with oil prices down due to the economy the annual Alaska dole-out to citizens will be far less, causing a further drop in her popularity (the handout was the only reason she was popular in the first place). Her re-election in 2010 is very much in jeopardy.
Posted by Anonny at November 5, 2008 02:39 PMDon't look now, but Obama's margin has quietly grown to 53-46 now that almost 120M votes have been counted, and there are projected to be 16M more nationally that have yet to be counted -- primarily early votes, provisional ballots, and in Democratic districts on the pacific coast -- all vote pockets that favor Democrats.
My last prediction of 55% seems unlikely, but my previous prediction of 54% is well within reach.
All this crowing about Rasmussen and Pew being the most accurate national pollsters may not pan out in the end.
Posted by Anonny at November 5, 2008 02:43 PM..despite Blitzer's announcement that "we haven't heard the last of Palin, for sure!" we've pretty much heard the last of Palin.
I'm not so certain...Dobson wants her and Huckabee's just too much of a fruitcake...my take...she doesn't run as Governor, instead, she runs for Steven's seat once he's pushed...the question is: can she win, and that is doubtful...Faux news get ready cuz here she comes.
Speaking of Faux....can someone please stick a rag in Ralph Nader's mouth...who the f&*k does this guy think he is?...making me a Shepherd Smith fan...just kidding!!
Posted by Goyo at November 5, 2008 04:05 PMSpeaking of Faux....can someone please stick a rag in Ralph Nader's mouth...who the f&*k does this guy think he is?...
That WAS stunning.
What's worse is that, despite his professed caring about the poor the truth is that his last 2 presidential bids have been funded by the far right, hoping that he'll syphon off Democratic votes. That is, he is personally making a shit load of money while saying he's for the poor.
I can't fully blame him for 2000. I mean, there is a valid argument that Democrats are too beholden to corporate interests, and in the context of 2000 (budget surpluses, peace, prosperity) 4 years of Bush might not have seemed so bad. Sure, some (like me) knew better, but I can understand why someone might make that mistake.
However, to run again in 2004 was frankly criminal on his part, because the only possible impact he could have had on that election was to help Bush stay in power. Nader is like McCain in a way. He once had a great reputation that the vast majority respected, but he's chosen to destroy that in his old age.
Posted by Anonny at November 5, 2008 04:16 PMI can't believe that I ever was a Democrat. Sarah Palin may scare you all, but you all scare me. Actually scare is not the correct word. Disgust is more like it. You are a bunch of self-righteous dimwits who underestimate your opponents. I'll be glad when Obama is exposed for who he really is, and his leftwing cheerleaders get pushed to the sidelines where they belong. You are as bad as Bush in that it's all or nothing with you. I am thankful that most people are centrist in nature, and not whackjobs like the extreme left or extreme right.
Posted by TKO at November 5, 2008 04:43 PM