Election Redux

I wanted to wait a few days to post me election reaction, just to make sure that it had officially sunk in. I think the best way to describe my experiance is to take you through my election day.

It began at 8:30 in the morning when I showed up at the local Obama office here in Plymouth to help with the GOTV (Get Out The Vote) effort. With a quick training they put me on my turf and let me go to work. To give you an idea of how advanced the Obama ground game was, we were only targeting sporadic voters who tend to LEAN democrat. That meant that out of my local precinct we were targeting 47 homes.

I wandered around and knocked on peoples doors, more reminding them to vote then anything else. I did have two particularly memorable experiences. The first was when canvassing a 19yo woman. She came to the door and was AMAZINGLY excited to vote. This being her first election, she was almost shaking she was so excited. It was very refreshing to see someone woo fired up about democracy. The second encounter was when I stopped into a party store to buy a pop. The guy behind the counter asked who I was canvassing for, and after I said Obama he told me "You must have drank the jungle juice", and that "If you vote for Obama you are going to hell." Now for a Christian that is a hard thing to hear, but knowing that it comes from a probable racist, I think God is on my side...ya know that whole love your neighbor thing.

So I wrapped up canvassing and went and voted and then headed home to eat some lunch and generally relax. This was definitely the hardest part of the day. From about 2pm until 5pm I just bounced back and forth between CNN and my computer. The Wife got home from voting and we ordered some pizza (from a new place that gave us very mediocre pizza) and sat down to watch the returns start to come in. At first we were slightly nervous because they were not calling any of the big states. I know that CNN was just being cautious, but it was nerve wracking.

At 8:30 I was meeting up with a friend to head over to the local Obama worker party in downtown Plymouth. The funny part about this is that the party was at a pretty swanky place, and our table was initially next to a bunch of McCain supporters. As more and more Obama people got there, I am pretty sure they decided to watch returns somewhere else. As the returns started rolling in the cheers got louder and louder. When Ohio was called we all got really excited. At this time my friend and I decided to head over the a larger party put on by the Democratic Party in Livonia.

This party was pretty nice as there was food and beverages and band. Hardly anyone was paying any attention to that though, we were all looking at the giant screens showing the coverage of the presidential election. At just before 11pm, when CNN called Virginia, I knew that the math was impossible for McCain, as long as the West coast did it's thing. The entire room, probably 500 people counted down till 11pm second by second. When CNN called the election at 11pm, the entire room went crazy, and I felt a sensation I have only felt a few times in my life. That immeasurable pride in being part of something that is truly historic. I hugged a lady behind me stood up on a chair, raised my fists in the air and cried. It was truly one of the great moments of my life.

Now I know that not everyone out there voted for Obama or even thinks he is a decent guy. Even if that is descries you, the historic nature of the election must be recognized. The old black lady sitting at the party just balling her eyes out and telling her son standing next to her that "he can do anything, just like Barack" should move any soul in America. For that alone I am proud of my country.

After this I hightailed it home to watch Barack's speech on TV. I also heard John McCain's concession speech was masterful, and completely appropriate. I bet a lot of McCain supporters were asking themselves where was that John McCain over the course of the campaign. I was also impressed with Barack's speech not because of it's grandeur or boastfulness; but rather because of it's humility and call to service. It is easy to gloat in victory, but hard to be humble and I thought he did that sincerely.

So congrats to America, land of the free and home of the brave; the place where truly anyone can grow up to be President if they just work hard enough and are bold enough.

The Death Knell of "Conservativism"

Remember when the term "liberal" used to be whispered around political circles like a swear word? Conservatives would keep it in the campaign bag-o-tricks to pull out in an emergency. No longer. If this election has proved one thing is that public sentiment has turned away from the classical "conservative" point of view, and has trended more liberal. All the conservative movement has left is the abortion and gay marriage arguments. These two issues are of course important to many voters, but if that is all you can campaign on you end up with a campaign like John McCain's.

Remember when the conservative movement was the champion of fiscal responsibility? Well you have to go back to Clinton, a Democrat, to get a balanced budget and deficit reductions. Obviously it looks a little funny to be campaigning on fiscal responsibility when your guy in charge for the last eight years has overseen the largest expansion of the federal government since FDR.

Remember when the Neocon's hawkish attitude looked bold and aggressive. These guys were going to go above and beyond to protect America's freedoms and interests around the world. Now we have a world where more people dislike us then like us. We have managed to squander the goodwill of the world in eight short years. Looks like the Bush Doctrine was maybe not the best idea for protecting out interests LONG TERM. Sure we would secure the goal right now, but if 15 million people in the country hate us for it, has that really advanced our interests?

Remember when tax cuts and less regulation seemed like the be all, end all of economic theory? Not so much anymore. Wall Street has taught us that unregulated markets behave like they always have in our history, as a greed inducing orge of temporary profit followed by a massive collapse. Tax cuts are great, I mean who want to pay taxes...right? We have seen over the past few years that tax cuts for the wealthy DO NOT trickle down to the lower groups. If we want to stimulate the economy, how about trying from the bottom up?

On these three critical areas, it appears what has been orthodox conservative thought has been failing the American public for quite some time. The McCain campaign has tried the "liberal" label without much result. Now they are trying to go even further by throwing around the "socialist" label. My guess is that it won't work either. It may fire up the base to yell obscenities even louder at a McCain event, but the American people are looking past the insults and fear mongering to results, and that may just mean the death knell of the conservative movement as we know it today.

Between Debates

We are at a precarious time in the election cycle. We have already witnessed the first Presidential Debate, which almost did not happen (I tend to think it was going to happen all along). We are also at the cusp of the only Vice-Presidential Debate. I feel the need to talk a little bit about both.

The first debate was pretty interesting, and I am of the opinion that it was a tie. Both men looked Presidential and had that certain gravitas that is associated with the office. I tend to think that Obama won the portion where they talked about economics, and McCain slightly won the foreign policy section. I did not like how Sen. McCain kept talking down to Obama, saying "he just does not understand". If that is his strategy, he needs to rethink it. It comes off as condescending and cold, and may play to his base, but probably alienates those critical swing voters. For his part, Obama could have hit back a little harder, and also could have taken the chance to step up and claim leadership on the economic crises. I really think his campaign is scared to turn him loose, they are afraid of the "angry black man" characterization.

Most of the public opinion has called the debate for Barack. I can see this, as this was supposed to be McCain's home turf. By holding his own, Obama essentially won. The polls have trended for Obama since the debate, but I personally think that is just a general trend is his direction with the current focus on the economy.

Onto the VP Debate. I am VERY interested in watching this tomorrow. There are all kinds of subplots here. Is Sarah Palin really a ditz, as evidenced by her previous interviews? View the videos here. Is it all a ruse, and she is going to kick some Biden butt? Conventional wisdom has Biden rolling in this one... but I have two questions: Does anyone besides me care? Should anyone care at all? I mean this is the VP debate, and we are voting for the President. I will be sure to write a post-op on this one.

The Campaign Suspension and Letterman

So the news today is that John McCain is going to be suspending his campaign to take care of the economic crises. Personally I see this as a desperate ploy by someone who is trailing in the polls and whose campaign loses momentum seemingly every day. Some will argue that this is bold leadership, but really, this problem is getting "solved" one way or another, with or without McCain. Remember this guy just said two weeks ago that "the fundamentals of the economy are strong," and now he wants to suspend his campaign to address the economic crisis. Also, no one has mentioned this, but could this be a cash saving measure??

The pressure he is applying to switch the debate day is also a desperate move. He comes off as whining and unprepared. Why suspend a debate, is that not the exact kind of forum to discuss these matters? He is the one who wanted more debates and forums, and now he wants to rearrange the schedule.

Beyond all that McCain apparently stiffed Letterman last night, but found time for Katie Couric. The LA Times has a great article on that blow up, and Letterman's response. It has got to be one of the greatest responses ever to being stood up.

Newsflash... McCain Invented the Blackberry

One of John McCain's top economic advisers was recently answering questions about what John McCain knows about the economy. Douglas Holtz-Eakin -- in a response to reporters’ questions about what McCain did at the Senate Commerce Committee to understand how markets work -- whipped out his BlackBerry. "He did this," he replied. “Telecommunications of the United States is a premier innovation in the past 15 years, comes right through the Commerce committee so you're looking at the miracle John McCain helped create and that's what he did."

So now we have John McCain inventing the BlackBerry. This is of course from someone who does not use email or a computer. But he revolutionized telecommunications in this country. All this on the same day that Carly Fiorina said that neither Palin or McCain were qualified to run Hewlett Packard. She is supposed to be speaking FOR them not against them. They want our trust to run the NATIONAL economy when one of their top business supporters does not think they are qualified to run her company...hmmmm. Welcome to the chaos that is the McCain campaign.

Let's Get Ready To Rumble

I thoroughly enjoy this time in an election year. This post-convention, lets actually talk about the issues, debate filled few months. Up until now, despite all the coverage and the bantering, it was the preseason. If the conventions this year proved anything, it is that the conventions themselves are still very relevant. On the Republican side we had the surprise VP pick, and subsequent speech that has everyone talking about the future of the GOP. On the Democratic side, we saw a historic moment, as an African-American accepted the nomination at an open convention on the anniversary of MLK's famous speech. (I am positive that just an accidental coincidence...HA).

There are still questions on both the candidates; is Obama experianced enough and not just talk, and will McCain just bring us 4 more years of Bush? Does Palin have the experience to step in as President is what is arguably the best chance of that happening in a long time? Is Joe Biden just another Washington insider? All of these questions will be mulled over and we get to watch several debates. I am particularly interested in watching the VP debate. I am also excited because as a Michigander, the candidates seem to be spending a lot of time here. Maybe I will be able to catch them in person.

Let the fun begin!

Obama and McCain Rally Differences

I was watching the Potomac Primaries this Tuesday, and both Barack Obama and John McCain swept all the contests. If you want my opinion, John McCain needs to work on his rally set up, because after the contests, both he and Obama had a victory rally. Let me give you a photographic representation of both their rallies:

1st John McCain:



2nd: Barack Obama:



Now of course this is a gross graphic misrepresentation, except for the Obama rally because that is a real picture of his. I am serious about the feel though. Standing behind McCain at his rally were 25 of his closest white buddies who are over 70. The guy immediately to his left almost looked DEAD. Now maybe that is his core constituency, but if he hopes to win the general, he might want to get the support of some non-white people who are not already collecting social security. This is a diverse country. Just a thought.