- The result was much as I expected. Fairly large electoral win for Obama, although some of the states were extremely close. The popular vote total was pretty close for a while, then Obama pulled ahead. Won by almost 8 million popular votes, or 53% of the vote. Is that a mandate? I'm never quite sure what that means. Doesn't the winner usually have the mandate? They always talk about how the winner needs to be bi-partisan and reach acrosst the aisle and all that. But, in reality, they don't have to do jack squat for the loser. Hey, to the winner goes the spoils.
- McCain gave a very good concession speech. Coupled with his hilarious SNL performance the previous weekend, this was a John McCain that I think people would have preferred to see much more of. But he did choose to take the high road out and I applaud him for that.
- Note to the McCain staffers: Sarah Palin did not lose this election for you. Remember, it was her coming on board that made the election as close as it was. Picking someone like Lieberman, Romney et al would have completely bombed. You forget that Republicans were not enthused at all about McCain UNTIL he picked Palin. In addition, a Republican simply was not going to win this year.
- Obama's victory speech was very much subdued. He talked right away of how they may not get everything done in a year or a first term. It was like "Oh crap, I just won this thing and now we have complete control so anything bad that happens we are solely to blame now and since I promised everything to everybody I'd better dial down those expectations right now so people don't expect too much and therefore I am officially changing my slogan from Yes We Can to Yes We'll Try."
- Indiana was unique. Obama barely won the state, but Mitch Daniels easily won re-election, when reports had that race very close. Maybe people finally got over daylight savings time. Or maybe Jill Long-Thompson ran a horrible campaign (as my co-workers indicated).
- How did you like that great promotional video taking place in Grant Park on Tuesday night? Over 150,000 in downtown Chicago with no incidents. Think some people took note? You know, like those from the International Olympic Committee? I bet Chicago just jumped to the top of the list for the 2016 Summer Olympics. The favorites had been Tokyo or Brazil, but I have a feeling we'll have the Olympics. Up here in South Bend, we have an artificial whitewater course, where they might very well hold some events. Now that would be pretty cool.
- If there is justice, Norm Coleman will prevail in Minnesota. I can not stand Al Franken. Once upon a time on SNL he was quite funny ("I'm good enough, I'm smart enough . . .") but those days are long past.
- The city of Sacramento has a new mayor. Who is it? My all-time favorite NBA player. Yes, KEVIN JOHNSON, aka KJ, is the new mayor of California's capitol. If our last baby had been a boy instead of a girl, he was going to be named Kyle Joseph, and we would have called him KJ after, yep, you got it (Dorene liked the name KJ, but not for that reason).
- Joel Hunter, pastor of the megachurch in Florida, prayed with Obama just before his victory speech. On Sunday, he'll deliver a sermon and will mention the election. He gave a preview of his sermon: "If you pray, 'God, put who you want in the White House,' and you believe that God answers our prayers, then it is logical to assume that Barack Obama is God's answer to our prayers." Hunter is an interesting figure who is increasingly at odds with other evangelical leaders (especially after his ill-fated succession of the Christian Coalition).
I think I'm going to take a political fast for a while. All the pundits can keep talking, but I don't think I'll be listening much for a while. My hope is that Barack Obama becomes the greatest president in the history of the U.S. I know there are those that will be hoping to display a "Don't Blame Me, I voted for McCain" bumper sticker at some point. But why hope for failure? I want the best for my family and our country, so even though I didn't vote for him (and my vote was more against one-party rule than anything), here's hoping that this is the beginning of something great.
Hey, things are looking good for the Arizona Cardinals this season . . . .
2 comments:
So if it looked like there would be a Repulican congress you would have voted for Obama just so there would not be one party rule? And I am really confused about your "My hope is that Barack Obama becomes the greatest president in the history of the U.S." comment (hmmm Warshington, Lincoln, Reagan, Obama. Uhhhh don't think so). I sure do not hope for his presidency to be a failure; except where he and his liberal congress try to go against the Constitution, and if he tries to nominate liberal judges to the Supreme Court. These are two areas that I hope he fails in BIG TIME!!!
Yes, I might have voted for Obama for that reason, I think. I voted for Clinton in 1996 because I thought that was best for the Republican Party at the time (and it was). Both Carter, Clinton and Bush didn't do well with one-party rule. Reagan thrived on it and it's what saved Clinton's presidency and paved the way for what should have been years of Republican domination (only that was not meant to be).
As for being the greatest president, sure, why not? I felt the same about Bush, too. I can't judge Obama yet because he's not in there yet. Am I concerned about some of the things he'll do? Yep, although I still think he's going to clash a lot with Reid, Pelosi, et al. As for the Supreme Court, sometimes nominees don't always vote like the Presidents think they will (see O'Connor and Souter). It'll be interesting to see how far left he tries to go.
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