You’re over the moon about the election of a candidate you truly believe in, and yet despite every squirrelly thing his opponent did in the campaign, you feel kind of bad for him and have a hard time watching his concession speech. (I’m just not competitive, folks. Not. at. all.)
P.S. Did the opening part of it say, not in so many words, that this election result means that racism is over and African Americans have nothing further to complain about? Or am I just tired?
Hungry Hungry Hippos 
November 5, 2008 at 12:10 am |
That was kinda how I heard it, too, Sandi.
November 5, 2008 at 12:12 am |
If John Murtha had lost, I’d probably pass out from Joy Overdose.
November 5, 2008 at 1:05 am |
Is it just me, or did McCain actually look relieved and and Obama quite solemn?
November 5, 2008 at 1:35 am |
Heh. Obama always looks solemn. (I wonder how long it’ll take for the online dictionaries to add “Barack” and “Obama” to their lists. I’m tired of them telling me I’ve misspelled something.)
November 6, 2008 at 4:51 pm |
Make sure you are sitting down for this…
I’m not sure exactly how to put this, but I’m actually a little jazzed up about the potential for Obama’s presidency. It seems to have energized a lot of people here in our own country, and the world seems genuinely excited for it. There is just so much potential benefit for our country from those two things. So, maybe I have a little, dare I say, hope?
I am definitely in “wait and see” mode, but I’m not completely distraught over this. I’ve gotta admit… it’s a little bit cool.
November 6, 2008 at 5:14 pm |
So all my prayers for you haven’t been wasted? Cool.
More seriously: cool. Wait-and-see is the sanest approach for all concerned, I’d say — liberal or conservative. One of the things I worry about with some other conservatives I’ve talked with in recent days is that they’re so convinced Obama is a disaster (socialist, secret Muslim, etc.), it almost won’t matter what he actually does; they’ll still think he’s a disaster.
November 6, 2008 at 5:24 pm |
seconded. cool, indeed. and seconded about it being the sanest approach for everyone — conservative and liberal.
November 6, 2008 at 9:31 pm |
Well, hallelujah! I’ve been listening to the staff attorney I work with talk about communism the past couple of days, so it’s refreshing to hear someone who didn’t support him in the election being open to his presidency. My prediction is that he will win some people over (not Rush Limbaugh, of course) by governing from the center, reaching across the aisle, and not abusing his power. He will move forward with the agenda he set forth on the campaign trail, of course, but I think he will try to get as much buy-in as possible from as many people as possible. Despite the rhetoric about socialism and “most liberal senator,” he seems fairly moderate to me, at least in the sense that he is practical enough to know what is feasible and appeals to moderates even if his own personal views are further to the left. One example of this: he said he would choose a single-payer health care system if he were starting from scratch, but since we aren’t starting from scratch, he advocated building on the system we already have. Plus, he is incredibly smart, has demonstrated good judgment, and will help rebuild our reputation in the world. I’ll be disappointed if I’m wrong about this, but I think he is going to be an excellent president.
November 6, 2008 at 10:52 pm |
Rahm Emanuel as chief of staff. Discuss.
November 7, 2008 at 5:31 pm |
Okay, I’ll discuss.
I don’t love the choice, but it does present some interesting angles. One, it probably means Obama’s WH will be a very disciplined one. Obama himself ran a very disciplined campaign, and Emanuel will only reinforce that. (OTOH, Emanuel is a well-known leaker.) Two, it gives Obama somebody who can be an SOB when it’s time to make things happen; Emanuel can be for Obama what Bobby Kennedy was for Jack. Three, as a Jew and a veteran of the Israeli military, Emanuel gives Obama cover to shift American policy on Israel-Palestine in a more productive direction. Four, it gets the centrist Emanuel out of the House leadership, where he sometimes was a roadblock to progressive legislation getting a fair shot.
November 7, 2008 at 5:58 pm |
(OTOH, Emanuel is a well-known leaker.)
So was Billy Carter.
November 7, 2008 at 10:40 pm |
Correction:
Emanuel’s service in the Israeli Army appears to be a widespread bit of misinformation. He served Israel in some sort of civilian capacity during the first Gulf War; it’s not clear to me what that capacity was.
Update:
His father was a member of Irgun, one of the Jewish terrorist organizations that were trying to force the British out of Palestine, back in the 1940s. Aside from being interesting in itself, that raises an interesting question: how do those who favor a war on terror and who are doctrinaire Israel supporters square the fact that Israel probably wouldn’t exist if not, in part, for the efforts of Jewish terrorists?
(Oh, and Elie Wiesel’s Night trilogy is an interesting fictional account of one such terrorist.)