I can't believe it, I just can't believe it. It's like 16 hours after the election was called and it's just setting in.
We won, AMERICA WON!
Next stop: The Kasbah. ;)
But in all seriousness...
No lines and no problems. The place filled up as I was filling in the ballot though, which I think is a good sign given the time of day (around 3). While I didn't notice much ethnic diversity, the other voters spanned a wide age range. As a matter of fact, as I was walking out, a volunteer was helping a very old man tie his shoe. :) My polling location is actually the public library next door, which I can see from the porch--it has been pretty busy all day but especially so right now.
Like I said prior, my mom voted for Bam last week. My stepdad sent in his absentee ballot just a few days ago--hopefully it will be counted today; he never tells my mother who he votes for, but she thinks it was Obama. My aunt voted for Obama, plus a bunch of her friends. She also said my cousin is voting for Obama (get this: "even though her boyfriend is a Republican"--hard to believe we have the same bloodline....). My aunt also said my cousin just recently got her absentee ballot; based on that, I assume her vote will be in Montgomery County (and hopefully will also be counted today). I believe she is currently with the Nashville Ballet, so it's probably better she cast her vote here.
Shana [friend here in Cinci] also voted for Bam this morning. One Obama volunteer that called [several weeks ago] said 9 votes per district could've changed the outcome. Shana and I are two in this district in Hamilton County doing our part!
I also just called my sister [in SC] to remind her to vote, but she said she already early voted for Obama as well. And this part I absolutely love: she said she was still considering giving McCain a chance.... until Palin!
My dad, stepmother, stepsister, and stepgrandmother in Iowa also voted for Obama.
Need to get away for a little while, more later.
I feel good!
Everything leading up to the election has pretty much been done; the presents are under the electoral college all being watched by both sides with care. And not a mouse at the board of elections is stirring, not even an optical mouse.
Sorry, my ass is so worn out from all this. Since about February, when I threw my support behind this campaign, even though I still thought that he should wait until the next election; then again, I'm a pundit, like I'm a waif model.
Needless to say, I've never in my life, donated my time, money, social life, whatever I could, car, gas...I can't think of it all. But it's over for me as far as anything but answering some questions, if asked, and pulling the lever or poking the chad (he he) or whatever way I'm voting tomorrow.
I've never put more into somethng so outside of my control. I'm planning on going to a friend's for an election party, after karate (I need to punch something) and hope to be celebrating, but am not believeing poll numbers or anything until all the votes are in. I guess I've seen, Red Right 88, the Drive, the Fumble, Jordan blocking Elho's shot, Mesa shaking off Alomar in the 9th of game 7. I'm used to having defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. So I won't unclench until it's called. But I am hopeful.
Hope, that was the whole point, wasn't it? It's still there. I must, Barack Obama has knocked the dust off idealism I thought was long, long ago dead.
I hope that I'm right for a change; and more so, I hope that if I am right about tomorrow, I am right about what's right for the country.
I want my country back.I want my rights back.I want my constitution to mean something.I want my country to be respected around the world once again.I want my country to be thought of as a land of justice, liberty and freedom.I want a place where anyone has a chance.I want a country where anyone with a little drive can make a life for themselves.I want the American Dream to no longer be a joke made on late night talk shows.
I want Sen. Barack Hussein Obama to be the next President of the Untied States of America.
For all the shortcomings of the campaign, both John McCain and Barack Obama offer hope of national redemption. Now America has to choose between them. The Economist does not have a vote, but if it did, it would cast it for Mr Obama. We do so wholeheartedly: the Democratic candidate has clearly shown that he offers the better chance of restoring America's self-confidence. But we acknowledge it is a gamble. Given Mr Obama's inexperience, the lack of clarity about some of his beliefs and the prospect of a stridently Democratic Congress, voting for him is a risk. Yet it is one America should take, given the steep road ahead.
The immediate focus, which has dominated the campaign, looks daunting enough: repairing America's economy and its international reputation. The financial crisis is far from finished. The United States is at the start of a painful recession. Some form of further fiscal stimulus is needed, though estimates of the budget deficit next year already spiral above $1 trillion. Some 50m Americans have negligible health-care cover. Abroad, even though troops are dying in two countries, the cack-handed way in which George Bush has prosecuted his war on terror has left America less feared by its enemies and less admired by its friends than it once was.
Yet there are also longer-term challenges, worth stressing if only because they have been so ignored on the campaign. Jump forward to 2017, when the next president will hope to relinquish office. A combination of demography and the rising costs of America's huge entitlement programmes—Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid—will be starting to bankrupt the country. Abroad a greater task is already evident: welding the new emerging powers to the West. That is not just a matter of handling the rise of India and China, drawing them into global efforts, such as curbs on climate change; it means reselling economic and political freedom to a world that too quickly associates American capitalism with Lehman Brothers and American justice with Guantánamo Bay. This will take patience, fortitude, salesmanship and strategy.
At the beginning of this election year, there were strong arguments against putting another Republican in the White House. A spell in opposition seemed apt punishment for the incompetence, cronyism and extremism of the Bush presidency. Conservative America also needs to recover its vim. Somehow Ronald Reagan's party of western individualism and limited government has ended up not just increasing the size of the state but turning it into a tool of southern-fried moralism.
The selection of Mr McCain as the Republicans' candidate was a powerful reason to reconsider. Mr McCain has his faults: he is an instinctive politician, quick to judge and with a sharp temper. And his age has long been a concern (how many global companies in distress would bring in a new 72-year-old boss?). Yet he has bravely taken unpopular positions—for free trade, immigration reform, the surge in Iraq, tackling climate change and campaign-finance reform. A western Republican in the Reagan mould, he has a long record of working with both Democrats and America's allies.
That, however, was Senator McCain; the Candidate McCain of the past six months has too often seemed the victim of political sorcery, his good features magically inverted, his bad ones exaggerated. The fiscal conservative who once tackled Mr Bush over his unaffordable tax cuts now proposes not just to keep the cuts, but to deepen them. The man who denounced the religious right as "agents of intolerance" now embraces theocratic culture warriors. The campaigner against ethanol subsidies (who had a better record on global warming than most Democrats) came out in favour of a petrol-tax holiday. It has not all disappeared: his support for free trade has never wavered. Yet rather than heading towards the centre after he won the nomination, Mr McCain moved to the right.
Meanwhile his temperament, always perhaps his weak spot, has been found wanting. Sometimes the seat-of-the-pants method still works: his gut reaction over Georgia—to warn Russia off immediately—was the right one. Yet on the great issue of the campaign, the financial crisis, he has seemed all at sea, emitting panic and indecision. Mr McCain has never been particularly interested in economics, but, unlike Mr Obama, he has made little effort to catch up or to bring in good advisers (Doug Holtz-Eakin being the impressive exception).
The choice of Sarah Palin epitomised the sloppiness. It is not just that she is an unconvincing stand-in, nor even that she seems to have been chosen partly for her views on divisive social issues, notably abortion. Mr McCain made his most important appointment having met her just twice.
Ironically, given that he first won over so many independents by speaking his mind, the case for Mr McCain comes down to a piece of artifice: vote for him on the assumption that he does not believe a word of what he has been saying. Once he reaches the White House, runs this argument, he will put Mrs Palin back in her box, throw away his unrealistic tax plan and begin negotiations with the Democratic Congress. That is plausible; but it is a long way from the convincing case that Mr McCain could have made. Had he become president in 2000 instead of Mr Bush, the world might have had fewer problems. But this time it is beset by problems, and Mr McCain has not proved that he knows how to deal with them.
Is Mr Obama any better? Most of the hoopla about him has been about what he is, rather than what he would do. His identity is not as irrelevant as it sounds. Merely by becoming president, he would dispel many of the myths built up about America: it would be far harder for the spreaders of hate in the Islamic world to denounce the Great Satan if it were led by a black man whose middle name is Hussein; and far harder for autocrats around the world to claim that American democracy is a sham. America's allies would rally to him: the global electoral college on our website shows a landslide in his favour. At home he would salve, if not close, the ugly racial wound left by America's history and lessen the tendency of American blacks to blame all their problems on racism.
So Mr Obama's star quality will be useful to him as president. But that alone is not enough to earn him the job. Charisma will not fix Medicare nor deal with Iran. Can he govern well? Two doubts present themselves: his lack of executive experience; and the suspicion that he is too far to the left.
There is no getting around the fact that Mr Obama's résumé is thin for the world's biggest job. But the exceptionally assured way in which he has run his campaign is a considerable comfort. It is not just that he has more than held his own against Mr McCain in the debates. A man who started with no money and few supporters has out-thought, out-organised and outfought the two mightiest machines in American politics—the Clintons and the conservative right.
Political fire, far from rattling Mr Obama, seems to bring out the best in him: the furore about his (admittedly ghastly) preacher prompted one of the most thoughtful speeches of the campaign. On the financial crisis his performance has been as assured as Mr McCain's has been febrile. He seems a quick learner and has built up an impressive team of advisers, drawing in seasoned hands like Paul Volcker, Robert Rubin and Larry Summers. Of course, Mr Obama will make mistakes; but this is a man who listens, learns and manages well.
It is hard too nowadays to depict him as soft when it comes to dealing with America's enemies. Part of Mr Obama's original appeal to the Democratic left was his keenness to get American troops out of Iraq; but since the primaries he has moved to the centre, pragmatically saying the troops will leave only when the conditions are right. His determination to focus American power on Afghanistan, Pakistan and proliferation was prescient. He is keener to talk to Iran than Mr McCain is— but that makes sense, providing certain conditions are met.
Our main doubts about Mr Obama have to do with the damage a muddle-headed Democratic Congress might try to do to the economy. Despite the protectionist rhetoric that still sometimes seeps into his speeches, Mr Obama would not sponsor a China-bashing bill. But what happens if one appears out of Congress? Worryingly, he has a poor record of defying his party's baronies, especially the unions. His advisers insist that Mr Obama is too clever to usher in a new age of over-regulation, that he will stop such nonsense getting out of Congress, that he is a political chameleon who would move to the centre in Washington. But the risk remains that on economic matters the centre that Mr Obama moves to would be that of his party, not that of the country as a whole.
So Mr Obama in that respect is a gamble. But the same goes for Mr McCain on at least as many counts, not least the possibility of President Palin. And this cannot be another election where the choice is based merely on fear. In terms of painting a brighter future for America and the world, Mr Obama has produced the more compelling and detailed portrait. He has campaigned with more style, intelligence and discipline than his opponent. Whether he can fulfil his immense potential remains to be seen. But Mr Obama deserves the presidency.
Yes, the polls look great, high-profile Republicans are endorsing Sen. Obama and Camp McCain appears to be struggling. Yes, it’s easy to feel like it’s over – but it’s not.
As I was about to launch into my own appeal to guard against complacency, the following email hit my inbox. Mark Johns from Licking County hit the nail on the head with his message.
After you finish reading, walk, drive or cycle to the Campaign for Change office near you. Walk in, sign up and help bring this historic campaign home.
Athens Headquarters - 540 West Union St. Athens 740-248-6518
Uptown Athens Headquarters - 5 North Court St. 5 on Court Second Floor Athens 740-974-0025
Meigs County Headquarters - Carpenters Union Hall 218 E Main St. Pomeroy
Nelsonville Headquarters - 25 Public Square Nelsonville
Thanks John
Despite what some of the polls are showing, I want to make sure we guard against complacency. There are some other polls that show things tightening. And we know that things in Ohio are going to be very tight.
If we do have the McCain campaign on the ropes, next week is when we MUST begin to deliver the knockout punch! Get down to the Obama office right away, sign your name to the Victory Wall, and commit some of your time to help Get Out The Vote. That is what will be critical to an Obama victory in Ohio, and therefore, in the election itself.
And if you can, take Election Day off from work to help. Without a strong GOTV effort by the Obama campaign, it is in danger of losing the election.
Mark JohnsLicking County, OH for ObamaJOIN THE LICKING COUNTY, OH FOR OBAMA GROUP NOW, AND LET'S HELP SEN. OBAMA WIN OHIO AND THE WHITE HOUSE IN NOVEMBER! GO TO:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/LickingCountyOHforObama
As a volunteer I must refrain from blogging, save this one entry:
I spent three weeks in Athens, Ohio, staying with family and working in the local Obama offices until two days ago, when I came back to New York. The volunteers I met and worked for and with were among the most dedicated, capable, and nicest people I've had the pleasure of knowing. From local students to out-of-towners committing themselves to working virtually nonstop until Nov. 4, the diverse group tought me the best lessons about grassroots democracy and working for a cause bigger than oneself.
I suppose being a New Yorker gives me a slightly different perspective on the way people work, but I pay all of them my highest compliment: "I'd hire them all, no hesitation."
Hello Everyone, There are only 14 days left in this race and I hope that
you're ready for the ridiculous accusations and lies that the GOP will throw at
Barack, Joe and the millions who support them in this campaign. It's insulting,
juvenile and definitely NOT Pro-American! It stems from the fear of losing
power. There are a lot of scared people out there right now, who are realizing
that Barack Obama really has a shot to win this thing. Now is the time that ALL
of us have to do what we can - donate $; donate time; write letters to the
editors of our local papers; engage our neighbors in discussion about the future
of this country, the importance of their voting and the importance of the
decision that lies before us all. We must be committed, we must work hard and we must finish strong.
Hogan
There's my Youtube video why I'm voting for Barack.
Here's the link because the video isn't working on here.
Watch it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE41ZlSWC54
Thanks for watching
P.S. Side note-- Watch Keith Olbermann of MSNBC call out John McCain and Sarah Palin's lack of control over their campaign and the problem with their rallies--and what people are yelling out. It's AWESOME to watch, and even if you don't watch my vid, watch THIS one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj65cFLcpr4
The GOP is trying to swamp this online poll. Please follow this link and make sure our voices are heard:
http://www.pbs.org/now/polls/poll-435.html
John McCain is running on history. Obviously, the part of his life that is most influential to his thinking is that which he spent in a Vietnamese prison camp. There is no denying that his time there was probably so awful that many of us would have said or done almost anything to stop the torture and abuse. It is certainly to his credit that he did not. His stand against the current administration on the torture of detainees of the war on terror is a strong statement and is highly honorable However, noble performance during captivity does not mean that he automatically deserves or has the judgment and breadth of knowledge necessary to run this country. He constantly referred to Ronald Reagan’s time in office and his policies and conveyed a sense of the past being more influential to his thinking than is the future. He seems to not be aware of how we are doing out here, where people work for a living, do their best to educate their children and keep food on the table and gas in the car. His long history of supporting deregulation of the financial and other sectors of the economy, to the advantage of wealthy individuals and corporations, has contributed to an economy that today teeters on the edge of a meltdown.
Barack Obama focused his comments on the plight of the Average American in today’s world. The USA faces a damaged and abused economy, the world’s vision of America is to many people that of an arrogant and selfish nation and at this time diplomacy rather than saber-rattling and warmongering is so obviously what this country needs to reestablish our credibility across the globe. Senator Obama seems focused on the future and conveys a sense of understanding what we as American are going through and a sense of where we fit into the new 21st century global economic and political world. His background is one of hard work and service to his country. He is strong with respect to going after those that would do us harm, but is sensitive to why we have become a nation that is not respected by many others. He is committed to diplomacy, willing to talk and work out our common problems with leaders of other nations and he understands that one of humanity’s most urgent needs is to develop energy sources that are not only renewable, but that do not cause damage to our imperiled planet.
I called my 87 year old mother after the debate to get a sense of her reaction. She has been engaged in this and previous political campaigns and even at her age, she commented that Senator McCain seems so focused on the past that he is not what we, as a nation, need right now to confront our future. She understands the importance of electing someone with a new view and understanding of the world and how it works today.
The past is what it was. The future calls us to better times. Barack Obama is the candidate that understands that and once elected he will lead us through our difficult present into a more positive future.
Over the last seven years we have witnessed the administration of G W Bush exploit the fears of the people of America with deceptions, misrepresentations and outright lies. The manipulation of data used to justify the invasion of Iraq is well documented. Our constitution has been trampled upon by the president and his team. The United States has been disgraced by policies that allowed torture of detainees and virtually destroyed another country that had never posed a specific threat to the USA. Thousands of American sons and daughters have died as a result of poor decisions with little planning and unstated goals and unknown thousands of Iraqi citizens were displaced, killed and suffered through years of unbelievable horror.
Our economy has come dangerously close to a financial meltdown as a result of the Republican pushed policies of deregulation that allowed lenders and powerful financial institutions to make huge profits through unscrupulous lending practices at the expense of unknowing and uninformed borrowers. We have seen long established firms collapse due to mismanagement and greed, only to be buoyed up by the government at costs to the American people that may take decades to repay. Huge profits made by the oil companies are at historic levels. Meanwhile, the working people of America have seen their good jobs disappearing at a rapid pace as companies are given tax breaks while sending their work overseas. We have seen the value of our dollar decline and the buying power of our wages shrink.
Now the Republican Party has asked us to give it another four years by electing John McCain and Sarah Palin. John McCain, having suffered atrocities at the hands of his captors during the Vietnam War is regarded as a war hero. Sarah Palin is a self described “hockey mom” and claims to be a “maverick” that can shake up Washington and put things right. John McCain has the audacity to accept monthly Social Security payments while being paid in excess of 160K as a senator and while his wife’s company made over $6 million in 2007. Sarah Palin, as she is finally “looked at” seems to have a history of giving good state jobs to unqualified long time friends and of firing people with whom she has personal disputes. Her stands on women’s rights are unconscionable. This all sounds likeit would lead to a repeat or even an enhancement of the cronyism and greed demonstrated so well by the Bush Administration. These two are not the mavericks they claim to be. We can't afford four more years of Bush policies.
The greed and lies so clearly at the center of the thinking of many prominent folks in the Republican Party have made us less safe and more vulnerable to outside forces over which we have no control. They try to deny the effects of humanity’s activities on the planet. They pass tax cuts that benefit the huge multinational corporations and a few of the wealthiest of Americans while leaving the working people of America with less to spend on life’s pleasures that at any time in recent history. They now have stooped to outright lies in their advertising by telling us that the tax plan of Senator Obama will end up costing average Americans higher taxes while virtually every financial and tax expert has stated the opposite.
Senator Barack Obama has plans to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, to encourage companies to keep their jobs here in the United States, to reduce taxes for average Americans. He has the strength and will to do what is necessary to keep Americans safe and has demonstrated the wisdom that going to war to prove some point is not a smart decision. He is endorsed by virtually all labor focused and educational organizations as he is recognized by many financial analysts to have the best plans to revive our economy. His vision of the future will motivate us all as citizens and will help revive our nation’s soul. America must move beyond the divisiveness that is so strongly promoted by the Republican Party and focus on the message of unity and shared purpose that is promoted by Senator Obama and the Democratic Party. Somehow, over the years, the Republican Party has been able to convince many working Americans that they have their interests in mind, while in fact the tax plans and financial policies demonstrate exactly the opposite.
I plead with working Americans to look at the results of the past seven years and seriously make an informed decision whether the policies encouraged by this party are those that have helped you in any way!
We need to elect a president that encourages cooperation, diplomacy and unity of purpose rather than one who encourages division, deceit, and makes careless political decisions.
Don’t get fooled again America.
Talk, Live and Vote Obama/Biden.
Please sign this petition requesting a new wind farm be built on Coal River Mountain instead of mountaintop removal.
Please do so not only to keep the air & water cleaner, but for jobs in an economically depressed area.
Background:
Across southern West Virginia, Mountaintop Removal is destroying the potential for any alternative use of the mountains, uses that could provide lasting economic benefits and employment opportunities for the local communities. Coal River Mountain is being threatened with the same fate. A study conducted in 2007 showed that the ridges along Coal River Mountain exhibit the potential for the development of over 400 Megawatts of wind power. Further studies determined that a Coal River Mountain wind farm would contribute over 200 short-term construction jobs and 40-50 long-term maintenance jobs, while also providing Raleigh County and West Virginia with decades of clean, sustainable energy. In addition, a wind farm would allow for other uses of the land that would benefit our local communities, such as: sustainable forestry, tourism, and the harvesting of ginseng and other forest products. Strip-mining on Coal River Mountain, if allowed to proceed as planned, will forever destroy this opportunity.
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Carrie Dann
The map 50 days out:
The Palin bounce has erased Obama's lead in the national polls, and it has now cut into his electoral-vote advantage, according to NBC’s latest map. Obama holds a 233-227 edge here, down from his 228-200 advantage from last week.
The biggest changes: We moved Florida -- with its 27 electoral votes -- from Toss-up to Lean McCain, and New Mexico from Toss-up to Lean Obama. We also shifted Oregon and Washington from Likely Obama to Lean Obama, as well as Alaska, Georgia, North Dakota and South Dakota from Lean McCain to Likely McCain.
The good news for McCain is that the map looks better for him than at any point so far in this race, and many of those red states that looked like opportunities for Obama (AK, GA, IN) look to be longer shots for him. The bad news for McCain is that given the wave his campaign has been riding from the Palin bounce, is this as good as it gets?
If he isn’t leading in some states now, he might not ever lead in them. Bottom line: You'll know the map is starting to move in one direction or the other if either Pennsylvania or Florida moves back into Toss-up before Election Day.
VIDEO: NBC Political Director Chuck Todd discusses the Sarah Palin affect on the NBC electoral vote map.Likely Obama: CA, CT, DE, DC, HI, IL, ME, MD, MA, NJ, NY, RI, VT (172 electoral votes)
Lean Obama: IA, MN, NM OR, PA, WA (61 votes)
Toss-up: CO, MI, NV, NH, OH, VA, WI (78 votes)
Lean McCain: FL, IN, MO, MT, NC (67 votes)
Likely McCain: AL, AK, AZ, AR, GA, ID, KS, KY, LA, MS, NE, ND, OK, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, WV, WY (160 votes)
