Aftermath

I had spoken earlier of Republican efforts to blame Sarah Palin for the fact that they were trailing in the polls. Well, after the election, it seems to have gotten worse. Republican aides are coming out in droves to talk about what an idiot she was. How she apparently couldn't name the countries in North America, and didn't know that Africa was a continent, not a country. We already knew Sarah Palin wasn't that intelligent. All they're doing now is slandering her. It's useless now. Instead of placing the blame where it belongs, on the aides and on John McCain, they're using a scapegoat. They believe that she wants to run for President in 2012, so they're trying to sabotage it. It's useless. In four years, no one will remember this, except those who already thought little of her. And her response isn't much better. She's calling them jerks. Which seems pretty harmless against the stuff they're putting out about her. If she really wanted to show us her intelligence, which she should if she ever wants us to vote for her, then she should come up with really smart insults. Go to Shakespeare or Oscar Wilde. They have some good ones. This is getting ridiculous.

Also in the aftermath, Barack Obama is promising swift and decisive action against George Bush once he takes office. He's going to use those executive orders apparently. And all Bush is saying is that he's going to meet the President Elect, and that there'll be a peaceful transference of power. I'm not sure why he's saying that. I mean, does he think we were expecting him to go out kicking and screaming? He knows there's nothing more he can do. We know that he knows this. So saying things like that is pointless. 

WE DID IT!!!

Well people, Barack Obama is the country's next President. Yes, we can, yes, we did. 

Obama's Winning!

So, as of this moment, Obama has 207 electoral votes and McCain has 95. Obama's won the major swing states of Pennsylvania and Ohio. And, according to CNN.com, no Republican candidate has ever won without winning Ohio. There would have to be some major upsets for McCain to win this election. It's finally becoming highly likely that Barack Obama will become our next President. Just 63 more electoral votes to go!

One Day!

Tonight's the night. It's the last night of George W. Bush. Whether McCain wins (please, no) or Obama (please yes), George Bush will enter the Lame-Duck period of his presidency. This also means the period of time where presidents strive to change their legacy. But we know, no matter what, we will have NO MORE BUSH!!! 

In semi-political news today, we mourn the passing of Barack Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham. This woman raised Obama since he was 10, and I believe we all owe her our gratitude. It is sad that she wasn't able to see her grandson become President. But after all this sad news, hopefully Obama will get some happy news tomorrow. 

Nothing has really happened on the political front. No major revelations. An independent review said that Gov. Palin didn't violate any ethics laws, but she did abuse her position. I'm pretty sure we got that news a while ago. 

Everyone is merely spending these last few hours pushing for votes. 

Rev. Wright AGAIN!!

Okay, I thought that we got the whole Rev. Wright thing out of our systems a while ago. But John McCain, who has previously stated that he doesn't think it should be an issue, is airing ads in Pennsylvania about it. 

Here's the thing. Pennsylvania's a very odd place, politically. The only reason it is  a swing state to begin with is because it's two main cities, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, are primarily Democratic, but all that farmland in between is primarily Republican. Now, I used to live in PA, so I have seen the extent to which some of the people in both parts believe in what they believe. It's pretty extreme sometimes. But Pennsylvania has been Democratic these past few elections. We have a Democratic governor, and have voted Democratic in past Presidential elections. And in these extreme times, it's pretty likely that we're going to vote Democratic in this Presidential elections, no matter what kinds of ads are aired.

But back to Rev. Wright. I may not be a great representative of everyday Americans, but, when I went to Church, I rarely paid attention. I didn't really listen because I had heard it eight thousand times before, so I read a book a tuned out. And if I did pay attention, I didn't necessarily agree with everything my Priest was saying. 

What has been coming up over and over again in this election is that, if you associate with someone, you must obviously agree with absolutely everything they say and do. This is ridiculous. You might even be friends with someone who you don't agree with. I know I don't agree with a lot of the things my friends believe in. So, maybe the Rev. Wright is a good reverend. Maybe he's a really nice person outside of church. That's why you go to the church, and be friends with him. No one on the planet is going to agree with someone else 100%. It's ridiculous that we're using other people to judge Obama. 

Maybe Bill Ayers is a kind person, with a great personality. Maybe they actually enjoy talking to each other. While I don't believe they were even friends (I say hello to people I vaguely know, and they definitely aren't my best friend), it is possible that people can change, even Bill Ayers. And calling Obama a terrorist because he knows Bill Ayers, who they call a terrorist even though he didn't he didn't actually kill anyone. Terrorist seems a little extreme for that. 

I'm very frustrated by all the people who think they know everything about Obama because they've seen the picture of him in traditional garb, heard about the infamous "whitey" tape, and heard that he knows Bill Ayers and Rev. Wright. I'm sick of everyone voting on personality rather than issues. I wouldn't want to have a beer with Lincoln or Washington, but they were amazing Presidents. Andrew Jackson ran on the idea of an average man in the White House, and he killed thousands of Native Americans after defying the Supreme Court three times.  And Grant fought in the Civil War, and he was a terrible President. 

I would like to end by encouraging people to vote on the issues, not the people. Get educated people.

lit Dropping and statIng the obvious

Part of my Halloween plans this year was going around a neighborhood near me and lit dropping/canvassing for Obama. And because we were in costume, and because the people who's doors we went to pretty much liked Obama, we also got candy. But, along my lit dropping/canvassing, I encountered some astonishingly rude people. Anyone who has ever gone canvassing know that the list occasionally contains mistakes. Sometimes, somehow, McCain supporters end up on the list. We had doors slammed in our face multiple times. Also, people would stop us on the street, and ask us why we were walking around. This is a reasonable question (we were three older teenagers, and we weren't going to every door). But once they found out what we were doing, they would abruptly turn away, or say something rude. Once said "I like my freedom, that's why I can't talk to you." Now, really. You asked us a question, and we answered. We didn't go up to this man, he asked us, at first, what we were selling, which, I think, is already vaguely rude. We politely explain ourselves, that we were with the Democratic Party of Arizona, and that we were reminding people to vote if they hadn't already. We offered him some literature. And he acted like we were offensive, that merely stating our opinions some how took away HIS freedom. 

Meanwhile, some people who accidently got on the list were polite. They apologized, and said they were Republicans, and didn't insult us or be rude at all. One man answered the door, and explained that his wife was an Obama supporter, but he was a McCain supporter. 

In political news, apparently Obama's half-aunt (his dad's half sister) is living in the country illegally. How this affects his potential to lead the country is unknown. He even returned the $265 she donated, and said that he had no knowledge of her illegal status. I'm not entirely sure why this was major news on CNN.com. It seems a little ridiculous. 

Further on, we have an article talking about how more Democrats vote early. This seems fairly obvious, as, especially in recent times, it's more likely for a Democrat's vote to be purged than a Republican's. So they have to vote early, to insure that they can vote. There has been a lot of seemingly obvious news in this election. Is America really so desperate for anything even vaguely related to the election that we have to state the obvious? Also on the obvious list is the headline "Obama, McCain Make Stops in Swing States". Well, with the election 3 days away, and the swing states clearly important, of course they're making stops there. Did anyone really think they weren't?

When the election and whatever objections that will inevitably happen afterwards are over, I will sigh in relief. This election has gotten ridiculous, on both sides. No matter the outcome, I will breathe a little better when all my conversations with friends stop revolving around politics.

Blaming Palin

CNN.com is reporting that some conservatives "believe the Alaska governor has been a detriment to John McCain's presidential bid and threatens to lead the party astray for the foreseeable future." This article further states "Some McCain operatives, claiming Palin repeatedly veers off script and often disregards the campaign's advice, already believe she is more interested in positioning herself for the future than helping the party win this year." Well, that's what you get when you take a small-time governor from a small-time state and make her a vice-presidential candidate. People have said it before, that she was not thoroughly vetted, and that she is not ready to lead. She was a cheap ploy to try to grab Hillary voters who felt wronged when Obama was chosen as the nominee. The Republicans felt that women would vote for them because they had a woman, and not look at the issues that the Hillary supporters support. And now that people have realized it's a ploy, and the Republicans are down in the polls, they need someone to blame for them losing. At first, Sarah Palin was to be the saviour of the party, and now she's the scapegoat.