Re: America Votes 2008
 

Well, it's time to pop out the hopium.

I guess we can call it a wrap.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

not yet...unfortunately, after the southern states are counted, it might get really close.

all of them are going McCain so far. and Texas has 34 votes alone so...

Re: America Votes 2008
 

What actually has surprised me this election is how both Sununu and Dole lost their spots in the Senate even though they were both very centrist, especially Sununu.

Obama has won, and I congratulate him and his supporters. At the very least the next year or so is going to be very interesting and part of me is honestly excited to see what wil happen as a political observer. The next two years at least are going to very very different from the last eight (or possibly 28), for the better or worse. I truly hope its for the better... cause... you know... I live here. :)

Hell, at least I'll be able to get some slee tonight instead of being up until dawn the last two elections.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

How can you guys be calling it already?

Re: America Votes 2008
 

It's impossible for McCain to win because he lost both Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

Obama will carry California, Oregon and Washington which puts him in the ballpark of 280.

Unless, McCain pulls off some miracle in one of those states, we may as well welcome our new President.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

To add to Bond's comments, there were only a few states that were truly up for grabs and the rest are heavily one party or another. Obama doesn't have to worry about losing California, for example, and McCain didn't have to worry about Texas.

With many of these swing states going toward Obama, and Florida, North Carolina and Virginia moving towards Obama, its safe to call the election. On a bright note, it looks like the Bradley Effect is good and dead. Another positive sign for US race relations.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

Obama won. :D

Weird to not feel obligated to announce I'm moving to Canada after a presidential election like I did the previous two.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

Glory.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

I really am at a loss for words here...

Congrats to our new Pres Elect.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

Here's to hoping Obama is a centrist. I'd prefer not to regret my vote.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

I would find it funny if Obama turns out to secretly be a Black Panther

Re: America Votes 2008
 

Not that theres anything wrong with that

Re: America Votes 2008
 

Ditto.

I like how he actually won the election by a large margin. It shows that people can change and make judgements off of who is running and not directly what party they're in. Though honestly I think if Mccain played his cards better he would have had a chance to make things closer or even win.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

McCain 2012

Re: America Votes 2008
 

On life support? :p

Re: America Votes 2008
 

Just have to say both candidates gave great ending speeches.

Obama's was freaking amazing though.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

It's funny how many people don't get the EV college. I was watching the first few hours of the election with my co-workers and kept having to explain to them the importance of the EV number and really only thing that mattered.

I wonder if that system will ever be done away with.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

Heres a link to some great pictures of Obama's campaign.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

Thanks for those, Ace.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

Obama's spedch was actually very encouraging for me. He remained centrist in his language and his word usage was even much more stern when referring to international threats than it was during the election.

This is going to be interesting and I wish the President Elect the best. Regardless of disagreements he my and our President-Elect and deserves that respect and support. This recent history od such disrespect for the office based on differences of opinion needs to stop.

The election is over and hopefully he is honest in his appeals for bipartisanship. Time will tell.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

The first 2 minutes of the video is bad enough. I like how they're trying to blame Palin, even though Palin was Mccain's decision. She wouldn't have been there if it wasn't for him picking her.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

Damned sexist conservative media. :p

Re: America Votes 2008
 

I agree with Jon Stewart on this.

They sat on this story until after the election? What would they not have told us if she was elected VP? I think it is important to have known when casting a ballot. Though like O'Reilly said, some of this stuff she could have been taught on the job but still.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

The problem here is that the GOP has drifted away from intellectual, fiscal conservatism (William F Buckley and Ronald Reagan), and has moved to small-minded, social conservatism (Sarah Palin and George Bush).

Re: America Votes 2008
 

Did someone say William F Buckley? Who is he? ;)

I 100% agree. The Palin pick never should have happened and hopefully this will teach Republican strategists that the social conservative is no longer the key to victory... its the pragmatic conservative.

Example: Palin was brought on board to do one thing... keep Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio and a few other red swing states in the Republican fold. She failed to do so because the demographics of these areas have shifted.

On the other side, Palin's choice killed McCain in "purple" states like PA and New Hampshire who are filled with social progressive but affluent and educated independents who like McCain before Palin threw a wrench ion the machinery.

Now I'm not saying Palin cost McCain the election, because she didn't, but the point is that the social conservative is hurting the party in elections and Republicans need to go back to the realm of ideas where they have succeeded in the past. The problem is social conservatives are uncomprimising and hold a powerful voting block that they are more than willing to withold if they are now cowtowed.

The Republican party is in trouble and can pretty much guarantee to keep losing elections until they begin to see the young guns of the party like Bobby Jindal and Charlie Crist as the future.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

What about Aaron Schock? Maybe hes not very well known yet...he probably will be eventually. Hes a local Republican Big wig 27 year old who thinks hes pretty cool. Just became the youngest person in the House at age 27.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

Oh man, what a night!!! I haven't posted in a bit while on tour, but election night was incredible! I partied a bit too hard in Los Angeles that night, but it was a great celebration there (though it sucks that prop 8 didn't pass.)

I thought McCain's concession speech was the best speech he's given his whole campaign. He's a great man and has a lot of class and that speech showed it.

Anyway, I'm pleased that Obama won and I am looking forward to what his presidency holds for our country.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

Re: America Votes 2008
 

I think Bond is right and there will be a huge transformation in the republican party over the next 4 years. It's going to be a shift away from social conservatism, and towards what the Republican party was originally founded upon.

I think at the front of this change we'll see people like John McCain, Joe Liberman, Mike Bloomberg, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. A republican party made up of that is one that even I could vote for.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

That's part of the reason I voted for Obama too. Because of Mccain would have won dispite all his and palin's issues, they wouldn't have changed to the party I know they can be. How they respond next election will be interesting..

Re: America Votes 2008
 

I'm not familiar with him, but I was thinking more along the lines of Bobby Jindal, and I mention him a second time because I think he's a great candidate. Mitt Romney is another I liked during the primaries, but I think he fell apart when he tried to do a McCain and get all bible belt when he was obviously uncomfortable doing so. Hopefully this election showed that pandering to the religious right only loses the suburbs, and its the suburbs that win elections. Just look at Pennsylvania.

Newt Gingrich is another name thats from the past but really has always been a forward thinking, idea man for the Republican party, and he was responsible for much of the success of the 90's in working with Clinton.

As for voting for Obama to change the Republican party, I would agree except for one thing: The Supreme Court. I imagine that at least 3 justices will retire under Obama's presidency, and he'll have to opportunity to place several judges that will be able to legislate from the bench and have to opportunity to reinterpret the consitution. This is not an abortion issue for me, its a property rights issue, and leftist judges have shown to be under the wrong side of that argument.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

I thought Obama's Grant Park speech was pretty weak. But the guy looks exhausted, and I'm sure most of it was improvised. But I didn't vote for the guy because of his speeches. Already Obama is saying he wants to free prisoners from Guantanamo Bay and start giving people there fair trials in American Courts. That's some good stuff. Guantanamo Bay = unconstitutional.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

It's funny how that, in many ways, the Democrats have become our constitutional friends.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

When we step off the ship at Plymouth Rock, let us have a feast with them upon the 26th of November!

Re: America Votes 2008
 

Hate to break it to you, but its not. Its not even technically against international law, as the Geneva accords only cover uniformed combatants representing a sovereign nation.

And by the way, it was our left leaning "constitutional friends" in the Supreme Court that ruled that local governments can force homeowners to sell to large corporations because it increases the tax base. It was the conservative judges that voted against it. The Supreme Court is where the constitution is dying, not the legislative branch. This was the main reason why I was against Obama, as he has publicly stated that the Constitution "doesn't go far enough", which ignores the entire point of the document (a list of what the government WILL NOT do). If Obama's presidency fails, which I sincerely hope it doesn't, the legislation can be fixed by a change in power. Supreme Court justices are lifetime appointments by the President and their effect will be felt for two generations, if not more.

EDIT: I removed my prt about the patriot act, as I think it would have taken the discussion away from the topic.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

Fair enough. I'm not going to pretend to know enough about foreign policy and Supreme Court legislation regarding this subject.

I just know that Guantanamo Bay sounds bogus from what I have read.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

Legally its not bogus, or at least not yet. Morally and ethically? Well, thats another conversation and a very long and difficult one at that. Personally I'm for GITMO, but I also think some aspects of it need to change, as I don't believe that people should be held indefinitely with no evidence, but I also don't believe that Constitutional rights or Habeus Corpus should be conveyed to possible terrorists and non-citizen's either.

There needs to be a middle ground where the detainees are afforded some form of recourse but not to the point that it dierectly parallels our legal system. What makes up that middle ground, I couldn't tell you.

Re: America Votes 2008
 

Hopefully Obama brings back that tax on 1 million dollar or more estates. Dead people dont know they are paying taxes...

Re: America Votes 2008
 

Estate taxes destroy American wealth and PREVENT the middle class and lower classes from advancing their status and wealth. Essentially, if you like the way the US class system currently works, if you want to call it clas system, then you should LOVE estate taxes, because they maintain the status quo, keep rich people rich and poor people poor.

On the surface estate taxes seem somewhat reasonable, but like most non-income tax systems, once you take a hard look and see how they are applied, the gilding quickly wears thin.

If you would like to know how in detail, I'd be happy to tell you, but you have a habit of skimming my posts and I'd prefer not to write the example if it's not going to be read as it is a personal anecdote I care deeply about and changed my view of government forever. And I've written about it before, but that doesn't mean anyone bothered reading it.