It’s Finally Over!

Yes, the election is finally over and to no one’s surprise, it’s not the result I was hoping for, though it was not unexpected either. The US has definitely stepped to the left here. Still, Congratulations to President elect Obama. The over arching sad part here is that each and every Presidential election we go through, the campaigning gets longer and longer and less and less relevant. More than anything else, I am glad this one is behind us.

I must admit that in my pushing 50 years now, this is the most memorable Presidential election that I can recall. Oh, the last one had its moments, but this one was was very different. We had our first major party African American candidate and will have the first African American President. Political beliefs aside, that is a good thing and quite frankly, its overdue and I am still surprised it took us this long. While I am not a supporter of Obama, perhaps this will allow us to put those kind of race and gender discussions finally behind us and just worry about electing the best man/woman for the job.

What amazed me most though, was how folks voted and why they voted for Obama. Or at least in my relatively small sampling of folks whom I talked to that said they were voting for Obama. Almost everyone of them (including my Mother) said they were voting against Bush versus voting for Obama. Last time I checked, Bush wasn’t even a candidate. And no, I don’t buy that voting for McCain was the same as voting for Bush. Not a single one could give me a concrete reason for voting for Obama. The logic of those kind of votes just defies me. Change is not a reason for a vote. Without knowing what change you are voting for, what’s the point? As a person who researches the candidates and issues, and then aligns myself with the one who comes closes to my beliefs, that’s just very strange. Talk about taking a flyer.

During the campaign, Obama was very charismatic and definitely an articulate and captivating speaker. It will be interesting to see who the man behind the mask really is and what his agenda will be. He certainly never discussed it during the campaign in any detail. He had lots of rhetoric about change and other words that folks wanted to hear but was very thin on any kind of details.

And there in lies my hope. Being that he never really said what he was for or what he would do in detail, there is some hope and possibility that Obama will actually do some good things. Unfortunately, the few details he did provide, were the major problems I have with him. There is certainly more upside potential with him than there would have been if Hilary had been the Democratic nominee and won the election.

Some folks at work were joking this morning that they suddenly became rich last night. Or at least they did in the eyes of President elect Obama. I think we are in for an interesting four years and look forward to who this new President really is. Hopefully, I will be pleasantly surprised though I certainly won’t be holding my breath.

A military friend of mine summed it up in his blog last night when he said:

It’s night like this that soldiers man up, salute their new Commander-In-Chief, and go back to doing their jobs without complaint.

In the meantime, with the election over, I can now resume my regularly scheduled personal blogging now and go back to generally avoiding politics here.

Comments

  1. A very good analysis of the election outcome.
    I think let’s get behind the new Pres and hope for the best.

  2. Well said Steve. Time to respect the Presidency and support the man. Aside from the anti-Bush protest voters, a lot of Obama supporters I know just bought into his lofty rhetoric without even questioning the policies or the record. And heaven forbid you question them on those topics, because they get angry when you expose their apparent blind idolatry. Kind of scary, but makes me think about how overly charismatic leaders are sometimes the most dangerous.

    * Paul Tobin´s lastest post: Fall in Virginia

  3. LOL…Kontera placed an text-link on “anti-Bush” in my comment above that is advertising DC Condos inside the beltway……how funny is that!?

  4. what? an anti Bush ad on my site? Blasphemy!

    Actually, it is pretty funny but what the heck… Did you click on it and earn me some $$’s? jk…

  5. I’m still amazed by it all. The one question I have for you is regarding the statement made by coworkers about how they were going to be rich.

    Is this regarding the spreading of wealth; the big hubbub between Obama and Joe the Plumber? If so, doesn’t anyone remember Tido the Builder?

    “We don’t want no crumbs!”

    * Bernard Doddema, Jr.´s lastest post: Enjoy My Meds!

  6. No, not that they were going to be rich, but that they WERE now rich.

    It has to do with the day before the election, they certainly wouldn’t have considered themselves rich, but under the new Obama guidelines, they would be considered rich. a bit of sarcasm really.

  7. I’ve gone over this a dozen times with various people, and the only answer I can come up with that these normally intelligent people started to discus politics and it triggered some sort of ‘Pod People’ gene…

    I can still hear that mantra coming from their zombified remains… HATE BUSH – LOVE OBAMA… ad nausium …

    and still… it’s like some people don’t even know the election is over… that Obama won… they’re still talking about how Obama is a better choice…. as if they are trying to justify something that hasn’t happened yet… as if the mind ray had some sort of unforeseen after effects…

    At least one Obama voter that I’m aware of has already woken up and, as we sat for coffee, her explanation was that she wanted to see the first female presidency… but her hand went to Obama without her control… now she’s suffering from ‘Morning After’ regrets… sad… but scarey…

    * -Radio-´s lastest post: snopes.com: Why Women Should Vote

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