layla: (FEMA)
Layla ([personal profile] layla) wrote2008-11-06 12:03 pm
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Post-election notes

The very, very good:

President-Elect Barack Obama. I still grin when I type that. His acceptance speech was inspiring, and McCain's concession speech was gracious and classy. Obama's not perfect and I may not be on board with every element of his party's platform, but I'm so much more pleased with him, from everything I've seen in the debates and so forth, than with any President in my lifetime -- I'm really looking forward to seeing where the next four years go. The more I learn of him, the more I like him. And what could be more of a success story than this -- a first-generation immigrant's son, going in four years from total unknown, to a (near) landslide election to the highest office in the land. America, right now, you seriously kick ass.

The bad:

Alaska, Alaska, Alaska. What is wrong with us? I mean, seriously ... is it so painful to vote for a (moderate, pro-development, pro-gun-rights) Democrat that 50% of us will vote for a convicted felon instead?

And California's Prop. 8 passed (as well as the other anti-gay initiatives in other states). I have no words for how disgusted and angry I am. A legal challenge has already been filed in California, and apparently the 18,000 existing marriages will not be invalidated (as yet), so ... waiting, just waiting.

[identity profile] laylalawlor.livejournal.com 2008-11-07 08:25 pm (UTC)(link)
The non-screwy explanation is that Alaskans just weren't particularly fired up to get out and vote. Most of the conservatives that I know were having trouble getting enthusiastic about McCain, and Palin's popularity at home plummeted like a rock the longer she was allowed to, well, talk on the national stage. And the Democrats may have just gotten complacent because of the polls that showed Stevens and Young with a 20-point lead and stayed home. What I've heard from a few people is that the polls were crowded in the morning but tapered off in the afternoon (as Obama's win became a sure thing). If there *were* a bunch of Dems and independents who stayed home, though, I bet they're kicking themselves now ...