The "how I will be watching the election results" thread

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staypuft

bwah bwah
here's what I'm the most happy about:

The end of the Reagan/Rove right.

this election was one of unity, not one of divisiveness as before. to be sure it's be a rough road ahead and I don't think Obama is a political messiah, but the message this sends to the American people and the world is very powerful.
 
E

elgato

I just dont know
i find myself torn between excstatic happiness at the symbolic and transient meaning of the event, most importantly what it seems to mean for a lot of people in the US, and instinctive concern about what implications that may have for the future. 1997 and what that meant to my parents looms large in my mind

i initially had very significant doubts about Obama, but the more i've engaged with the substance of his campaign the more i've started to feel that if anyone could affect change from within a western political system then its him

either way, some of the sentiments that yesterday reportedly evoked from people in the US are really quite moving, and that politics has had that power i think means a lot, or at least something
 
E

elgato

I just dont know
droid said:
Fantastic. Lets hope its not 1997 all over again. :D
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yeh, stakes are high i think

on another more pragmatic, short-term note its just blatantly far better for the world in the immediate years that McCain and Palin aren't in charge
 
matt b

matt b

Indexing all opinion
even Niall Ferguson expressed his support for Obama on Today this morning. Simon Schama pissed himself.

I don't normallygive a shit about party politics, especially American ones, but I listened to the radio on and off last night, hoping beyond hope that McCain wouldn't win, after running a horribly simplistic and nasty campaign.

Obama may not have any firm policies yet, but boy he gives some hope for the possibility of a better world. Listening to his acceptance speech, he is clearly a thoughtful and eloquant man, who understands the subtleties of human existence, unlike the baying McCain supporters.

How are the late night drinking/tv watching crew feeling this am?
 
Grievous Angel

Grievous Angel

Beast of Burden
It's a warm, damp, misty day in Sheffield today with lovely mellow autumn colours everywhere and I am drifting around with a heavy, hungover head, tired, but happy.
 
C

crackerjack

Well-known member
CNN is in the Japanese town of Obama, where they are going nutzoid.

Kenya has declared a national holiday.

McCain redeemed himself somewhat with an excellent concession speech at the end of a grubby campaign. it's a shame he had to go out like that, but if you're going to be the candidate of the nasty party, you can't expect to win playing nice.

even Niall Ferguson expressed his support for Obama on Today this morning.
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In a 'let's all come together way'? Or is he making out he was rooting for him all along? I suppose it's possible - any claims the GOP had on the intellectual high ground were ceded the moment they picked Palin.
 
B

BareBones

wheezy
Grievous Angel said:
Excellent piece by Daniel FInkelstein in the Times today on why this is the end of the republicans as we have come to know them since Reagan.
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that is a good read. just read one of the comments below the article:

"This is of course momentous, but it is what happens in the next four years that counts. If America fails to change this may be the first and last time a non-white is president. The rhetoric for change is appealing but the reality is a terrible unequalled mess which may well be insoluble in one term"

this kind of thought has been lurking at the back of my mind, too -- what do you guys think?
 
Grievous Angel

Grievous Angel

Beast of Burden
Grist to boomnoise's mill. In a sense the onion is right - it is the worst job in america. There is probably very little he can do in one term. Failure - in some, significant, degree - is preordained. He can still make a difference though, and I believe he will.
 
C

crackerjack

Well-known member
Grievous Angel said:
Excellent piece by Daniel FInkelstein in the Times today on why this is the end of the republicans as we have come to know them since Reagan.
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The stuff on the changing demographics is interesting - it was obvious Obama would win NM and probably Nevada, but he took them by 15 and 12% respectively. o New mexico is now as safe as New Jersey, Nevada safer than Minnesota. That's seismic.

The GOP has lost half the desert and if they don't move beyond their deep south/farm states/real America base, they're fucked for a generation.
 
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