Well, it wasn’t even close. John McCain not only lost all the states he was supposed to, he lost states that GWB won in both 2000 and 2004. I switched the TV to a movie around 21:00; about the time that Fox News called Ohio for Obama. At that point I knew McCain was done since Obama was at 207 electoral votes without California. I was dismayed this morning when I discovered that McCain couldn’t even hold Florida, Virginia, Indiana, New Mexico, or Colorado. Basically, this was an old-fashioned whupping.
I’ve read several articles (here, here and here) today that essentially say the first thing I was thinking this morning: probably the best thing that Conservatives can hope for is that Obama the president will govern more like his general election rhetoric (center) and not like his voting record (far left). Even though the election didn’t go Conservatives’ way, things aren’t as bad as they may seem today. And it’s a good thing that America has finally elected its first black president. We’ve come a long way from the racial rancor of the 50’s and 60’s to now.
It appears that even though we’ve been told by both sides that this is the “Most Important Election In Our Lifetimes”that turnout was a little less than the 2004 election. So I guess not that many people cared about making history by voting for either the first black president or the first woman vice president. It also appears that we’ll have to wait until next election for the mythic “Youth Vote” to show up en masse. Yes even though Obama galvanized and energized all those youth, it turns out that they still couldn’t put down their bongs and bags of Cheetos long enough to get off their asses and vote (early numbers show 18-29 year-olds constituted about 18% of the total as opposed to 17% in 2004).
A friend of mine and I were talking about what happened and I think it was this: McCain just couldn’t outrun all the times he’s crapped on the Republican party. I think that the base just didn’t turn up to vote for him. He fired up Republicans with the Palin pick but then soured things by botching her roll-out. In the end, I think too many Republicans saw him as a RINO (Republican In Name Only) and just decided to stay home.
I guess we’ll see how things play out over the next four years. The Democrats didn’t get to the filibuster-proof 60 seats in the senate, so they won’t necessarily be able to ram anything they want through congress.
My hope is that Obama decides to govern with all Americans in mind. That he moves to the center and doesn’t just rubber stamp everything Pelosi and Reid send his way.
Here’s to “Hope”
My Head Just Exploded! 