MetaChat is an informal place for MeFites to touch base and post, discuss and
chatter about topics that may not belong on MetaFilter. Questions? Check the FAQ. Please note: This is important.
I really, really wish I could stop crying. People were dancing in the street. There were literally about twenty people dancing and jumping up and down on Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo, NY. In the street. And cheering. And the cars are all making victory honks and shouting OBAMA out the windows.
This is like a dream. Happy doesn't even begin to describe it.
I checked the local news sites and all the anonymous Internet commentators seem to be convinced that Obama's a Mason and a Jew, so I guess not that much has changed.
Damn you, Sky News. I switched on this morning (I tried to stay up last night but was done by 11pm) to see a map of the US showing McCain at 158 and Obama at 92.
WTF? Nooooo!
Then when my brain was caffeinated, I realised they were talking about the colleges Obama had won in the swing states.
Also, last evening when I was watching the news reports, I was so very moved to see people saying they had waited in line for hours to vote for the very first time, people who had felt that their voices had never been heard before.
And I can't wait for the Republican staffers to dish the dirt on Palin ...
Every time I've heard Obama's speech on the radio today, I've cried.
If only the UK had a politician with even half as much charisma. Hateful and evil she may have been, but Thatcher had charisma and the ability to rally voters to her cause.
Obama said this was a victory not just for him, but for the voters and the volunteers. As somsone who has lent him my passionate support since January, I agree. This was a victory of the people, by the people, and for the people. An inclusive and focused campaign with the right set of priorities.
And, apart from the historical significance of the first AA president, I'm just so thrilled that I can be proud of my country again. Proud. This is my America, and he's my President. I haven't been able to say that for at least eight years.
The next four years are not going to be easy, but we will have a leader worthy of trust, with good judgement, and a fair mind. That is reason for joy.
I thought McCain's concession speech was very gracious. But, gracious though he is now, he had few scruples during the campaign, and hired the very people to run his campaign who had so viciously destroyed him in his bid to become Republican candidate in 2000.
It looks like the Minnesota race is going to go to a recount, with a difference of less than 1,000 votes between Al Franken and Sen. Coleman. This (along with the Georgia senate race that looks like will go to a runoff election) is an incredibly important race for democrats.
I'm overjoyed with the Obama win, but it took getting just about every single break that could possibly happen. It took a standing Republican president with just about the worst approval rating ever, it took a total economic meltdown, a hopeless war, a splintering Republican party, a Republican candidate not much supported by his peers whose greatest weakness was the economy, and the campaign team for hell. Worst. Campaign. Advisers. EVAR.
And in addition to all that, on the other side, it took the best organized, most tightly run, most enthusiastic grassroots campaign effort ever seen, with the most eloquent, intelligent, charismatic candidate since JFK (and I'd rate him much higher, personally). Without any of those things, this celebration wouldn't be happening, and that is the amazing thing... how close it was.
Also, I say dems need to get some of the party's promising, sharp young things into position in the south. This is the first time in nearly 50 years that the U.S. has elected a democratic president that wasn't from the south.
Without any of those things, this celebration wouldn't be happening, and that is the amazing thing... how close it was
I agree, taz. It was still far too close to make any sense to me - nearly half our country's voters are still anti-progress and/or single-issue, and that's upsetting.
On the other hand, I think that during Obama's time in office he may be part of a general shift in the culture. The demographics of this country are gradually changing, and with every four years, there are more voters of color, more younger voters, and so on. And the organization of this campaign will, I hope, spill out into continued community activism on the part of at least some volunteers. And finally, if Obama is successful in implementing a broad social agenda that gives people good nationally supported health care, jobs programs, and so on, he will win hearts and minds like you can't believe. One reason Roosevelt enjoys such a warm remembrance is that he employed people. He gave them jobs, income, and a dignified and meaningful existence. People employed in the CCC (in which my grandparents met) and for the WPA and the like knew where their checks were coming from. They experienced the power of what good government could do for families, infrastructure, and American culture, and they didn't forget it.
But Roosevelt had plenty of detractors at the beginning, too.
We have reason to hope that this isn't the end of change for America, but the start of change for America. And it still starts with us, - though it sure helps that we were finally smart enough to find a good leader and use a good strategy to make this initial, pivotal change happen. It's a catalyst.
Also, I say dems need to get some of the party's promising, sharp young things into position in the south.
Yes, yes, and again yes. Obama won NC, and only lost Georgia by 5 points (GA voted for Clinton in the 90s), both of which show it CAN be done if the Dems don't just write the south off.