Election Thoughts

A collection of random comments from last night.

  • By far, the best moment of the night was when someone (who would remember) said: “this feels like Kennedy”. It seems all of the “we’re making history” sentiment is not imaginary.
  • I didn’t think I’d ever see masses of people on the streets of San Francisco chanting “USA! USA! USA!”. You see, the left coast liberal elite loves America too, we just sometimes can’t get excited about it.
  • McCain’s concession speech reenforced by belief that he’s a good man, who I happen to disagree with on many points, but still a good man. Unfortunately, campaigns exist to win, and will work to win at all costs.
  • Obama’s acceptance speech reenforced my belief that his even-temperament is his best quality. Can you imagine how different the last eight years would have been if we’d had an executive leader who made decisions with full information, made them methodically, and didn’t allow his emotions to dictate policy?
  • In case you still wonder whether third party candidates can affect elections, Missouri is still too close to call today, and the gap between Obama and McCain is smaller than the number of votes received by the fifth place candidate. Currently: McCain: 1,442,613; Obama: 1,436,745; Nader: 17,769; Barr: 11,355; Baldwin: 8,181. Source (as of November 5, 2008, 2:53 PM PST)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 at 4:00 pm.

3 Responses to “Election Thoughts”

  1. Steph Liu Says:
    November 5th, 2008 at 4:26 pm

    Agreed on all points!

    We were walking around Polk St./in Rex Cafe when CNN called the election, and besides one guy honking while driving down the street, there was no huge public reaction, though there was clapping in the restaurant and we all turned up the sound to listen. I feel a little disappointed in that – sounds like I should have been more south in the city :)

  2. urban_ mermaid Says:
    November 7th, 2008 at 10:53 am

    Ryan, your second point makes me choke up a little. Well said, well said. Already shared with many friends. I’m still amazed we did this and it’s a pleasure to once again have voted for the winning president.
    Historic moment — with many bottles of champagne at home allowed me to show my own children that there’s a new world of possibilities out there for everyone and that we, America, are working towards greater acceptance and integration of all our peoples.

  3. Jean-Eric Says:
    November 7th, 2008 at 10:27 pm

    “Unfortunately, campaigns exist to win, and will work to win at all costs”: did you get an eye on ‘nonzero’ ?
    then you could envision another path…