posted by perkiset on Nov 5

Last night, at precisely 9:00pm MST, I was at the Sonoran Brew House and had a Hefeweizen to my lips as I saw the polls in CA (among others) close and expected CNN to call a few more states. How shocked was I when they called the race! It was a moment akin to “Where were you when Bobby was shot” or “Where were you when the Challenger blew up?” I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.

There’s little need to go much into depth here, since you can find any number of sources for your rants and raves about the election. I will say though that I was genuinely impressed by McCain’s grace (although frankly, given whom he is I expected nothing less) during his concession speech and equally impressed how much President-elect Obama gave the credit away and made his speech about the US and the people, rather than himself. I believe we’re entering a new phase in American politics and I’m pleased about the direction.

In honor of this new direction, I’ll be making a couple changes. My avatar on my favorite forums has been a whimsical Bush either as a pimp, or a crowned Nazi flipping us off or a gun-toting John McCain. I’m going to need something new. Additionally, the barbed wire header here on my blog will need to slip away as the constraints on our country begin to ease. I am also dead certain that President Elect Barack Obama would MUCH prefer that this blog was an all-CSS, non table layout with semantic markup and specialized techniques to maximize my rankings in the search engines. I’m certain of it.

One bitter note: I was distressed at the passing of several pieces of hate legislation, specifically targeting gays. At first it was really quizzical because, here we’re voting for tolerance and inclusion and yet we slap the GLBT community down.

Or perhaps we didn’t. Perhaps we simply, selfishly voted for the economy and the net results of 8 years of a hate-based divisive government has finally done it’s evil work. What then my friends?

Well, perhaps the answer is that along with a president that will focus on the economy, new directions in energy technology and our world status, we’ve hired a man that will assist our country in gently moving away from positions of hate, divisiveness and exclusion. Perhaps President-elect Obama will assist us all in moving towards a future that integrates compassion and inclusion into our capitalist democracy. Is it so much to hope, that with a fresh new direction comes a long awaited peace between people?

Is it finally time that we can stop wearing bracelets that say “What Would Jesus Do?” (clearly because the wearing has no damn idea), and actually GET that hate is not a family value? Instead of “Who Would Jesus Hate” which seems to be our international diplomacy baseline, can we not decide to ask “How can we assist?” Isn’t it about time that we took this nation, the greatest on all the earth, for a little spin and see what it can do if our efforts are more in line with the entire world, rather than just our own selfish desires?

I’m on the bus, hope you are too. I’m going to hope that there will soon be legislation on the table of both the federal government as well as localities that forever forbids denying the most basic of American gifts - the pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness - in the form of marriage to people that don’t fit the so-called Christian model. I’m going to hope that in the years to come we will get past the antiquated and vapor-locked ideology that has choked our country for too long now. I’m going to hope that there is hope for us yet.

BTW: Obama ‘12!
I hear CNN will be airing his announcement to run this morning.

posted by perkiset on Nov 3

In a stunning upset, Barack Obama has taken Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, 15 votes to John McCain’s 6!

Well known for their quaint tradition of being the first in the nation to vote and close it’s polls, the tiny town with a population of about 3 dozen has gone Republican in every one of it’s first-moment-after-midnight elections since 1960 when the tradition was created, the only exception begin Humphrey in ‘68. At exactly midnight, the townsfolk gather at the Balsalms resort, cast their ballots, count them and announce the winner - all in the space of about 20 minutes. It’s a hoot.

Although not necessarily a strong representative sample of the area it’s fun to see, from the first moment of voting, just how interesting this election is going to be.

Congrats Mr. Obama, on an impressive and hard earned victory!

posted by perkiset on Nov 3

Here is strong data to back up my suppositions and the hopes of all Democrats, Progressives and Liberals for tomorrow. As usual, 538 does an incredible job of distilling an awesome mountain of data into information and this post is no exception. The net-net for those that like to go galloping straight down to the clitoris: John McCain’s chances of winning tomorrow? 1.6%.

Here’s the link: Today’s Polls at 538.

posted by perkiset on Nov 3

Tomorrow we vote and decide on the direction we want our country to move for the next 4 years… however in this case, the choice is considerably more important than simple “direction.” Since there are fundamental differences between Obama’s plans and McCain’s, there are obvious superficial differences. But no less important is the fact that 3 of the 4 liberal judges on the Supreme Court are old and look as though they may not make it through the next 4 years without retiring. This means that an Obama presidency can essentially maintain the status quo (a somewhat balanced court) where a McCain presidency can appoint judges that profoundly shifts the court to a conservative approach, affecting most certainly the remains of my life, but perhaps even the majority of my childrens’.

Your vote has never been more important. Please make sure you get the the polls and if you have trouble, blow the whistle immediately. CNN has a voter hotline and will point you in the right direction to work through your issue straight away. The number is 877-462-6608.

How we look at the moment: Currently, about 1/3rd of prospective voters have probably cast their ballot early. Polling indicates a huge advantage for Obama, in the 58% to 37% zone across the board. Bear in mind, however, that these voters would have voted whether it was early or on Tuesday, so that’s no indication of the final result. It does, however, mean that John McCain will need to pull about a 10% advantage across the board on Tuesday to merely eke out a victory. And the electoral map is pretty bad for him as well - lightening will pretty much need to strike for it to happen, but it can happen. Watch Pennsylvania and Virgina - if they fall to Obama early, it’s a done deal.

ERGO: You are not allowed to sluff off on voting tomorrow. We are NOT out of the woods. Regardless how long it takes, you MUST execute your American birthright and cast your vote. GObama!

posted by perkiset on Nov 2

When I was in high school, I had a Social Studies teacher named Jim Mamer. He was a Birkenstock wearing, bearded extreme liberal that also favored the Second Amendment because an armed populace is the best way to keep a government at bay. He was an interesting one, that’s for sure. But the thing I took away most was his Proposition Parties. These were things he threw every election cycle where he’d invite his friends over for debate and discussion about all the propositions on the ballot.

Over the last 30 yearsish since, I’ve had proposition parties on various occasions, but none such a blast as I did this season.

A bit ago, PinkHat and I had several friends over for a night of buffet style dinner, lots and lots of good wine and finally, the debate. I moderate them, and there are a couple rules:

• No presidential politics
• No partisan bickering
• Be tough on the issue, easy on each other
• No one’s opinion is any less valid than anyone else
• The goal is not to create a voting bloc, but instead have everyone leave the room at the end of the night feeling smarter about how they will vote on each of the propositions.

This year was AWESOME! I was particularly pleased, because I was moved from Yes to No on one issue and No to Undecided on another - IMO, that’s about as good as it gets - respectful debate that, when disinfected by the sunlight of lots of thinking, passionate and energetic people, moves someone into a space that they did not expect and are happy with.

It’s a little late this cycle for you to throw one, but you might consider it for Monday night - a quick get-together of your mates and theirs that can discuss the issues and increase the excitement about our democracy. It is important to remember, that our democracy is OUR DEMOCRACY and action such as this, repeated thousands of times in thousands of venues, is what moves a populace towards a better republic. If we rely on the people we vote for to do all the changin’ - then we’ll only get a small subset of what we want - only then if we’re lucky.

Tuesday November 4th we vote. It is on that day we honor the blood and lives of men and women that fought for our right to do so. Do not spit upon their efforts or graves and sit home. Exercise your birthright and vote. Of course I’d prefer if you voted my way, but I’d rather you vote against and have voted, than not to have voted at all.