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US elections - voting day, results and what not!

Obama might be the most popular but in terms of getting the votes counted the Dems are screwed again. At best its going to be a lot closer than people are expecting.
 
embree said:
small village in traditional swing state goes Democrat for the first time in 40 years.

When the rest of New Hampshire and the US wakes up and sees that - bandwagon time. Obama's supporters will turn out in force to make history and the soft Republicans will stay home.
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Doesn't sound like the folk of Dixville Notch are too good at picking the winners though - the last Democrat they picked was Hubert Humphrey.

The place sounds a bit like the town where Punxsatawney Phil decides how soon spring is coming - maybe Bill Murray should get to work on 'Election Day,' sequel to 'Groundhog Day'...
 
Johnny Canuck2 said:
I feel something about the election tomorrow. It isn't anxiety; not trepidation. A bit like nervousness.

It's a turning point in US history, and one of their most important elections in decades. It's been said that at this point in time, the US requires a Roosevelt, a Lincoln even, to get and keep the country on keel. And the election of a black president, should such occur, signals the beginning of a potential sea change in that country.
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Nicely put Johnny! :)
 
Johnny Canuck2 said:
I feel something about the election tomorrow. It isn't anxiety; not trepidation. A bit like nervousness.

It's a turning point in US history, and one of their most important elections in decades. It's been said that at this point in time, the US requires a Roosevelt, a Lincoln even, to get and keep the country on keel. And the election of a black president, should such occur, signals the beginning of a potential sea change in that country.
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Whilst not downplaying the social significance of a black president do you think America will be a better palce simply as a result of havign a black/mixed race president? How did having the black woman Condoleeza Rice help? Or Judge Clarence Thomas? Ron Brown? ie black men and women in positions of power in America, actually help in any way? Is it, as is my own eprsonal opinionh, whilst not underestimating the 'importance' of a black president in reality slightly nicer 'window dressing' on the same house?

Awaits avalanche of criticism.
 
Johnny Canuck2 said:
I feel something about the election tomorrow. It isn't anxiety; not trepidation. A bit like nervousness.

It's a turning point in US history, and one of their most important elections in decades. It's been said that at this point in time, the US requires a Roosevelt, a Lincoln even, to get and keep the country on keel. And the election of a black president, should such occur, signals the beginning of a potential sea change in that country.
Click to expand...

America's capacity to adapt and reinvent itself can't be discounted. I guess the 'idea' of America is too powerful to be destroyed by a goofy manchild like Bush43.

Thatcher was right about everything obviously but she was particularly perceptive when she said that Europe was created by history but America was created by philosophy.
 
More comic relief:

Bush spokesman admits his absence from campaign trail is due to unpopularity.

"Everybody would like to be popular. We can all remember that back in high school, everyone really wanted to be popular, and some of us just weren’t." :D

http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/2008/11/03/bush-out-of-sight-but-keeping-eye-on-election/

Yeah, I can remember in high school the kid who got the school involved in a war that killed thousands of students was really unpopular for a while...
 
I don't see how having a black President is that significant, surely the policies of that person is much more important than the arbitrary notion of race. The U.S. is definitely not as racist as people think, and no where near as racist as it has been in the past.
 
N_igma said:
I don't see how having a black President is that significant, surely the policies of that person is much more important than the arbitrary notion of race. The U.S. is definitely not as racist as people think, and no where near as racist as it has been in the past.
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Surely because of America's past the is why having a Black president is significant.

As i'm not an American I take my lead on this from them. Obama's race has played a large part in debate during these elections. It doesn't make American's racist, it is just part of the legacy of their past with regards race. Denying that doesn't make it go away, imo it just makes it harder to overcome/move on.

Of course it should only be about policies but the reality is unfortunately very different.
 
The Republicans have based a lot of their campaign on Obama being black. It has been a big part of the presidential contest that obama is black. it's one of those sad but true things :(
 
Virtually every person I know is asking me - texting, emailing, calling:

what are you doing on election night?

I think my answer is: running (not for office) and yoga. And then finding out who the next president is.
 
N_igma said:
I don't see how having a black President is that significant, surely the policies of that person is much more important than the arbitrary notion of race. The U.S. is definitely not as racist as people think, and no where near as racist as it has been in the past.
Click to expand...

It is in the US, with its recent history of disenfranchisement (it was only in 1965 that blacks were actually given the right to vote; in the south, they were often prevented from doing so by a combination of the poll tax, grandfather laws and intimidation). So, should Obama get elected to the White House, it will represent a step forward. Sadly, the US will remain a major belligerent on the world stage.

He isn't "black", he's mixed race.
 
I'm so excited. And nervous. Both of us not going to work tomorrow in this house, staying up all night.

Was going to election party but think staying in ftw.
 
D said:
Virtually every person I know is asking me - texting, emailing, calling:

what are you doing on election night?

I think my answer is: running (not for office) and yoga. And then finding out who the next president is.
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:D Sounds like a good plan D.
I have caught election fever, I dread to think what the atmosphere is like over there in the US. It must be pretty overwhelming.
 
Rutita1 said:
Surely because of America's past the is why having a Black president is significant.
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Exactly. It shouldn't make any actual difference to his presidency or his policies. But given the historical context, you can hardly ignore the *symbolic* significance of having a black president. Or the fact that his racial origin has mobilised portions of the electorate who previously felt excluded from politics.

I'm not holding out unrealistic hope about what to expect from an Obama presidency, but I'm utterly excited about the historic nature of the occasion tonight - I'm going to be out celebrating (or commisserating :hmm: ) all night.
 
beeboo said:
I'm not holding out unrealistic hope about what to expect from an Obama presidency, but I'm utterly excited about the historic nature of the occasion tonight
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Well put beeboo. That pretty much sums up my feelings too.

I have read comments and seen pictures in the last two weeks that have moved me to tears. This is a big deal in the history of the US. I connect with it on many different levels, also in ways I wasn't entirely aware of. I imagine many do, some for the same reasons, some for very different ones.

The fact that those emotions have reached out and engaged people all over the world says a lot IMO.
 
D said:
Virtually every person I know is asking me - texting, emailing, calling:

what are you doing on election night?

I think my answer is: running (not for office) and yoga. And then finding out who the next president is.
Click to expand...

I would have voted for you!
 
Good, but small, start

Was about to post the Hampshire results, but it's been done already.

I'm actually terribly excited and aprehensive about this :eek:

IMO the main significance of Obama winning will be the message of unity - it's not about him being black, it's about him being both black and white.
 
I really hope that Obama wins this. The main result will be getting rid of the Republican control in the States. I fear that there will be a lot of disappointment when he has been in power a while. I worry that it will be the same as what happened under Blair here in the UK. Lots of people had their hopes raised but in the end there was no change of political direction. Yet we must give Obama a chance to make change.
 
A lot of Republicans are backtracking saying that this is not as important election as is being made out.

But for one thing, it will mark the death throes of the Republican consensus.
 
Iemanja said:
IMO the main significance of Obama winning will be the message of unity - it's not about him being black, it's about him being both black and white.
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That's a good point Iemanja, one sadly I believe that hasn't been made enough.

The fact that Obama is identified and identifies as black is very much representative of the one drop rule and how it is still present in American society/other places in the world. It's the politics of race very much at work.
 
Dillinger4 said:
A lot of Republicans are backtracking saying that this is not as important election as is being made out.

But for one thing, it will mark the death throes of the Republican consensus.
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As in a schism between moderate, secular Repugs and their swivel-eyed, bible thumping counterparts? Who would win a battle for the soul of the GOP? Would the Christians take it just by dint of their fearsome capacity for mass mobilisation? Judging by the turnouts on the Palinopalooza tour, I'd say that the core Republican vote seems fairly clearly demarcated.
 
bendeus said:
As in a schism between moderate, secular Repugs and their swivel-eyed, bible thumping counterparts? Who would win a battle for the soul of the GOP? Would the Christians take it just by dint of their fearsome capacity for mass mobilisation? Judging by the turnouts on the Palinopalooza tour, I'd say that the core Republican vote seems fairly clearly demarcated.
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Not quite.

The groups you mention have always been the base of the Republican consensus. The party has simply run out of ideas.

An excellent article, by you have the time:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/05/26/080526fa_fact_packer
 
Rutita1 said:
The fact that Obama is identified and identifies as black is very much representative of the one drop rule and how it is still present in American society/other places in the world. It's the politics of race very much at work.
Click to expand...

Should African-Americans with some European blood be called something different from African-Americans with no European blood?
 
Yossarian said:
Should African-Americans with some European blood be called something different from African-Americans with no European blood?
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If they want to yes.
That is entirely up to them.
My point was about how the ODR is present in how people identify others and themselves in terms of race.

Obama's mixed parentage and experience should have been a unifier for more people than it has IMO.
 
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