Current mood:

surprised

Election '08 recap
Historical Significance
Personally, I never thought that anyone other than a WASP male would get elected. So much for that mindset. Whether Barack Obama ends up the real deal or just a token like JFK being a token Catholic president will be up to history.

Governor's Race
Here in North Carolina, three very likable candidates (the only contest where I could have voted for any of the listed candidates) ran to replace term-limited Mike Easley. I voted for his successor, Lieutenant Governor Beverly Perdue, because she had some good ideas and also has ties to the the parks and recreation industry. Her major party opponent, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, could have taken some of his pro-transit ideas up to Raleigh, but his problems were the fact that it was a Democratic year and his speech at the '04 GOP convention highly praising the current lame duck in chief. As a result, the Charlotte Curse lives on. Finally, there was Libertarian Mike Munger, a Duke professor who would have been a refreshing alternative to the major parties.

And Now The Hard Part
I have been saying since April 2006 that no matter who succeeded Bush that the 44th president would have it really rough simply because of the mess that person would have to clean up—two wars and possible third with Iran, an economy that is going in the crapper faster than the Lions' season, a rising deficit, worldwide terrorism, and the decline of America as a superpower. I've asked often “who would even want this job?” Obama has a lot to clean up—and a lot of impatient Americans. Think about it, if he stumbles, the 44th prez will have lot in common with the 31st, and none of it good. This would be due to Americans having such a short attention span that if things aren't back to the good days of 1997-2000, Barack Obama will be looked at as a failure. Since we're bailing out all of these companies, I think that thing will get worse...and worse, not things getting worse before they get better. My reaction to the new president is to be cautious.

Palin: Strong Woman or Delicate Flower?
Which one is it conservatives? Once she was selected as John McCain's running mate, the Republican base went gaga. When all that stuff came out about her daughter being pregnant among other things, it was almost as if a Bible got burned. Then again, with their track record against strong women, social conservatives have mostly ripped female political figures who don't fit their mold of what a woman should be, hence the delicate flower reference.

Lousy Alternatives
This was a very bad year for any alternatives to the two-party system given the overwhelming early support for Obama, Hillary, and Ron Paul among the youth. Anyhow, the main third party and independent candidates were underwhelming. Ralph Nader took money from globalists earlier this decade and is part of the problem. Bob Barr—even though he apologized for it—was a member of the Council of Conservative Citizens back in 1998. The southern-based group is a spinoff of old White Citizens Council groups and is pretty much the Klan in business suits. Chuck Baldwin is so far to the right that he was simply unelectable. As far as Cynthia McKinney goes, she's the polar opposite of Baldwin, and she got into trouble with Capitol Hill police in 2006.