I'm sure there will be more, but... 1. Surprisingly, Stevens seems to have won in Alaska. I believe the Mitch McConnell has said there's no way he'll be seated in the next Senate or something of the sort (according to CNN). That will be interesting. 2. Turnout was not all the impressive. After all the talk about record turnout, we may not break 2004 levels. In California, it seems like we had about 20% *lower* turnout than 2004 with about 10 million votes compared to over 12 million four years ago. What happened here?
The poetic symmetry of history Consider these two things: 1. The modern conservative movement began with the crushing defeat of Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential race. The modern conservative movement ends with the crushing defeat of Arizona Sen. John McCain -- who took Goldwater's Senate seat upon his retirement -- in the 2008 presidential race. 2. Modern liberalism began its implosion with riots in Chicago's Grant Park at the 1968 Democratic Convention. Tonight, modern liberalism is reborn at Chicago's Grant Park, where a black Chicago Democrat will celebrate winning the presidency. http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2008/11/the-poetic-symmetry-of-history.html
Before the election, I told my father how someone from Florida had transferred the title of "dumbest state" to Texas because of the poll that said 23% of Texans still believe Obama is a Muslim. My father said that title would soon be taken away by Alaska when they elect Ted Stevens back to the senate. He also predicted that once Stevens has to step down, Palin will attempt to take his seat.
WTF is it with Alaska? Not only Stevens, but Young. If Coleman hangs on, that means two sitting US Senators will be dealing with immediate legal issues. CA also passed an amendment doing away with gay marriage.
That's screwed up. Whereas other states voted to ban gay marriage as well, those states had no existing law regarding gay marriage. California did. It was legal. They voted to take away an existing right which is pretty messed up. It seems like we can't exist without some form of discrimination. Religion, Race, Gender, and now Sexual Orientation.
Obama got more Jewish voters than Kerry. (Not really an oddity, but since some on here were so concerned about Obama's problems with Jewish voters, it's worth noting.)
I've seen the 130 million #, but it doesn't match up with actual vote totals. Obama and McCain combined have 118 million votes, with almost all the votes tallied (it was 122 mill in 2004). I don't see where 12 million votes could be hiding at this point. Another quirk - according to CNBC, of all the different demographic groups that are tracked, the one that swung the most net change to Obama were voters making $200k+ per year, the exact people who were told to be scared because Obama would redistribute their wealth.
See I heard opposite numbers on NPR this morning - they said obama did well with under 100K and with above 250k but had most trouble in the middle of the two.
Generally speaking the most educated part of the electorate-- the type that did not think Palin was qualified and were tired of the Bush level of incompetence.
I thought the California ballot measures results were bizarre. 61% voted for that socialist, liberal Obama guy.....yet they overturn gay marriage (which IMO is a much stronger statement then just not allowing it in the first place)., and at the same time they vote against a 48 hour waiting period and parental notification for abortions for minors. Californians.....explain yourselves!
Makes sense. I would have thought the granola hippy libs would have carried the day...but maybe not. If that's the case though...still curious they voted down parental notification for abortion.
I think the Prop 8 vote needs to be looked at differently. They had already voted to not allow gay marriage and had the courts overrule them. There was a strong rise of feelings that government was subverting the will of the people, and that drove a lot of them to the polls for that issue. It didn't help that Newsome in San Fran spouted off constantly about it with things like "Whether you like it or not!"
