Started November 4th by going to work and discussing politics with co-workers. Heard the possible nightmare of sitting in long lines to vote and I wasn’t really looking forward to it, but it’s definately worth it to sit in line for any period of time to do my civic duty as a citizen.
Right after work, Holly and I went down to our voting place. From the time we got there until we left, it was all but about 45 minutes to an hour. Not bad from what we were expecting. Was a great experience, made me feel proud to be a citizen of a country that can vote for who the next leader will be for the next four years. I do not and will not hide the fact that I voted Libertarian for President. Speaking of which, this is probably the last time that I vote Libertarian (more on that later).
Anyway, got home thinking we would watch a little bit of the election coverage and a few results before heading to bed. Next thing you know, I am up until after midnight. My intention was to watch the east coast results and then go to bed. But after the east coast results came in and Florida still wasn’t decided either way, it kept me wondering if they were gonna screw it all up again ala 2000. Soon after those results, I was getting interested in how Texas would go, then Michigan, then Colorado, then California…I was sucked in.
I’m glad though because I got to see John McCain’s respectful concession speech. He bowed out gracefully and even took blame for his own campaign. About half an hour later was Barack Obama’s victory speech. I don’t know about anyone else, but that speech was an instant classic. It moved me because he basically made the point that we have come so far in the past one hundred years that you can only imagine what the world will be like in 2108. My congratulations to President Elect Barack Obama.
But don’t let the thrill of victory overshadow reality. Obama is inheriting the worst economy in our lifetime, a so-called war on two fronts, civil rights issues (gay marrriage), an energy crisis, etc. My personal opinion is this…and I think you’re gonna hear this alot in the next two months. President Obama has two years to “prove” himself and get things done or changed. With a Democratic majority in both the Senate and House, the next two years is gonna have to be the most productive of his term. I say that because in another two years, there is another election. If by 2010 his approval ratings are at around or below 50%, expect the Republicans to either take back their seats or claim majority of both the House and Senate. Then you really wanna talk about getting nothing done? That would be it and Obama would leave office having nothing accomplished. His best bet is that he stay true to his Liberal values, but attempt to stay close to the center as possible to his constituents in order to get this done in a timely manner.
Regardless of how things go or what kind of President he may or may not be, it’s definately got to be alot better than the last eight years. Let’s keep this in mind while moving forward and remember what things have been like. It can only get better from here…
