Election Stuff

Of course, everybody should know Barack Obama won the election yesterday, so hopefully that's not news. I happen to think that the correct candidate won. Honestly, this was the first time for me, in any election, that I felt like there actually was a right candidate. I usually get the feeling that I'm choosing the lesser of two evils. Hell, I even broke down and voted for Nader in 2000.

Even if I didn't believe in Obama anyway, the ugliness put forth by McCain and Palin, particularly in the late stages of their campaign, surely would have changed my mind. It wasn't just unethical, it was downright disgusting. At least McCain, a man who I previously had the utmost respect for, seemed somewhat torn between keeping things dignified and doing what he thought it took to win. As shown during this now famous clip of a woman calling Obama an "a-rab" at a recent rally, McCain seemed to have had enough of the hate mongering that his campaign passively supported. I give him credit for at least realizing what a monster he had created, even if it was too little too late. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, well...if there was ever anyone that I'd be truly scared to have in the White House, it's her. She's like George W. Bush, except twice as racist and ten times more ignorant, and I didn't think that was even possible. In other words, she's the perfect GOP puppet, so look for her to resurface in 2012.

While the presidential election was certainly my main focus, there was other races happening that I found particularly interesting. Firstly, the senate race in Palin's home state of Alaska (go figure) has me perplexed. In that race, the Republican incumbent Ted Stevens is currently leading with 48% of the vote against Mark Begich, who has 47%, with 99% of precincts reported (they're still counting absentee ballots). The puzzler for me is not only why Stevens is winning, but why it's even close at all. Why is Stevens even running? Just in case you missed it, Stevens was convicted on seven counts of felony corruption. He's a convicted felon, but was allowed to continue his campaign since he's appealing the ruling. I don't know whether that says more about Alaskans or Begich, Stevens' opponent. Begich must be a supreme d-bag if Alaskans are saying they'd rather be represented by a proven crook. Regardless of that nonsense, even high profile members of Stevens' own party are calling for him to step down, saying that even if he wins the election and refuses to resign, they're going to run him out of the building anyway. Take the hint, Stevens. It's not a subtle one, either.

After all votes have been counted in the Minnesota senate race, Al Franken and Norm Coleman finished just 477 votes apart (that number has since been updated to just 206 votes) out of a total of close to 2.9 million votes that were cast. A recount has already been called for, and let's hope this doesn't turn into another Florida situation.

Finally, if you were watching coverage on CNN, you may have caught Wolf Blitzer's interview with Jessica Yellin via hologram. It was "sorta" cool in a Star Wars kind of way (Yellin even references Princess Leia), but completely over-the-top and unnecessary. I wonder how much they spent on that. I hope it wasn't much.