"He Brought America New Hope"

We sell you cheesey tchotckes!

-AF

"Center-Right" Is The New Black

...among many pundits. They cannot accept an electorate that has completely rejected their Weltanschauung. To cope these pundits comfort themselves by substituting this silly "the US is now center-right" fantasy (here, here, here, here) for our mutual reality (i.e. not so much).

A CNN poll out today shows:

59 percent of those questioned think that Democratic control of both the executive and legislative branches will be good for the country, with 38 percent saying that such one-party control will be bad…

The poll also suggests that the public has a positive view of the Democratic Party, with 62 percent having a favorable opinion and 31 percent an unfavorable opinion…

That is not the case for the Republicans, with a majority, 54 percent, having an unfavorable view of the GOP and 38 percent holding a positive view.

"The public has a positive view of the Democratic Party, while the GOP 'brand' is hurting. Overall views of the Democratic Party have gone from 53 percent favorable in October to 62 percent favorable now; the GOP overall has seen a 5-point drop in its favorable rating," Holland said.

The 62 percent figure is the "the highest opinion of the Democrats in at least 16 years, since before Bill Clinton got elected," said Bill Schneider, a CNN senior political analyst.

"When has the Republican Party image ever been that bad? Answer: when the Republican Congress impeached President Clinton at the end of 1998," Schneider added.

The incomparable Digby spells it out:

This can only be interpreted to be a mandate that the new administration needs to bring as many of these unpopular Republicans into the administration and enact as many GOP priorities as possible.

And, by the way, the country hasn't been "center-right" for quite some time. This is yet another example of the villagers thinking they are the representatives of Real America --- just as they did when they staged the world's biggest hissy fit over Bill Clinton's zipper. It's all about them.

It always is.

-AF

It's All About The Hope Babies

Hearing the angst, hurt and racial weirdness/bigotry emanating from losing side has really jarred me. I'm not talking about the pundits or the candidates. Nothing they say could ever surprise me. I'm talking about everyday people, McCain voters, like those in my View From The Ground series, Parts 3 & 4. (I can't even begin to wrap my head around the gay marriage bans).

I confess this all left me feeling a lot less hopeful.

Cue RS's Matt Taibbi. Matt is acerbic, sharp as a whip and funny as fuck. He's also a keen observer of human behavior. Amidst the post-election pain, confusion and fear of many voters he sees...um, well...Hope:

There are still a lot of mixed-up, terrified people out there who went to bed last night in a panic about what "those people" will do now that they have one of their own in the White House. When I finally got to watch a replay of Obama's speech in my hotel room late last night, it occurred to me that it's those people who were actually the big winners in this election. Why? Because a lot of them are going to wake up a year from now and realize not a whole lot has changed. And quietly, when no one's looking, they're going to relax a little.

That will be a bigger and more beautiful day than last Tuesday. Read it here.

-AF

Views From The Ground

"L." checked in from Raleigh, NC yesterday. Her coworkers were buzzing about the election. The hot topic was how "when Obama becomes President, he will help the blacks enslave the whites."

-AF

Uncle Ted Hangs By Thread

The NYT:

ANCHORAGE — Convicted of seven felony counts just nine days ago, Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska held a narrow lead on Wednesday in his bid for re-election, though the race remained too close to call.

Mr. Stevens, 84 and a 40-year incumbent, led his Democratic challenger, Mayor Mark Begich of Anchorage, by fewer than 3,400 votes with more than 55,000 absentee, early and questioned ballots remaining to be counted. If he wins, Mr. Stevens would be the first felon elected to the United States Senate.

The senator’s campaign said that such late-counted votes traditionally break for Republicans and that it was “almost mathematically impossible” for Mr. Begich to win. But Mr. Begich strongly disputed those claims, noting that his campaign had made a concerted effort to win absentee and early voters and that he had won absentee counts in his elections as mayor.

A final vote count may not come until next week or later.

And even if Mr. Stevens wins, he could still be forced from office.

Stay tuned...

-AF

Views From The Ground

Race wasn't nearly as big an issue in the election as the media built it up to be. Here's one indication that as far as we've come, we still have a long way to go...

"R." in rural Tennessee tells of an exchange as she left her polling station. A man a few steps ahead was approached for an exit poll. When asked "Who did you vote for?," he replied "I voted for the nigger."

Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

"R." also reports being surprised months ago to learn most of her farmer-neighbors were ardent Barack Obama supporters. They put up Obama lawn signs and put Obama bumperstickers on their pickup trucks. These folks attended rallies and canvassed neighborhoods too.

Yet all throughout the campaign they referred to Obama by the same foul racial epithet.

This shit is so fucked up I'm speechless.

-AF

They Said It. I Repeat It.

"I don't consider this to be a good format for me, which makes me more cautious. I often find myself trapped by the questions and thinking to myself, 'You know, this is a stupid question, but let me … answer it.' So when Brian Williams is asking me about what's a personal thing that you've done [that's green], and I say, you know, 'Well, I planted a bunch of trees.' And he says, 'I'm talking about personal.' What I'm thinking in my head is, 'Well, the truth is, Brian, we can't solve global warming because I fucking changed light bulbs in my house. It's because of something collective'."

Barack Obama
On debates
Newsweek

-AF

**Damn. That Atrios fella beat me to it.

Straight Dope Inna Campaign Stylee

Newsweek reveals both camps' inner workings:

1. McCain rarely spoke to Palin.
2. Palin spent waaaaay more than $150k on duds.
3. Before the final debate McCain advisers considered telling him he was toast.
4. McCain and Hillary are much tighter than Obama and Hillary.
5. Wingers' wet dream realized: At GOP Convention Palin met McCain advisers Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter wrapped in a towel!
6. Obama drops an occasional F-bomb.
   

There's tons more.

-AF
(HT: Mrs. Forester)

They Said It. You Watch It..

People were so worried about Obama being a Muslim and a Socialist that they forgot that he was black.

Larry Wilmore paints the White House black.
Comedy Central's Indecision ’08: Americas Choice

-AF

Views From The Ground

I meant to link to this post yesterday. The intro goes a little something like this:

On this the eve of the election, I'd like to capture my thoughts before America either elects a president who its first 26 presidents could have legally owned, or brazenly subverts the very ideals it was founded upon by manipulating numbers in a final embarrassingly overt goosestep towards corporate totalitarianism.

I am nervous. And not night-before-the-swim-test nervous or even night-you-lose-your-virginity nervous, it's a low rumbling primal panic which I can only liken to Star Wars panic. Disney panic. The edge-of-your-seat-terror that makes you wonder if Skywalker's doomed after he refuses to join Darth Vader and drops down into the abyss, if the wicked octopus or grand vizier or steroid-pumping-village-misogynist is going to wed/kill/skin the dashing prince and then evil people in dark funny costumes are going to take over the world... if it wasn't a movie of course.

Good stuff.

-AF

It's About Time

-AF
(HT: Geeky)

Things Said While Barely Awake

I was up all night Monday night with a serious case of nerves. I cleaned the kitchen, spurted out a few blog posts, sipped a wee dram of Aberfeldy (or two). I did finally manage to get a few fitful hours of sleep.

Mrs. Forester awakened me declaring "Happy Obama Day!"

I immediately replied "I hope there's a black man under our tree."

-AF

More Views From The Ground soon come.

The New World

X's "The New World" has been running thru my head since I woke up. Perhaps more prescient now than it was upon it's release 25 years ago, it's lyrics are killer:

“Honest to goodness
the bars weren’t open this morning.
They must have been voting for a new president or something.
Do you have a quarter?"
I said yes because I did
“Honest to goodness
the tears have been falling
all over the country’s face.”
It was better before, before they voted for what-his-name.
It was better before, before they voted for what-his-name.
This is suppose to be the new world.

-AF

Views From The Ground

Uncharacteristically, my uber-Red community polling place had no Republican poll workers in sight. McCain lawn signs are a rarity too. In fact, I've noticed many houses sporting multiple signs for Republican congressional and state candidates with McCain signs conspicuously absent.

-AF

Have You Voted Yet?

I'm going to miss these ole relics. There's a certain comfort inherent to the ritual of flipping the little levers and a deep satisfaction in pulling the big one.

-AF

Irony Alert: "Surge" Boosted Obama More Than McCain

Iraq "surge" success aided Obama by de-emphasizing Commander-In-Chief bona fides as a prerequisite for the next Prez. WaPo explains.

-AF

Krugman Predicts

"Hard right" Republicans will get even crazier.

-AF

Kristol Is So Full of Shit

Bill sez we should be cheerful if McCain wins.

Yeah right.

-AF

The NY Times Rips Republican Campaign Lies

"The Soiled Envelope, Please"

-AF

No Treats Just Dirty Tricks And Plenty of 'Em

The fliers they are a-flyin.

It's scary the amount of energy Republicans put into downright dishonesty and/or flat-out cheating. They whine and complain to distraction forcing the media to tilt at absurd windmills i.e. ACORN, Rashid Khalidi, William Ayres, etc. This strategy is doubly effective in that it steers the press away from a closer examination of the Republicans' sub-rosa actions. That they do this all the while both claiming the hide road and attacking the patriotism of anyone who questions them makes it all the more sickening.

McCain's supporters have been active indeed. The AP has this overview of the 2008 campaign dirty tricks pulled thus far. One point stands out:

Laughlin McDonald, who leads the ACLU's Voting Rights Project, said he has never seen "an election where there was more interest and more voter turnout, and more efforts to suppress registration and turnout. And that has a real impact on minorities."

The Obama campaign and civil rights advocacy groups have signed up millions of new voters for this presidential race. In Ohio alone, some 600,000 have submitted new voter registration cards.

Across the country, many of these first-time voters are young and strong Obama supporters. Many are also black and Hispanic.

There's not a single example of any group distributing fliers in white neighborhoods targeting white conservatives. Funny 'dat. And just what would they say? "If you are more than one week late on Lexus or stupid big pickup truck payment, you cannot vote this year"?

Voter suppression efforts are a national disgrace. If the Democrats do snag the White House, they'd be smart to pass a law with some teeth to punish these assholes. It's the American thing to do.

-AF
**Fliers clipped from BradBlog.