Notes without coherency

[barondave]

I was making notes all last night, starting with Obama being declared the victor, intending to flesh out my thoughts. Alas, the morning brings no resolve.

Best McCain speech ever. At the very last minute, he reverts to form. Congrats, John. I'm glad you're in the senate, in the same way I'm glad Obama is the president.

Best tv commentator: David Gergen. CNN was generally mediocre to bad, but Gergen said intelligent things calmly and articulately.

I predicted that Obama would win by 10% of the popular vote, minus Republican cheating. It looks like he isn't going to get that. On the other hand, he did really well in all parts of the country, winning Virginia, Indiana, Florida, Colorado and Nevada in addition to the left and right coasts that Gore/Kerry took. And he did do better than 10% in the previously purple state of Minnesota, so perhaps I was just paying attention to local sentiment more than national.

My other prediction was that the Democrats would have a very hard time getting to 60 Senators. As of this writing, they have 56, with Franken/Coleman still undecided. Doesn't look like Bachmann will be booted out, nor Saxby Chamblis nor Mitch McConnell. But we got Dole and kept Landrieu. If Stevens wins, he'll be an embarrassment to the Republicans.

As James Carville (of all people) pointed out, Democrats have done really well now in two election cycles. They picked up House and Senate seats in 2006 and 2008, far far outweighing the razor thin majorities of the Gingrich "Revolution" in 1994 and in elections since. Not only does Obama have an historic presidency on his side, but liberals have a mandate to change the direction of the country.

As of right now, 11:28 pm, someone is screaming "O Bam Aaaaaah" outside on Lake Street. Geeze, you'd think the Vikings won the World Series, or something. And this is going on all night...

What to watch out for: Bush going on a tear and trying to cram his third term of deregulation, no-bid contracts and activist appointments into the next 2 1/2 months.

Comments

[freeimprov.livejournal.com]

Yeah, McCain gave a terrific concession speech. If he could have spoken with that sort of decency and clarity on the stump, he might not have done so badly.

There are certainly rumors flying that Palin will appoint herself to replace Ted Stevens in the Senate (assuming he resigns). It might look good on paper for her presidential ambitions, but I think being stuck in Washington, with complicated Senate rules and a crushing 42-seat minority, will NOT sit well with her style.

[asimovberlioz.livejournal.com]

And she might get ragged a bit for having thought that the vice president is "in charge of" the Senate.

Wasn't there a backlash against Wendell Anderson (and to a lesser extent, Rudy Perpich) for moving from governor to US Senate?

[radparker.livejournal.com]

I like the idea that if she does that, it will invariably crush her own spirit. I am all for that. It'd be a bruising entry into the world of grownups for her, I suspect.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

To a similar extent, Rudy Perpich. He lost his bid for re-election as gov. as well as Anderson lost his (re-)election to the senate. Though he got it back.

[radparker.livejournal.com]

You are exactly right, re-McCain. Where was *that* McCain during the campaign? He built up a wall of douchebags around him, because he thought it was what he needed to win. Seems as though it backfired.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

The elephant in the room was always George W. Bush. More specifically, Karl Rove. Obama took North Carolina, ousting Liddy Dole in the process! Obama won handily and had a few coattails, but basically the election was a referendum on the Bush/Cheney administration as well as the Dems having the superior candidate.

[sethb.livejournal.com]

Palin can't appoint herself (or anybody else); Alaska law changed a few years ago to require a special election.

[gamerchick.livejournal.com]

Best McCain speech ever. At the very last minute, he reverts to form. Congrats, John. I'm glad you're in the senate, in the same way I'm glad Obama is the president.

Could not agree with you more about this. He was very gracious and eloquent last night.

[idea-fairy.livejournal.com]

What to watch out for: Bush going on a tear and trying to cram his third term of deregulation, no-bid contracts and activist appointments into the next 2 1/2 months.

Another potential problem, this one more long-term: If cleaning up the mess takes longer than four years, the Good Guys could have problems getting re-elected in 2012.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

What Obama should do, and what the Democrats have traditionally shunned doing, is blame his predecessor. McCain ran against McGovern and Jimmy Carter as much as he ran against Obama. Fixing the disaster of the Bush administration will take a while. Obama can and should reach across the aisle for support, but he should never let anyone forget who's problems he's fixing.