Nov. 4

Whew. Yesterday was a long day. We were up at 5:30am to get our early votes in, and didn't get to sleep until 1am, as results from Virginia's fifth congressional district were still trickling in. Ali's parents worked like crazy to help Tom Perriello upset the incumbent repugnant Virgil Goode. It was an uphill battle, and in the end it looks like it's still too close to call this morning and a recount will follow. Whoever wins, they can be proud that turnout was so high in that district, and that Tom did so well against a six-termer who usually gets 65 percent of the vote. Go SML Dems!!

Voter turnout nationwide set a 100 year record, and because I'm sure all Tripdub readers voted, we can all be proud of that. But it's still ridiculous that some people have to wait hours to vote, and that some were turned away for registration issues. Can't they just let everyone vote, wherever they show up, and then stamp their hands or something? Maybe set up voting machines at 7-11s? Or Starbucks -- they're everywhere. Is voter fraud really that big of an issue? Seems like worries about "voter fraud" are really worries about "making it too easy for minorities to vote".

I thought McCain gave a great concession speech. For all his talk of "Country First", it sure seemed like the past year he surrounded himself with people who believed in "Campaign First, Last and Only". But his speech last night sounded genuine, and made me think that maybe he really does believe in his slogan after all.

So, the main event happened around midnight when Obama gave his victory speech. Great speech, as usual. I think one thing that helped him win was that when he talks about moving beyond partisan politics, he actually sounds like he means it. A lot of pundits and even Democratic party officials didn't believe in the 50-state strategy of the campaign, but it paid off, and demonstrated a desire to govern on behalf of the whole country, not just the pockets where the "base" lives. In a country as big and diverse as ours, it's tempting to put people in neat categories and then focus on the differences. And that was the low point of the campaign, when all the McCain surrogates talked about a "real" America. I'm happy that strategy and line of thinking was ultimately rejected by voters.

Jake and Sadie were mostly oblivious to the news last night; their attention focused on making (and eating) Obama cookies with blue icing. But by the end of Obama's first term, Jake will be seven, and Sadie five. They will have seen his face on television countless times. They won't have the same assumption that the President is always an old white man. What effect will that have on this next generation of kids-- and especially the kids who look more like Barack Obama? That's pretty neat. I'm a little bit prouder of my country today.