Election Night in the USA

[Thaurismunths]

So, I voted for Obama, as did my family, and most all of my friends.

I still think McCain is going to win.

[Heradel]

So, I voted for Obama, as did my family, and most all of my friends.

I still think McCain is going to win.

So long as the polls were even mostly accurate, they don't show McCain with much of a path to victory. If Obama takes one 'swing' state he pretty much can't win. But we'll know pretty soon.

[Thaurismunths]

So, I voted for Obama, as did my family, and most all of my friends.

I still think McCain is going to win.

So long as the polls were even mostly accurate, they don't show McCain with much of a path to victory. If Obama takes one 'swing' state he pretty much can't win. But we'll know pretty soon.

I'm sitting on the Virginia poll site right now and Obama's still behind by 8. But, as I understand it, the big counties have yet to weigh in... Oh, wait. Obama just took NY.
Yeah, commanding lead of the electoral votes.

[Heradel]

So, I voted for Obama, as did my family, and most all of my friends.

I still think McCain is going to win.

So long as the polls were even mostly accurate, they don't show McCain with much of a path to victory. If Obama takes one 'swing' state he pretty much can't win. But we'll know pretty soon.

I'm sitting on the Virginia poll site right now and Obama's still behind by 8. But, as I understand it, the big counties have yet to weigh in... Oh, wait. Obama just took NY.
Yeah, commanding lead of the electoral votes.

Ohio just went to Obama. It's over. Now it's just the margin and congressional races.

[Thaurismunths]

So, I voted for Obama, as did my family, and most all of my friends.

I still think McCain is going to win.

So long as the polls were even mostly accurate, they don't show McCain with much of a path to victory. If Obama takes one 'swing' state he pretty much can't win. But we'll know pretty soon.

I'm sitting on the Virginia poll site right now and Obama's still behind by 8. But, as I understand it, the big counties have yet to weigh in... Oh, wait. Obama just took NY.
Yeah, commanding lead of the electoral votes.

Ohio just went to Obama. It's over. Now it's just the margin and congressional races.

I think it's a bit early, but the BBC is starting to talk about a "landslide" victory.
VA is sill on the fence. 75% reporting, 50/50 Obama/McCain.

[Zathras]

I'm just waiting to see how many votes my candidate can get...

It'd be nice to get 3%, but I doubt it.

[Windup]

Wow, no election thread on the EA forums???  After Steve's outro??

My family and I stayed up until after Obama's acceptence speech.  We all volunteered on the Obama campaign to some degree, so of course we were pretty happy with the way things turned out.  We were also very moved by McCain's gracious concession, and Obama's rousing acceptence.  The man has a huge job ahead of him, and needs our thoughts and prayers, among other things.

Americans, there's work to do...

_{Mod's note: This post started this thread, the forum sorts posts chronologically so it was pushed down when merged with posts from the poll thread.}

[Bdoomed]

WOOOOOO!
Proud to have voted in this election, especially it being my first.
Looong road ahead of us but I'm confident in my country.

[Heradel]

Wow, no election thread on the EA forums???  After Steve's outro??

My family and I stayed up until after Obama's acceptence speech.  We all volunteered on the Obama campaign to some degree, so of course we were pretty happy with the way things turned out.  We were also very moved by McCain's gracious concession, and Obama's rousing acceptence.  The man has a huge job ahead of him, and needs our thoughts and prayers, among other things.

Americans, there's work to do...

Some of us were talking in the vote thread, I'll merge those here in a minute.

I'll repeat what I twittered: Barack Obama promises kids puppy, wins election.

[Bdoomed]

i love puppies

[Ocicat]

i love puppies

No More Puppies!  What America Needs Now is Kittens!

Kittens, and Hope.  Personally, I think we're doing pretty well tonight.

[Heradel]

i love puppies

No More Puppies!  What America Needs Now is Kittens!

Kittens, and Hope.  Personally, I think we're doing pretty well tonight.

The last one was Socks during the Clinton Presidency, and I'm not sure when or if there were any before that.

Somewhere in my house there's a wooden Easter Egg with that cat's pawprint from one of the White House Easter Egg Rolls when I was much younger.

[Russell Nash]

It's over at last!
It's over at last!
Thank God Almighty, It's over at last!

Sorry MLK, but you have so much else to celebrate, I'm sure you won't mind.

[Heradel]

It's over at last!
It's over at last!
Thank God Almighty, It's over at last!

Sorry MLK, but you have so much else to celebrate, I'm sure you won't mind.

Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop.

And I don't mind.

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!

[Heradel]

Went for a run at 4:40 this morning, picked up a copy of the NYT on my way back (which, if I was older would mean I was showing my age, but since I'm younger is just a quirk of journalism being my chosen profession). I think I'll keep this one. They broke out the inch tall font.

[Boggled Coriander]

I live in a freaky un-American time zone, and I arrived at a bar frequented by Westerners at 10:30 Wednesday morning.   I found Obama had already won Ohio and the Democrats filling the bar were giddy and jubilant.

I'm happy that the Bradley Effect has been shown to Not Actually Exist.  I'm happy that we're not in for a Florida 2000 situation.  And I'm happy that, for the first time ever, the guy I voted for won.

[davedoty]

I'm an Obama supporter, because I think he'll be a decent president.  But I'm afraid his more vocal and rabid supporters who believe he's going to be a GREAT and TRANSFORMATIVE president are going to set the bar so high on expectations that he'll have trouble hurtling it in four years.  He's been hammering "change" so hard that in four years, if we've had excellent stewardship without any great revolutionary change, I'm afraid those extravagant promises that couldn't realistically be kept will overshadow the positives next go-around.

Still, I actively chose not to vote 4 years ago because I honestly believed that neither candidate was capable of actually being even a decent president, so I'm still more optimistic now than I was then.

[Talia]

So very happy and relieved. I was at an election party last night. People were ecstatic. Its wonderful being in a room of jubilant people, the positive vibes are life affirming.

[Zathras]

I live in a freaky un-American time zone, and I arrived at a bar frequented by Westerners at 10:30 Wednesday morning.   I found Obama had already won Ohio and the Democrats filling the bar were giddy and jubilant.

I'm happy that the Bradley Effect has been shown to Not Actually Exist.  I'm happy that we're not in for a Florida 2000 situation.  And I'm happy that, for the first time ever, the guy I voted for won.

The Brady Effect wasn't talked about nearly as much prior to this election as it has been during this election.  What actually started it was a pollster who was wrong and couldn't swallow his pride.  He didn't take absentee votes into account.

Hopefully everyone can stop talking the economy down now.  Few news outlets reported on the plumetting gas prices recently. 

Congratulations, Mr. Obama.  I hope you do a good job.  But I would prefer a president who isn't a rock star.  Start acting presidential and you may change my opinion of you.  I want some substance in my leaders.  I'll give you time and a chance.

[Heradel]

Hopefully everyone can stop talking the economy down now.  Few news outlets reported on the plumetting gas prices recently. 

Gas prices fell because A. people started driving drastically less, decreasing demand in the US market, B. the market crash caused futures traders to believe that gas wouldn't sell at it's previous valuation, and C. the currency is undergoing deflation.

From NPR's Planet Money:

Listeners have been wondering about the fall of gas prices in some places. "Do the dropping gas prices in OH have anything to do w/the economy?" writes Terri Weiss. "Avg. price is $3.35 here but other places have shortages."

My daily dose of currency news from Brown Brother Harriman just landed.

Analyst Win Thin writes that yes, prices are going down because producers are worried about a global recession. Three months ago, crude sold for nearly $150 a barrel, pushing prices the pump well past $4. That same barrel is going for closer to $87 now, partly because the U.S. has more crude and gas stockpiled than expected, partly because no one's sure consumers can still take the hit.

How low might crude go? OPEC may meet on November 18, when the Nigerian energy minister says the group may debate a cut in quotas. Read: less crude, less gas, higher prices. Because OPEC members won't let the bottom drop out if they can help it.

[Zathras]

I found it amusing when people jumped in the futures market because they thought they could get rich on crude oil.  Of course experienced futures traders were short selling.  A lot of people went broke when their $145/barrel oil dropped under $100.

My point was that in an election cycle when people are unhappy with the current regime, good news gets the back burner.  When everyone, including Bush's own party, wants change, no one wants to hear that things are getting even a little better.  I don't have a problem with this, it's sound selection of stories to run.  News outlets need ratings.  I'm just glad that we can start hearing positive news early next year.  Maybe the negative will slow down.

I personally think nearly all career politicians are crooks.  Any idealists who make it to office generally either get corrupted or thrown under the bus by their own party.

[Talia]

I live in a freaky un-American time zone, and I arrived at a bar frequented by Westerners at 10:30 Wednesday morning.   I found Obama had already won Ohio and the Democrats filling the bar were giddy and jubilant.

I'm happy that the Bradley Effect has been shown to Not Actually Exist.  I'm happy that we're not in for a Florida 2000 situation.  And I'm happy that, for the first time ever, the guy I voted for won.

The Brady Effect wasn't talked about nearly as much prior to this election as it has been during this election.  What actually started it was a pollster who was wrong and couldn't swallow his pride.  He didn't take absentee votes into account.

Hopefully everyone can stop talking the economy down now.  Few news outlets reported on the plumetting gas prices recently. 

Congratulations, Mr. Obama.  I hope you do a good job.  But I would prefer a president who isn't a rock star.  Start acting presidential and you may change my opinion of you.  I want some substance in my leaders.  I'll give you time and a chance.

What do you  mean by presidential, exactly. Do you mean exactly like every other politician? Because one of the reasons I voted for him is he seemed to me to be somewhat atypical.

[Talia]

I personally think nearly all career politicians are crooks.  Any idealists who make it to office generally either get corrupted or thrown under the bus by their own party.

I think better of Obama, but time will tell.

[Heradel]

I found it amusing when people jumped in the futures market because they thought they could get rich on crude oil.  Of course experienced futures traders were short selling.  A lot of people went broke when their $145/barrel oil dropped under $100.

My point was that in an election cycle when people are unhappy with the current regime, good news gets the back burner.  When everyone, including Bush's own party, wants change, no one wants to hear that things are getting even a little better.  I don't have a problem with this, it's sound selection of stories to run.  News outlets need ratings.  I'm just glad that we can start hearing positive news early next year.  Maybe the negative will slow down.

I personally think nearly all career politicians are crooks.  Any idealists who make it to office generally either get corrupted or thrown under the bus by their own party.

Well, gas prices really did their falling when we were in the middle of a Credit Crunch, which is a much bigger story than gas prices dropping. The Dow was in the middle of losing 20% of it's value in a month. Global markets were in meltdown. Gas prices rising over the summer were a big story because there was a lot of oxygen in the news — the campaign was stable and the markets were fairly stable, and gas prices were rising a lot higher than anyone had ever paid for them, even adjusting for inflation — it was literally new(s). Them dropping is a story, but it's not as big of one, especially in the midst of such a huge crisis.

And yes, the crisis mainly hit Wall Street and not quote unquote "Main Street", whose quotidian existence is more effected by gas prices, but a lot of people saw their 401k's nosedive. Lower gas prices were a smaller story in the same way that a murder is a smaller story when the building next door collapses and kills a few hundred people.

Now, I'm not saying all news outlets operate on a great set of journalistic ethics — most local TV news stations are pretty bad (Puppies! Household Item Could Kill You(?)! Kids These Days Are Out Of Control!), but they were right to prioritize the crisis over lower gas prices.

[Alasdair5000]

I personally think nearly all career politicians are crooks.  Any idealists who make it to office generally either get corrupted or thrown under the bus by their own party.

I think better of Obama, but time will tell.

I actually agree with both of you.  Every major political figure in England in my lifetime has at best let me down and at worst spent their term actively damaging the country so my default response with politicians of every stripe is cynicism with a light seasoning of anger:)

That being said, I think better of him too.