Super Fat Tuesday is upon us and we're still trying to take it all in. Hillary owned California but Barack took many states. I'm still not sure which states are winner-take-all and which are proportionate. John McCain has had a good '08 and tonight is no exception. What we're truly seeing is that the majority of Americans are tired of the Bush era right wing GOP "uniters" and "deciders". Regardless of who wins in November, what we're seeing is a rejection of the last four, if not eight years. Thank God for that.
My wife and I cast our votes for Barack Obama. Whether he is the "best" candidate for the presidency is yet to be seen; what he is, for me, is the candidate that projects what I think our nation needs: hope for change. Here's what I wrote about Obama on July 27, 2004:
The shining light of the evening was the Democratic contender for the Senate seat of Illinois, Barack Obama. He spoke of an America without "blue" and "red" labels that was united in the quest for decent basic good and the improvement for future generations. Ringing of Martin Luther King's "injustice anywhere is a threat to injustice everywhere" speech, Obama's speech brought home the importance of Americans' faith, patriotism, support for justice, defense, and other flag-waving characteristics that are included in all good campaign speeches. What most convinced and inspired me was his hammering home of the necessity in this country to return to "democracy"; little-d, grass-roots, power-to-the-people democratic processes. In quoting Jefferson's radical Declaration of Independence that "all men are created equal", and possessing of "certain inalienable rights", this rising star of the Democratic Party harkened back a time in this nation's mood when politicians inspired, encouraged, and pressed for the citizens of this country to remember that the nation's fate lay in their hands. Even a cynic like myself was touched tonight. I'm not even a Democrat. However, and most importantly, I'm a democrat, and this is why I believe that the actions and rhetoric of political groups including the major parties are important to participate in. I believe that I'm cynical about politics and politicians because deep down inside I believe that people can truly do what is right and bring about a better world than what currently exists. I guess you can lump me into that category of nut-case believers of utopia like MLK, Gandhi, Marx, Jefferson, More, and that crazy Jew from Nazareth. No apologies to anyone.
I still hold those words to be true. Hillary's divisive character and family history won't be healthy for the nation. McCain's just too old. Obama, however, is not the candidate of choice by default, but because he's one willing to see past partisanship and act beyond label. It's not his skin color and it's not his family history. It's not even his lack of "inexperience" at the national level. It's his vision. Don't think he's qualified? Look at the current president: part-time governor of a state that little controls the nation, failed businessman and one with a checkered personal history that has shown itself these last seven years where intellect and vision have not been seen nor acted upon. While I wished to see Obama take California (or at least lose by a smaller margin), I will openly support his campaign throughout the summer and hopefully into a November victory.
Watching ABC News tonight, I was disappointed at the commentary by Charles Gibson and George Stephanopolous. The anchors were discussing the perennial topic of the lack or organization and cohesion of the Democratic party and I wondered whether I was the only one to read the poll results tonight. Hillary and Barack are neck-and-neck. For the Republicans, McCain has taken the large, urban states with the highest levels of education, urban population and western (i.e., non-Southern, non-Mormon) populations. Huckabee has won the Bible Belt (i.e., the evangelical whites who vote their faith and often espouse flat-Earth world views), Romney the more industrial-based eastern states. McCain has taken the very moderate, educated, younger, urban non-evangelical votes, which happen to make up the vast majority of the Republican party. Who's the most disorganized, George? It sure isn't the Democrats; liberal voters may be divided about WHO they want but not WHAT they want. Just exactly does the GOP want? Rove says these results are simply the expansion of a growing GOP majority; I see this as a fracturing of the right wing and, again, the rejection of seven years of failed politics. What do American voters want? Apparently, they want moderate-to-liberal politics, fiscal smarts and an end to the Rove/Norquist/Bush disaster of a decade. Now, while John McCain has been listening to Norquist regarding taxes, it will be interesting to see the front runners of both parties see how to write up the first budget of the next presidency: permanant tax cuts will only reveal the GOP as the party it really is: of, by and for wealthy people or those who think that God wants us to cut down those that aren't "us". Rambing towards my finish, as I'm experiencing the results of yet another cold and the lack of sleep due to a weekend from hell (of Wally World proportions), I am curious to see what is in store for the next three months. We'll see. What I'm most concerned for now is Jerry McNerney and whether he can hold onto his seat in the House. I'll be willing to go to the mat for him. For all he's done on the national and local level, he deserves the votes and support of all people in District 11.
Laissez les bon temps rouler!!!
