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Monday, November 3, 2008

Pre-Post-Election Hypothetical

posted by on November 3 at 2:12 AM

WARNING: DON’T READ THIS IF YOU ARE SUPERSTITIOUS ABOUT PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AND THINGS PEOPLE SAY ABOUT THEM WHEN THEY’RE REALLY JUST NERVOUSLY SPECULATING THE DAY BEFORE THE ELECTION.

I don’t believe in superstition—or maybe I’m just contrasuperstitious: I always feel like the thing you’re not supposed to say is precisely the thing you must say, if only to take away its imaginary power. I hope the plane doesn’t crash. I hope it doesn’t rain. Et cetera. Well, all the “Obama Victory” parties and people quoting polls proving electoral college math and talking as though it’s all wrapped up and we’re about to begin the actual 21st century for real this time with a real president who isn’t a venal buffoon, have triggered a familiar feeling.

I know I’m not the only one who sustained lingering trauma in 2004, when it seemed inconceivable that anyone could actually choose Bush, regardless of Kerry. Perhaps naively, perhaps just emotionally, I felt that we (not Kerry/Edwards, we) would win, because we had to. And then to just simply not come close. To retroactively not even have had a chance, in spite of being better, in spite of being right. Because of being better, because of being right. Because Idiot America said so. The way the collective spirit of the Stranger Election Night party just sank into abysmal dread. The way everyone—rightfully—took it as a personal defeat. The way everyone I knew was a zombie on some level for weeks afterward, months even. And the way, as a direct result, I couldn’t bring myself to pay passionate attention to this election until a couple months ago (thank you, Sarah Palin, actual demonstrable enemy of everything I have ever cared about or believed in, for disgracing an already disgraced campaign, and for waking me up—I was always going to vote, but now I’m yearning to do the only thing I can to reproach you and your masters)…

ANYWAY. I know this is not then. I know things are looking better now: better candidate, better campaign, better momentum, better speeches, better pretty much everything. But I can’t ever forget that night four years ago, and all the certainty that seems to be swelling around the likelihood of an Obama victory (it even feels good to type it), is reminding me of the time when we, or when I anyway, thought that the thing that obviously should happen would happen but then didn’t happen because the real truth about real America was that the majority of its citizens were small-minded and easily fooled into voting for a complete bastard because he pretended to believe in god.

I guess this is all just a long way around saying that like you, I want Barack Obama to win, and win commandingly, tomorrow. I want him to fulfill the promise of his oratory and the goodwill of all the sign wavers, button wearers, bumper stickerers, and money donors, and to be the president who reverses as much of America’s social, economic, educational, psychic, and spiritual riptide as is possible for a president to reverse. I want this to be his moment, and therefore our moment, so much I could burst. I want it to matter that we feel like a proper we—not united by contempt for someone we want to depose, but by the desire to elect someone we are inspired by. That someone is plainly, by any rational, intelligent measure, the best man in this contest, and everything seems to point to his certain triumph.

Everything except for the putrid racist heart that beats deep inside that same Idiot America that fucked us last time, and the time before that, and all those other times.

Those rational, intelligent measures didn’t help the last two best men who ran for president against Idiot America’s idiotic prejudices. And this time, the IA arbiter isn’t as ephemeral or imaginary as religion or just folksiness. It’s skin color. We can pretend otherwise because we are human and progressive and liberal and awesome, but it just is. Because poll fraud aside, Idiot American objection to Barack Obama’s mixed-race pallor seems to be the only thing that can stop him now. Despite being the most pluralistic major country in the world, America’s heart is choked by racism, and its land is lousy with overt and covert racists—white people of all ages, classes, and Christian denominations who simply can’t countenance the idea of a black president, no matter how righteous he is, no matter how much better he is than his gnarly white opponent, no matter what, full-stop.

I know, I know: duh. But are there more of them than there are of us? I really hope not, but I have no fucking idea. And neither do you. And neither does any poll.

I’m just saying that every time somebody says the math proves Obama can’t lose, I get ready to vomit blood, because Idiot American somehow always manages to get left out of the math. Which leaves me wondering what it would feel like if he not only lost, but got trounced. If the same Idiot America hive mind that rallied behind Bush II was just quietly, in the absence of a candidate they actually liked, waiting to rise up and defeat one they wouldn’t allow in their homes. If he had to give a concession speech, after everything he’s said and done, and it had to be a corker anyway. If he had to congratulate President-Elect McCain on running a tough but fair campaign, and pledge to work with him and VP-Elect Palin on moving America forward. If he had to go back to the Senate like Kerry. If we had to hear the news show dimwits give their trenchant analysis of McCain’s stunning, come-from-behind win, and the idea that in times of crisis, Americans really do put their faith in conservative stand-bys. If we had to well up at Keith Olbermann’s rhetorically rousing Countdown salute to “Senator Obama, who changed the face of modern electoral politics in the country, a change that was long in coming; the citizens of this great nation owe you a debt of gratitude. Senator Obama, I join them in saluting you, sir.” If the only solace was, again, in bitter laughs from Onion headlines and Daily Show and Colbert Report bits. If we had to read infinite blog posts and screeds, another round of Urban Archipelagos and Fuck the Souths to make everyone feel even worse. If we had to listen to all the sideline politicos rant in bars about where it all went wrong. If there wasn’t another black candidate for decades because the tacit understanding was that he lost because just couldn’t get past the race thing. If the Bush War went on another 20 years. If the recession became a depression. If John McCain became President of the United States.

[Cue: Alarm sounding. It was all a bad dream. Time to go to the polls]

But seriously, the reason I even started this is because I had a hypothetical question to consider before we know what’s what. It concerns the experiences a lot of people had in 2004 when Bush II beat Kerry and this blanket of anomie shrouded everyone and everything for a long time, eventually leading to increasingly scathing disavowals of Kerry and the board he windsurfed in on.

So let’s say the best man doesn’t win [THOUGH I TOTALLY HOPE HE DOES AND WANT HIM TO AND BASICALLY BELIEVE HE WILL MAYBE THOUGH THAT’S JUST BELIEF WHICH IS HARD ENOUGH TO CLING TO WHEN YOU HAVE INFLUENCE AND I DON’T HAVE ANY INFLUENCE OVER THE ELECTION AND NEITHER DO ANY OF YOU; I’M NOT BEING DEFEATIST, BUT REALLY, BIG DEAL IF I WERE]:

Are you still going to be glad you voted for him, proud you volunteered to boosterize him, wore the t-shirts, flyered the doorknobs, donated the cash, gave him the motor of your genuine conviction that he was the right man not just for the job, but for THE job, that you listened and heard and were stirred and moved by the oratory to get on board and give a damn? If Obama loses, will you still love him tomorrow?


(But really, let’s just say he does win, ok? ok!)

RSS icon Comments

1

I read your article, and also read this one afterward. This one is much more interesting... find it at http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article7095.html

The title is "Why Voting in the U.S. Election is a COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME..."

Posted by Syd | November 3, 2008 2:32 AM
2

Wow.

I know that the left would be torn apart by an Obama loss -- the most potent rift would come from disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters. I don't know how the left would recover from an Obama loss. We'd have to reinvent ourselves as an ugly Frankenstein's monster in order to stand a chance at winning. But the cost would be very dear and might drive voters like myself back into the arms of the various third parties for a few elections to come... I can't imagine capturing the excitement of this campaign again. But that just might be the exhaustion of the moment speaking.

Posted by Faber | November 3, 2008 2:37 AM
3

HEAR ME, O STRANGER "JOURNALISTS" AND READERS! I have, this very moment, swallowed no fewer than 12 prime quality peyote buttons obtained from a genuine Apache shaman. As I annoint myself with the oily seed of the prophets O'Reilly and Limbaugh in preparation for trancendence, I reveal to you here the wisdom of my imperfect lesser form, which even now strains against the confines of this text field.

BARRY HUSSEIN OBAMA IS THE PITCH-CLOAKED RAVEN, WHO PLUCKS THE EYES FROM THE CORPSES OF OUR CHILDREN, AND WHOSE SHRILL CRY SHATTERS THE HEAVENS. DRIVE THIS ILL TOTEM BEFORE YOU, LEST THE WORLD BE CONSUMED IN DARKNESS.

When you see me next, you shall not know me, for I will have been reborn in the glory of a cosmos rebalanced by the flywheel of Fate.

My friends, the aether has begun to seep through the cracks of reality and the time of transcendence is at hand! I leave you now to begin my journey into space, time, and autofellatio.

Posted by John Bai1o | November 3, 2008 2:42 AM
4

Laugh if you want, but I think Howard Dean represented the feverish, inspired enthusiasm of the youthful Left in 2004. When he folded, John Kerry stepped in, representing the tired, typical, limp old Left. I don't know if Dean would have won, but I do know that Kerry sure as hell didn't. I wasn't excited by Kerry. I voted for him, but I didn't do anything more than that.

Obama in 2008 is Dean in 2004. Hillary Clinton is Kerry. This year, the candidate that inspired me and so many others didn't fold. He won, and "is winning". I volunteered, I gave him money, I blogged, I became obsessed. Obama is fulfilling the promise that Dean made to me 4 years ago.

Of course I will love him if Obama loses! I actually like this guy. I still love Dean too. I still don't care much about Kerry. I still don't care much about H. Clinton.

However, your other point - the point about the putrid racist heart of America - that one resonates more. I will hate that heart more, Sean. I will hate that half of America all the more. I will be embarrassed and disgusted by my "fellow Americans" who hide (or don't) behind a load of bullshit criticisms of Obama, when the truth is simple: they can't vote for the black guy.

But he's going to win. Racism is going to lose this year. This is really happening. We've been burned before, but not this time. I believe this shit. I am certain.

Posted by matt | November 3, 2008 3:23 AM
5

Of course I will still love him if he loses!

And I will also still have a 5-year head start on fleeing the country like a rat leaving a sinking ship, motherfuckers.

So there. That will be my bitter consolation.

Posted by raisedbywolves | November 3, 2008 3:32 AM
6

i heard this weeks ago and it bolstered me mightily and it bolsters me now
donna brazile - ain't goin back to the back of the bus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-__IdzH1b8

Posted by reverend dr dj riz | November 3, 2008 3:34 AM
7

I firmly believe that come tomorrow we will see insane lines to vote and I have to believe that Obama will win way more than they are even predicting. I am partially basing this on the fact that polls are conducted only on people with landlines, which leaves out a huge amount of poor people and young people who rely solely on cell phones. People of color, young people, and poorer people feel that they actually have a reason to vote, many for the first time. They are jazzed about this. This is our best chance.

If for some reason it doesn't go our way tomorrow, I'll still love Obama. But I won't buy into any of the hype anymore. I will lose a great deal of faith I am putting into America right now. I think a lot of people (the poor, PoC, youth) will give up entirely, for a long long long long time. Myself included.

But when he does win tomorrow, it will engage those people into a process that can really work for them. I know that in 2 years President Obama will be in a great place to get those people to rally around "lesser" elections for congress and state. That would be a real test to see if this will last, if it's for real. That's the way we can change things for the long term.

Posted by um | November 3, 2008 4:06 AM
8

Yes. Yes I will.

Posted by Matt in Southampton | November 3, 2008 4:13 AM
9

Hi I'm back.

The thing about Sean's fears is that it conveniently can't be refuted by polling data, because Sean is afraid that people are either lying to pollsters, or the pollsters aren't reaching the right people, or there's just simply something inherently broken in the polling itself.

Nevertheless, insidey-journalist Mark Halperin knows different, Sean:

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1855843,00.html

"Actually overtaking Obama in enough states to win would require a combination of factors: Obama's get-out-the-vote efforts have to turn out to be weaker than thought; young voters have to fail to channel their enthusiasm for Obama into actually voting; race has to be a bigger factor than most pollsters currently believe it to be; conservatives have to be more fired up than they have seemed; independents have to be more attracted to the Republican ticket than they have been all year; and, most of all, late-deciding voters have to break disproportionately to McCain."

No one was this confident in 2004. Like, not only would there be crickets at the Stranger Election Party, there would also be a lot of people losing their jobs for being so very very wrong.

Oh and riots.

Posted by matt | November 3, 2008 4:17 AM
10

Yes. I. Will.

Your description of 2004 sounds so goddamned familiar (and I didn't live in Seattle then and didn't read the Stranger and didn't go to any election parties--but on my own, I was just so damn sure that Kerry had to win because I couldn't even begin to understand how we could re-elect Bush II (and I still can't). And I was a fucking zombie afterwards. I don't even want to think about how I'd recover if it happened again.

This can't be over soon enough.

Posted by Katie | November 3, 2008 4:22 AM
11

As an outsider (to the US), I can honestly say I've never seen this much excitement and passion about an election. It's had daily reports for about a year and a half now, and I think this is because we're ALL longing for something else.

Obama will still be loved if he loses, because he represents much more than the next presidential hopeful. He has come to represent 'otherness' as a concept, and whatever the outcome, he doesn't just become two lines in a history book.

That, combined with one hell of civil war that will begin in a few days...

Posted by bazz | November 3, 2008 5:03 AM
12

@4 Matt
"I will hate that heart more, Sean. I will hate that half of America all the more. I will be embarrassed and disgusted by my "fellow Americans" who hide (or don't) behind a load of bullshit criticisms of Obama, when the truth is simple: they can't vote for the black guy." I agree and I believe this truth. I have no idea what to do with it-except do what I have been doing; talking, volunteering, donating.

"If he had to give a concession speech"
the bile boiling up is ruining my morning coffee

Posted by 4f...sake | November 3, 2008 5:14 AM
13

In 2004, I cursed John Kerry's name and I'm-a-political-Herman-Munster visage after he lost, but I was appalled his boring ass made it through the primaries against people like Dean. This time, I would place the blame for a loss solely on the idiocy of the American people and not at all on Our Great Leader.

Posted by The CHZA | November 3, 2008 5:31 AM
14

The point isn't about feelings for Obama. A McCain victory could only happen through the most transparent of fraud -- but we've had that happen twice in a row already. What if it were three times?

The question isn't how one would feel personally about the third President-elect in a row to be denied his office, the question would be would that finally be enough?

Posted by whatevernevermind | November 3, 2008 5:40 AM
15

Well, I must be soooo old. I remember being bummed out by so many Republican wins like Reagan, who I thought America just couldn't vote for. Or Nixon's win, who I thought America just couldn't vote for. Or George Bush, one and two, who I thought America just couldn't vote for. America just never learns. So I'm sorry if I'm just a little cynical. BUT GET YOUR ASSES OUT THERE AND FUCKING VOTE COME HELL OR HIGH WATER ANYWAY.

Posted by Vince | November 3, 2008 5:47 AM
16

It's not about love for politicians.
Post-2004 feeling:

"Belize: I hate America, Louis. I hate this country. It’s just big ideas, and stories, and people dying, and people like you. The white cracker who wrote the national anthem knew what he was doing. He set the word 'free' to a note so high nobody can reach it. That was deliberate. Nothing on earth sounds less like freedom to me. You come to room 1013 over at the hospital, I'll show you America. Terminal, crazy and mean. I live in America, Louis, that’s hard enough, I don’t have to love it. You do that. Everybody’s got to love something."

Posted by chicagogaydude | November 3, 2008 6:05 AM
17

chill out dude.

If Obama loses, of course he's still a great leader who did great and of course many many people will continue to support him, and I'd warrant he'd be the top dog for 4 years later. And if he loses no it isn't necessarily due to race or voter fraud. Please. What a convenient way of fitting facts that haven't even happened yet into whatever is most emotionally pleasing to your cognitive frames.

Some times you lose because you get fewer votes. Got it?

and if he wins, NOTHING CHANGES BY THAT FACT ALONE. (Well apart from immedaite huge good will for USA, hope etc.) But really -- we have to pass all this shit.

There is a FAR greater danger of disillusionment from the prospect that he wins and then suddenly folks see this isn't change itself the USA legislative process takes over, with that minority-rule Senate I've beeen mentioning which no one EVER wants to talk about, you know, the one where senators representing 18% of the popluation can block anything? Stuff like that. Then he only gets passed about 15% of what he promised & his supporters may give up and get disheartened etc.

All this fervid adulation and focus on election day alone, the focus on OBama instead of his ideas and programs, etc. would seem to be setting us up for that.

WINNING THE ELECTION IS JUST GETTING TO JOHN MUIR BASE CAMP DUDES IT AIN'T SCALING MT. RAINIER, OK?

Stay organzied, stay connected, etc.

Oh Bailo today was funny -- I wonder if it was really him? Bailo: keep with the schrooms they seem to do wonders.

Unity now, unity forever, unity if we win, unity if we don't win, keep on keeping on--

Posted by PC | November 3, 2008 6:08 AM
18

chill out dude.

If Obama loses, of course he's still a great leader who did great and of course many many people will continue to support him, and I'd warrant he'd be the top dog for 4 years later. And if he loses no it isn't necessarily due to race or voter fraud. Please. What a convenient way of fitting facts that haven't even happened yet into whatever is most emotionally pleasing to your cognitive frames.

Some times you lose because you get fewer votes. Got it?

and if he wins, NOTHING CHANGES BY THAT FACT ALONE. (Well apart from immedaite huge good will for USA, hope etc.) But really -- we have to pass all this shit.

There is a FAR greater danger of disillusionment from the prospect that he wins and then suddenly folks see this isn't change itself the USA legislative process takes over, with that minority-rule Senate I've beeen mentioning which no one EVER wants to talk about, you know, the one where senators representing 18% of the popluation can block anything? Stuff like that. Then he only gets passed about 15% of what he promised & his supporters may give up and get disheartened etc.

All this fervid adulation and focus on election day alone, the focus on OBama instead of his ideas and programs, etc. would seem to be setting us up for that.

WINNING THE ELECTION IS JUST GETTING TO JOHN MUIR BASE CAMP DUDES IT AIN'T SCALING MT. RAINIER, OK?

Stay organzied, stay connected, etc.

Oh Bailo today was funny -- I wonder if it was really him? Bailo: keep with the schrooms they seem to do wonders.

Unity now, unity forever, unity if we win, unity if we don't win, keep on keeping on--

Posted by PC | November 3, 2008 6:09 AM
19

I actually do know: There are less of the "idiot" parts of America than the "non-idiot." (Though I'm not sure I like this dichotomy very much. I'm not sure I like it when anybody calls anybody else stupid, especially whole regions/demographics of people.)
I know it's en vogue on the left to talk about how "stupid" and regressive Americans are; I also know how badly our hearts were broken in 2004. But hasn't the Obama campaign has been twenty long months of talking to us like adults, of appealing to the best aspects of our collective character? And he's winning! By a lot! I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch, and I would be truly devastated if he loses. But I believe wholeheartedly that his campaign has changed our country--the tenor of political discourse as well as the way we think about ourselves as Americans.

Posted by Lorenzo | November 3, 2008 6:19 AM
20

Oh yes, there's more.

The writer says: "Are you still going to be glad you voted for him, proud you volunteered to boosterize him, wore the t-shirts, flyered the doorknobs, donated the cash, gave him the motor of your genuine conviction that he was the right man not just for the job, but for THE job, that you listened and heard and were stirred and moved by the oratory to get on board and give a damn? If Obama loses, will you still love him tomorrow??

I have to say:

what a fucking load of wussy wussy weak cowardly crap.

Anyone who regrets supporting him, or being active, then gets all disheartened and shit just because he loses is loser.

A total fucking shameless fucktard.

Working for justice, and good, and ideals, and all that shit -- it isn't easy.

Dont' expect it to be.

And yes you might have to be an activisit for more than one electoral cycle and more than one little year in your individualistic selfish isolated little life, ok?

It might require being active about more than....Obama.

Unless of course you're actually in it just for this particular hero worship and not because you really care about .......

change.

And another thing. I think Obama did very very well changing as the election went on and finally speaking to folks' economic concerns. NYT today points out he has about 45% among all whites.

In other words he's KICKING ASS among this group, and doing FAR FAR better than Gore, Kerry, and even Clinton did.

One big reason is he got to be all about economics a/k/a class warfare a/k/a middle class white Americans came more and more to feel he identified with their values and their narratives and with: them.

So, just like HRC kind of matured and got better thru the election, so did OBama, even more, way more.

So many "former HRC supporters" I think would start off inclined to support him for next time. He certainly has cured what he lacked before (for me, at the start he didn't speak fo WHAT change we needed and at the end he did -- focusing on the economic shit)--(and yes, his praising Clinton helped a lot. It was quite the turn off at the start when OBama folks kept saying Bush = Clinton. That was a nice strategic old policitcs mythlie for sure. It sure worked pretty good! But of course now we see it was a liek, because OBama himself przised Billdawg and pointed out incomes rised a lot under him while falling under Bush etc.).

So really, relly chill out.

First of all he's going to win and instead of writing huge long stupid posts why don't you go donate RIGHT NOW if you are worred?

Second of all, were he to lose, he still has this HUGE BASE OF SUPPORT that is now totally like fucking ORGANIZED and he has a list of THREE MILLION DONORS and he would be like THE PRINCE OF LIGHT IN WAITING leading all Democrats against McCain.

And that would be a huge achievement, too.

IOW he wouldn't be this "loser" persona at all. In fact, he'd still be THE MAN cuz of his great ideas, leadership, mailing list, charisma, etc. etc. etc.

SO CHILL OUT GO VOTE MAKE A DONATION GO DOWN TO THE OBAMA OFFICE RIGHT NOW AND VOLUNTEER AND MAKE PHONE CALLS TO ARIZONA NV AND CO !!!

Better yet go to SeaTAc Right now fly to Elko or Reno and walk into that Obama office at 3 pm today and fucking put your ass to work Monday evening and all election day.

Unity --

Posted by PC | November 3, 2008 6:22 AM
21

I've seen 4 hr lines to early vote here in Columbus OH, (and I've heard about a 7 hr line Friday.) with people proud & happy, to stand in the line to vote for Obama.

I've seen people get excited to watch the debates, heck, I watched them, which I had never done before.

Many, if not most, of my friends volunteered in some way for his campaign when they had never done so previously.

And yesterday, I saw a crowd equal to that of Ohio State football fan size waiting to see one man who told them that they would have to work hard, that they would have to be responsible for their kids, that they would have to invest time in working for their country to afford college...and they cheered him.

Obama reminds us that we have power.(And as an aside, we're not gonna give it back.) He has confidence in us. How could we stop loving this man?

Posted by amazonmidwife | November 3, 2008 6:27 AM
22

Not only will I love Obama on Wednesday morning regardless of outcome, but I'll also say this: He has run the best campaign of the modern era. Not just because he didn't screw up in any serious way, but also because he built a monumental ground-based operation and based it on real and correct ideas.

Posted by Andy James | November 3, 2008 6:36 AM
23

Here's a thought: Obama will not win without people who voted for Bush in 2004.

We need 'Idiot America,' as you so charmingly put it. We need people who don't conventionally think of themselves as liberals. So maybe, let's not remind everyone of what hateful, impotent sore losers we were back in 2004.

(Yes, it sucked that Kerry lost. A lot. 'But fuck the South' and 'let's secede' and Idiot America was stupid, ugly, spiteful bullshit, understandable but in the least productive, and I hope beneath how most of us think and feel when our better angels are in control. Unless we really do want some kind of colonialist government and The Yankee's Burden to take care of those poor beknighted people in flyover country too stupid to govern themselves. If that's the Democratic Party I think I'll go shoot myself rather than vote.)

Posted by JAltum | November 3, 2008 6:49 AM
24

I'm going to start calling myself contrasuperstitious. What a perfect description of how I feel about everything.

My dad, a really good person, generally a wonderful, thoughtful, reasonable, open-minded guy, an electrician who lives in small town Wisconsin, who has always thought of himself as a worker and voted Democrat, says he is undecided.

This is incomprehensible to me and it breaks my heart. Racism is the only thing that can possibly explain this (and maybe, I suspect, he had a crush on Sarah Palin).

I've joked that I'm going to call 911 on election day morning and tell the medics that he sounds confused and should be admitted to the hospital for 24 hours to rule out a stroke.

Nothing is going to be funny if Obama doesn't win.

Posted by natalie | November 3, 2008 6:50 AM
25

calling the people you don't agree with "idiots" will get you nowhere. i was listening to npr this morning with my wife, and she got so pissed at mccain supporters who were talking about praying for a mccain victory. well, there are people out there praying for an obama victory as well. know your enemy, sure, but maybe take the high road and don't denigrate them. just a thought.

Posted by taint | November 3, 2008 7:27 AM
26

You know, I would. I come from a long line of lefties who proudly tell their children stories about the defeated candidates they supported.
But Obama is neither Eugene McGovern nor Adlai Stevenson.

Posted by Hypatia | November 3, 2008 7:31 AM
27

Sean, please see someone about that logorrhea, I just had this jacket cleaned.

Posted by Scott Dow | November 3, 2008 7:38 AM
28

Yes I will! I voted on Saturday (early voting in person) and boy did it feel good to click that box next to his name. What a thrill! Last time around was Bush v. No-Bush, and while I was vehemently No-Bush, I didn't feel any strong connection to Kerry. Things are different this time around, and not just for me, I'd think.

Posted by That felt good | November 3, 2008 7:45 AM
29

I just happened to be in DC for work on the day after the 2004 election. I had scheduled my flight home to give myself the afternoon free... It was very surreal, walking around, staring at the Capitol building, feeling totally confused, betrayed, isolated, etc.

I had been certain of the outcome, because how could anyone look at the type of President W had been and vote for another 4 years? I swore I wouldn't let myself be that certain (and that crushed) again. And, up until a few weeks ago, I had not let myself dare to hope that Obama could win.

But... I am now too far gone. I am not only am certain of the outcome, but I have already visualized the future of an Obama presidency. Future memories of it have already been created and stored in my hippocampus.

Your description of the scenario of a McCain win felt like the description of an alternative reality. Because an Obama win is my reality right now.

Posted by Julie in Chicago | November 3, 2008 7:45 AM
30

Natalie @24-

My dad, a really good person, generally a wonderful, thoughtful, reasonable, open-minded guy-(well, not so much), an electrician (yes!) who lives in small town Wisconsin (New York), who has always thought of himself as a worker (union guy!) and voted Democrat, says he is...VOTING MCCAIN!!!

I used the "if you love me and your grandchildren, please, please please, look beyond your racism and vote for Obama. We have to keep living in this country. I begged. No shame on my part.

Posted by Beth | November 3, 2008 7:54 AM
31

My brother, who is Black, is voting for McCain.

The funny thing is he's what Joe the plumber should be. He did years in the navy and now he has a small business doing underwater construction, any sort of difficult diving, buoy maintenance. It's hard dangerous work and he doesn't like taxes or welfare.

C'est la vie, he's not a racist (duh).

Posted by daniel | November 3, 2008 8:05 AM
32

Al Gore won the popular vote in 2000. That is not in dispute. He also won Florida, according to the GAO's investigation. The 2004 election in Ohio is a little bit more vague, but the results produced there have been cited as statistically impossible by numerous analysts and the conflicts of interest in the vote count therewere rather brazen.

So.

Too many Americans of good intentions are too willing to buy the convenient "Everybody's dumber than me!" explanation for the Bush era, but the fact is this is and always has been an unelected regime. I believe that the popularity of simply despairing at the stupidity of the masses is due to it being easier than the alternative: Resisting.

If Obama "loses" tomorrow it will simply show that the Republicans are completely brazen about election theft. And this time, I propose that we of the Left get off our asses, walk away from our computers, and do something. Here is a lovely little personal account of Ukraine's Orange Revolution. The color comes from Yushchenko's campaign colors. The slogan: "It's Time." This is the way people who truly want democracy behave.

A general strike would shut this economy down instantly.

Posted by flamingbanjo | November 3, 2008 8:09 AM
33

matt @4 -- it's worth mentioning that if Obama wins (spoiler: he will), it will be partly due to Mr. Dean, who led a 50 state grassroots campaign leading up to this election, against the prevailing wisdom that it's not even worth bothering in certain red states.

Posted by Just Sayin' | November 3, 2008 8:10 AM
34

Of course we will!

As much as America has done to destroy my faith in it, I still cling to the hope/belief that MOST Americans aren't racist bastards and that his race will only matter to those pricks that would have voted for McCain anyway.

It's the disenfranchising, vote stealing bull that scares me more. That is what I fear might turn this election. That is what I fear our country is becoming. It was one thing in the past to intimidate voters and do all the crap they have done forever to discourage certain people from voting, but all the shifty things going on with voting machines mysteriously changing votes from Obama to McCain and the security failures of the machines themselves reeks of a coming despotism. I don't think it is any coincidence that I haven't heard any news reports of McCain votes switching to Obama (are there any, because you know fox would be all over that). No coincidence at all...

I can't wait until tomorrow is over. My stomach has been churning for days now.

Posted by zephsright | November 3, 2008 8:11 AM
35

HE CAN'T LOSE! (He really can't...)

Posted by DOUG. | November 3, 2008 8:12 AM
36

If Obama loses, and it is demonstrably because of illegal voter roll scrubbing / machines losing votes / miscellaneous other dirty tricks, and the judiciary lets that stand, then that's exactly the kind of situation we have the 2nd Amendment for. Sorry to say. Steal an election once, shame on me. Steal an election twice, shame on you. Steal a third one, and it's somebody's patriotic duty to start watering that "tree of liberty" that Jefferson talked about. Nothing pretty or romantic about it and it will probably plunge us all into a nightmare for a few years, but if we can't even hold a free and fair presidential election then we've got no choice.

Posted by 2nd Amendment-Loving Liberal | November 3, 2008 8:14 AM
37

Nice checking the Angels in America, @16. Hadn't thought about Belize in a while.

What you said about always saying the thing you aren't supposed to say - I'm contrasuperstitious in exactly that way, Sean, thanks for saying it.

Of course I'll still love him if he loses, dead dreams are beautiful says Monorail Guy. But this is it, folks. If they win, you gotta look at the big board.

Posted by Grant Cogswell | November 3, 2008 8:20 AM
38

Almost every time I see Obama on TV or speaking at a rally, I write him a letter in my head. Most of my letters say "Dear Senator Obama, I really really want you to be president. I will it with every fiber of my being, with every dollar that I donate, with ever person that I encourage to vote. Please, please, please don't let them win again."

But sometimes, when I'm feeling disgruntled by the latest and most ridiculous attack, I think of the letter I would write to him if the unthinkable came to pass. It would go like this: "Dear Senator Obama, I'm sorry that we failed you."

Posted by SDizzle | November 3, 2008 8:27 AM
39

Yes, I will still love him even if he loses.

I voted for Kerry with no enthusiasm at all. I voted for him because he was not-Bush. I would have voted for anyone the Democrats put forth, no matter how lame. I too felt traumatized when Kerry lost, but I never had any affection or admiration for him in the first place.

If Obama loses, I will still love him on Wednesday. He has been the most inspirational political figure in my lifetime since Kennedy. He has run an absolutely brilliant campaign. His is the best orator we've seen in 4 decades. He has a phenomenal ground game. He has revolutionized the internet as a political tool. He has more small donors than any Democratic candidate, ever.

If Obama loses, it will be through no fault of his own. He has run a near-perfect campaign in every way. His loss would fall squarely on the shoulders of the idiocy of the American public, and the vicious underhandedness of the Republicans.

And I would be even more traumatized than I was 4 years ago.

Posted by Reverse Polarity | November 3, 2008 8:42 AM
40

I am almost too superstitious to comment on this. But, of course I will still love that dude, no matter what the outcome.

If believing in smart politics and strong leadership is wrong, I don't wanna be right.

If the unthinkable happens, and McCain somehow pulls out a win? Shit will get broke.

Posted by kerri harrop | November 3, 2008 9:02 AM
41

Barry has my love and will, even after this is over tomorrow. No one can be certain of what will happen, but this man is going to win. Think of those long lines. Think about how invested so many of us have become. I know, this doesn't mean it's in the bag, but if I think about how this has changed so many people up to this point, it's hard for me to imagine that some of us won't care enough to follow through with our vote. My parents, who have never voted in their entire lives, exercised their right to vote. I've been nagging them to vote since I was 12, but this time around, they asked me for voter registration forms. They let me know when their voter registration cards came in the mail. They called me to let me know they had voted and felt happy about it. This story is repeating itself over and over across the country. Yeah, the bigots are going to vote with determination, but I do not believe it will be enough this time. I have never wanted to be more right. It's going to be emotional no matter the outcome.

Posted by Deacon Seattle | November 3, 2008 9:06 AM
42

The dirty tricks are being laid thick in Philadelphia. There have been fliers stating that Democrats should vote on Wednesday [due to expected heavy turn out]; that cops will be at the polls waiting to arrest anyone with unpaid parking tickets; and another which links Obama to the Nazis [WTF?].

The wingnuts are desperate, and I think if Obama loses [which he won't, even George Will thinks he'll win] it will be because of dirty tricks like these. Each one is a felony, and the police are looking into them but they aren't hopeful about finding who is behind it.

BTW, the mayor has forbidden police officers from working 'security' at the polls and they are even supposed to vote in plain-clothes, not uniforms.

Posted by Schweighsr | November 3, 2008 9:28 AM
43

@36

I second that emotion. I became a believer in the second amendment after 2004. We'll just have to get Idiot America to teach us how to shoot.

Posted by violet_dagrinder | November 3, 2008 9:37 AM
44

WE NEED TO DO MORE THAN JUST VOTE.

OK, so here's what you need to do if you are freaking out about it. Take the day off work and take your cell phone with you to a phonebank at an Obama field office.

You can call people in battleground states, to tell them where they are supposed to vote, what they need to bring to the polls, what rights they have as voters. Remember how the Anti-Democracy R's are always sending/robocalling misinformation?

Well, an actual person calling and giving correct information can be the difference between an effective voter and a disenfranchised voter.

And, if you get one other person to the polls who might not have made it, then you've doubled your vote. Think about it, then stop thinking and act.

It's really easy to sign up, and the Obama campaign is SCARY organized:

http://www.barackobama.com/

Posted by Sam | November 3, 2008 9:43 AM
45

@43

Yeah, I grew up in a hunting family, so I guess it'll be my job to do some training (God forbid it comes to that).

Although the only thing I worry about is that I'm sure those Palin rally wingnuts would just love for us all to take up arms in the name of democracy so that they've got an excuse to start killing all us lib'rals for Jesus. And, unfortunately, they are better shots than most of us.

Posted by 2nd Amendment-Loving Liberal | November 3, 2008 9:44 AM
46

point of order:

people who disagree with me=not (necessarily) idiot america.

people whose racism/religion/ideology make them vote against their and our interest=idiot america.

polls can't scientifically predict behavior or belief.

Posted by SEAN NELSON, EMERITUS | November 3, 2008 9:45 AM
47

Dude, way to rip off a scab that a part of me has been nurturing for four years. Ouch!

I remember 2004. Having to mask the sinking feeling that we were gonna lose the thing a week out from EDay, based on small cues I couldn't help but register, like hostility in Ballard (in Ballard!) when we did GOTV about how many times the door had already been knocked. It was like people were angry because we were reminding them that our option was Kerry.

I'm not getting that vibe this year. People seem to be looking forward to the election this year, even if it's the screw your courage to the sticking point kind of anticipation.

I was canvassing in West Seattle yesterday and people thanked me for being out-even when they had been called earlier in the day. And the early voters seemed to appreciate having the opportunity to tell me that they'd voted Obama.

Now I know there's an entire subset of Americans that I will probably never agree with on a whole host of issues and non-issues.

But this time I don't have that sinking feeling. So Obama, yeah, no matter how this crumbles cookie-wise, I'm ok with it.

Gregoire, I'll have issues with - can't lie to you on that one.

Posted by microveldt | November 3, 2008 9:54 AM
48

If it helps to make anyone feel better:

My parents are white, fundamentalist Christian, under-educated, laborers from a state that's being going Republican for way too long and is expected to again this year.

They still believed the races shouldn't mix (in any way whatsoever) when I was a child and, even though they stopped believing that by the 1980s, they were still using the word "colored" as late as the 1990s.

My parents voted for Obama in the primary and they're voting for him in the general. They've also campaigned for him. They've never once talked to me about him being a black President, just about him being a potentially great one. I get the feeling they haven't been this excited since JFK.

McCain can't win tomorrow by anything other then election fraud.

Posted by whatevernevermind | November 3, 2008 11:08 AM
49

I'm still bitter about the 2000 election. I voted in Florida for Kerry. I went to rallies and drove friends to vote for Kerry. One of them said, "I'm not sure I voted for the right guy, but at least I didn't vote for the wrong guy." I think a lot of us felt like that. Watching the DNC in 2004, I remember wondering who the fuck this Obama guy was and why he wasn't running for president instead. He made me believe change was possible, that change was coming. But it was more than that. I believed this was the man who would make that desparately needed change happen. I have voted in every single election I could, including primaries and midterm elections. I'm unspeakably proud to vote for a candidate I genuinely believe in.

If the unspeakable happens, I will write him a letter addressed to his home. I will thank him. And I will grieve for the death of democracy.

Posted by Jennifer in Chicago | November 3, 2008 11:37 AM
50

@45

We need to start practicing. Maybe we could convince the Garage to add a shooting range. Hipsters packing heat for democracy. I like it.

Posted by violet_dagrinder | November 3, 2008 12:55 PM
51

@50

I know, I've gotten way rusty since I moved up here, I haven't actually owned a firearm for years, but that's definitely gonna change depending on the outcome of tomorrow night.

And just to be clear, I'm totally not one of those people who is all "Woo hoo!" about fighting, it's just that there comes a time, you know?

Also, rioting is stupid and pointless in any case, but especially please to all my fellow Seattle-ites, no rioting no matter what, okay? Everyone here voted for Obama, you'd only be shitting where you eat.

Posted by 2nd Amendment-Loving Liberal | November 3, 2008 2:13 PM
52

> I DON’T HAVE ANY INFLUENCE OVER THE ELECTION AND NEITHER DO ANY OF YOU;

Fuck yeah, we do!

* Get out there and volunteer with the campaign today: http://www.barackobama.com/splash/volunteer.html
* If you can't do that, make some Get-Out-The-Vote calls from home/work (at the link above)
* Remind your friends to vote, and tell them to remind their friends.

They're all little insignificant things, but if we all do them, it'll "influence" the election.

Posted by Joe | November 4, 2008 9:57 AM

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