The first results are back in the final phase of an extraordinary US presidential election. As Doris Kearns Goodwin declared on the Daily Show, "there's been nothing like it since the 19th century". And they didin't even have the internet then. Indulge yourself. Throw a sickie and gorge on news channels, blogs and novelty eBay auctions for a day, I'm not judging. But do feel very welcome to post your links and share your insights here …
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First.
Heh.
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It would have been hilarious if you were second.
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That's not results, that's just more reports of voter numbers. I want votes, dammit, real vote counts.
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And without wishing to bring any negativity into what ought to be a great Guy Fawkes for all mankind, Josh Marshall's Palin post is on the money:
I know there's a lot of talk in Republican circles that Sarah Palin is going to be the star, the new face of the GOP in the post-Bush, post-McCain era. And this speculation has been goosed by Palin's own hints that it's full speed ahead with Palinism on the national stage if she and McCain fall short on Tuesday. But for me the whole idea has never really added up. I'm certainly not the target audience. But my own sense is that Palin's appeal is uniquely and paradoxically tied to the dynamics of this particular election -- an election in which Republicans are expecting, rightly or wrongly, to be beaten decisively and the most aggrieved are uniquely drawn to Palin's bright eyed and unapologetic appeal to resentment and victimology.
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It would have been hilarious if you were second.
True that. I'd never have lived it down.
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i see the point of the Salon piece you link to, Russell... but i also wonder if it doesn't add to what seems to me to be a growing sense that Obama is going to be not merely a better president than Dubya, but an epochal president... i worry that expectations for the man are rising to the point where he can never live up to them, regardless of his merit as a president...
i mean, it's one thing to say he's the better candidate for president... that much is quite plainly obvious... but it is quite another to suggest that his election will bring an era of political satire to a close...
as Jon Stewart (your hero and mine) said at one point about a particular Bush-ism (the details of which escape me at the moment)... "we don't need your charity"...
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Pff, you lot, go to bed.
the most aggrieved are uniquely drawn to Palin's bright eyed and unapologetic appeal to resentment and victimology.
No... if I shut my eyes and tap my heels three times can I have a sane Republican Party?
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also... i think the greatest gift the GOP could give Obama's re-election campaign in 2012 would be running Palin against him... i can't picture what she could possibly learn in the next four years that would obviate the shortcomings she has shown in this election cycle... i've never been there, but surely America doesn't have THAT many short-sighted rednecks?
in a nutshell... i think the odds on Palin getting the nomination in 2012 are slim to non-existent... Huckabee has a better chance... but i can totally see Obama thrashing him in 2012 as well... in fact, i'll go out on a limb right now and say that if a Republican takes the White House in 2012, it'll be someone we've yet to hear of...
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in fact, i'll go out on a limb right now and say that if a Republican takes the White House in 2012, it'll be someone we've yet to hear of...
Nothing short of Batman, I would think.
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Nothing short of Batman, I would think.
Camp fifties Batman, or goth-angsty Batman? Cause I'd really like to see the former. And he'd be the first Republican candidate to run with his faithful young lithe male companion at his side, instead of tucked away in a Motel 6.
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Batman is a Republican?
oh man... the eight year old inside me just choked out his final breath and passed on...
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Batman is a Republican?
Mmmh... yes. Okay, look, I've been working for the past sixteen hours. Can we all pretend I wrote something witty here? And Emma, LOL.
(See, I'm reduced to LOLs. Somebody send help).
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hey... i thought it was witty! i wouldn't say i LOL'd... but that's only because my cat is asleep on my lap...
in fact, your quip reminded me of an American acquaintance who said to me back in 2007: "man, the Dems could run Peter Gabriel on a 'Shock The Monkey' platform next year and STILL win"...
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Batman.......or the Lone Ranger ?
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Insane US Election Nerd Alert: I woke up at 5am worrying about the exit polls. Oh yes.
The tiny village of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire voted at midnight and went 15-6 to Obama; it hasn't gone Democrat since the 60s. Please be a harbinger!
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Batman is a Republican?
Well, he invited Pat Leahy to his political fundraiser. So I'm guessing Democrat.
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I wanted to go to campus today to witness democracy in action, but unfortunately am laid up with a cold. Nevertheless, it's 17C and sunny in Pittsburgh, and a nice day to vote, if that's the kind of thing you're into.
And based on camp 1970s Batman's run for mayor against the Penguin, I'm going to say he was a Democrat.
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No... if I shut my eyes and tap my heels three times can I have a sane Republican Party?
Nope -- it's going to take a lot more than magical thinking to do that. It's going to be a hard, nasty civil war because I'll bet good money that the theo-con Palinistas aren't going to give up; they will have to be taken out with the rest of the trash.
Andrew Sullivan has drawn a good analogy with the British Conservatives post-Thatcher, when their internecine in-fighting over shit nobody else cared about was Tony Blair's biggest electoral asset. It took over fifteen years to get the moderates back in control and rebuilding electoral credibility there, and it might take that long for the GOP. Or it could just end in blood and tears.
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Batman is a Republican?
Apparently so. Sigh...
Though in more encouraging news, DC's attempt to get political (the heroes of the DC Universe start taking sides as a plot to assassinate the - fictitious - presidential candidates unfolds) has united comics fandom. Superman: Red or Blue? The bipartisan consensus is more like: What the fuck were you people huffing when this got the green light?
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Camp fifties Batman
Adam West, 2012
He also reckons that the real information starts around 7pm EST (1pm NZDT).
1pm! Oh man, that's so many hundreds of minutes away...
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Oh, and not normally a huge Chris Rock fan, but had to LOL at this from the Daily Kos:
recently quipped that President Bush has "fucked everything up so much, he's even made it hard for a white man to become president." ... -
Still, before I put too much hate on DC Universe: Decisions, at least it was the occasion for this:
Interestingly enough, the four-part series will be written by two writers: the left-leaning Judd Winick and the more rightwing Bill Willingham, allowing for both ends of the political spectrum to be wildly mischaracterized equally.
Ouch...
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Nate Silver has his final projections up. Not looking good for McCain.
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Would be more fun if it was Grant Morrison or Mark Millar and they just trashed everything.
On the actual topic, on 538's final predictions, McCain's blown out to only 1.1%. I will (relatively) confidently predict that by the time we're heading home from work in NZ, Obama will be on his way to a healthy win.