Barackolypse Now: The End of the World as We've Come to Know It.

Brian -

Nice article.  I think it captures the moment very well.  I also saw the 'real' McCain emerge on the concession platform last night and agree with what I think you said - that he would have done better, and perhaps even won, if his 'real' self had campaigned.  I certainly don't follow Republican politics, and all my comments about them are made under correction, but it seems to me that McCain brought in the wrong set of campaign advisors.  What worked in previous elections just wasn't tracking any more.  Folks can say that the economic crisis is what 'done him in', and to a certain degree that may be true.  I think that his advisors were largely one-note, negative players.  They didn't have the intellect to quickly adapt to the changing economic situation and put forward a winning approach.  All they knew was to pump up the negativity - and that didn't work.  McCain's failed attempt at leadership in that domestic 'crisis' was, I think, the turning point for his campaign.

His pick of Palin was a gamble that didn't work given the economic climate - perhaps it would have fared better if the economy hadn't tumbled.  On several occasions McCain said that economics wasn't his strong suit - and that he'd look for a VP candidate to help him on that topic.  Just before the convention the economy wasn't in great shape, but it hadn't collapsed yet.  It seems to me that he gambled that the economy would limp along, and that the collective voting population would remain (as Herman Hickman, the Yale football coach used to say of the alumni) "sullen, but not mutinous".  Thus, he turned his attention to the far-right base thinking (or hoping) that the economy would take care of itself at least until after the election.  When the economy took a dive - he had no real economic strategy and noone to help him develop one that would address the problem.  I think Holtz-Eakin has some good ideas, but it seems to me that the other economic advisors (especially if he was still listening to Gramm and Laffer) had views counter to what is needed.  Palin certainly wasn't any help, regardless of her administrative experience.  The voting public stopped being sullen and turned mutinous.

Steve -  I think you make some good points, too.  I agree that neither side has a monopoly on hyperbole - and that we do have a tendency to exaggerate during election season.  I think that's good, because the polar statements define the 'middle'.  Now - we have to catch our breath and see what happens.  I believe that while Obama surely has a left-of-middle philosophy, he's enough of a pragmatist to keep more to the middle in order to make the changes we need.  "Baby steps" rather than strides that would be unworkable.

I liked his acceptance speech a lot.  It may not have been as powerful as his recent stump speeches, but I think he did that on purpose.  It's time to calm folks down - it's time to make measured and well-considered actions.  I like the speech because he emphasized his view that now we have an opportunity to work together rather follow the lead of some past acceptance speeches than focused on the opportunity for 'us' now to correct the wrongs imposed by 'them'.  I liked his Lincoln quotes.  I more than half-expected him to bring out the "with malice toward none, with charity for all..." line, but now that I think about it perhaps that would have seemed too condescending.

All in all - I'm optimistic.

I have to give John McCain lots of credit for his speech and him silencing the booing horde at his concession speech. That's the John McCain I admired, that's the guy I thought should have beaten Bush in 2000, not the angry, negative man who ran for president this year. I wonder what he thinks about his political career now. He seems almost snakebitten. In 2000 he ran an honorable, truthful campaign, but his party did him dirty. In 2008 he goes negative and attacks at every turn, and gets throttled by Obama.

Senator Obama.....President-elect Obama...I'm still stunned to say the words. I'm a young black male and even I was afraid that this moment would never be possible. I wasn't born here, but grew up in the US and learned of slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, poll taxes, fire hoses and attack dogs. For some they may think that the 40-some years between the civil rights act and now is a long time, but to blacks it's really not, considering that 400 years ago, my long dead relative might have been your relative's slave in the Caribbean or in Africa. I go to grad school, and I sit next to whites, asians, blacks, Middle easterners, hispanics, Indians. 50 years ago that was not possible or allowed in many quarters of this nation. I couldn't look at a white woman for fears of lynching or having a cross burned on my lawn.

This is not meant to be a guilt-trip piece, because we are past that as a nation. I say WE because WE  are the United States of America, one nation under God (whether you believe in him or not), indivisible. Our paths have been rough and at times divisive, but I feel we are on the same path. It's not going to be easy to understand what our country will be in a few years, because we have lots to do and lots to work on. But unlike some of those who view America as just fine the way it is and see no reason to improve, we have to improve, because it is our destiny and purpose to improve.

We may not see it that way as Americans, but the world looks up to us. As a first generation immigrant I see it all the time. The opportunities here aren't available all over the world, and we should always cherish what this country offers us: Hope. People come here because here you can be who you are, and become what you want to. This is the nation that says YES YOU CAN, no matter your color or religion. Today we live up to the promise of the Declaration of Independence, that all men and women are created equal.

I know I might have gone off-topic, but I felt it had to be said.

Have my fingers crossed in the hope that after all the votes are tabulated that "8" in California passes and to clarify I mean that gay marriages become legal in California and eventually in all states. Up here in Canada gay marriage has been the law for 5 plus years now and it has not hurt our country or affected tradional marriages whatsoever. Those of us who are gay only want one thing and that is to be recognized as useful patriotic citizens who contribute a great deal of good to society in general. On August 29th of this year my husband and I celebrated our 5th year of marriage and 32 years together in total. We are happy, involved in our community, accepted in our community and have many many friends the vast majority of which are heterosexual. It is time or near time that Americans in general accept the reality that gay are a natural part of the world's society and deserve all the rights that every citizen in the democratic world expects. God blesses all people, all countries and he alone will and should make the judgement.

Good luck American citizens, you have just made history in the most positive of ways and I believe you have turned a significant corner. A new future for America is at hand and I hope you all work to ensure that around that corner great changes will happen! 

Go for the top of the mountain, you now have the best chance to reach it. Congratulations!!

As I watched McCain last night thats all I could think. If this McCain had run the outcome would have been different. He appeared to be the man I was impressed with 4 years ago.

Alea iacta est, my support is for Obama.

I voted for Obama, but it had nothing to do with his skin color. It had to do with the fact that I beleive him to be the most intellegent, competent candidate put forward by either party in decades, perhaps longer. I beleive in his vision of America, he see's what we could be, not what he can get away with, which I think was part of every decision Bush made.

It is an odd reflection on where we really are as a Nation that in an election where the issues were of such enormous magnitude so many are focused on such trivial concerns.  

Brian and Perry - thanks for your comments, both are thoughtful. I am under the impression according to the news that many thousand votes on prop 8 have not yet been counted and therefore the results are not official yet. In any case it is obvious to me that even if prop 8 is officially passed, at the end of the day, there is still hope for the future because at this point you can not ignore the beliefs of at least 48 percent of Califorinians that are in favour and that is significant. At 66 years of age I pray I will live long enough to see the legalization of gay marriage in the majority of the states. Gay marriage hurts no one, is a good thing for gay couples, gives us a feeling of belonging and as far a religous concerns go it is good to remember that ordinary men wrote the bible according to the times and times have changed.

The puppies name?

Karl Barx.

INSTANT. WIN.

Nice post, Brian. I haven't been around lately--been very busy--and it's good to see you're still here, doing what you do so well.

I don't want to demean or begrudge Obama's victory, it certainly promises to undo a multitude of sins going back all the way to 1960. But at his core, Obama is a centrist not unlike Clinton; there will be significant changes, but his first order of business is to get the country behind them.

Thank you for the excellent article, Brian. Yesterday felt like a 60s Be-In come to fruition. Worldwide joy at America's escape from tyranny, again.

I sat up all night 8,000 miles away watching the election unfold.  When the declaration was announced at 4am GMT,  I cried.  I am 57  and over the years I have come to have a great affection for the US, its values and culture, mainly through connections during 25 years in the Army serving alongside US Forces.  In last 10 years I watched despairingly - at least as I saw it - the win,win,win culture driven by the power of the chequebook, destroy the Core Values of what the Founding Fathers laid down.  From where I sit, the US had lost its way, and the ordinary people were on the verge of permanently loosing the capacity to truely have a say in their future.

The Election changed all that.  Obama is going to turn into the greatest President the US has had since Lincoln because he is a Leader. He has leadership qualities coming out of every part of his being.  He has that rare quality, the ability to motivate, inspire, provide a sense of purpose, clarity of vision, a focus on a common purpose, and above all an understanding that progress is made by promoting Core Values of decency and common goals and respect for others. Those values are seen as worthy of attaining by everyone, they are unifying ideals

In that environment, people will come forward to serve the common good, will willingly give their all because its the right thing to do in the knowledge that they will be suitably rewarded, not just because someone sold them the mythical dream of "number 1".  Finally after a long walk in the Forrest people have rediscovered the Wood from the Trees.  That is so Huge, and puts the Country back on track.

President Clinton summed it up during a stump session near the end of the election campaign when he said to the crowd:

"Look, and he might not like this so close to election [pointing at Obama] because this is unbriefed and I have not cleared this with him. I have sat and watched him assess briefings and options, sat and watch him say 'Tell me what I need to do, dont tell me whats popular, tell me whats Right, and I'll sell it'.   Thats what we need from a Leader, thats Leadership, thats why you must vote for this guy"

Obama has the perfect combination of Leadership, Vision, and sense of purpose thats needed to Lead the US back to what the Founding Fathers aspired to.

I went to bed a very happy guy.