Elections and things

So November 4th has come and gone. It was the day's we'd all been waiting for for the last two years. Excessive pandering, promises, pundits, and Pallin have had me wanting to, well, puke for the last year and half of it. Maybe it was the fact that I was studying political science for most of the election cycle and so the inundation of it all brought me to the point of hara-kari. It was only the blissful fog of apathy that soon came over me that made it all barable. It was this same fog that erected a mental barrier that prevented virtually any knowledge of any particular candidate from gethering in my brain. I must have seen hours of Hillary Clinton on tv but I still couldn't tell you a single thing she stands for. I just didn't care.

Well, eventually I had to think about it a bit. If you can imagine, living in DC has made it much more difficult to ignore the political process than it was while I blissfully carried on in Hawaii. I finally started following bits and pieces of candidates platforms, though mainly I was watching how they carried themselves. Though for some time I've mentally alligned myself with political conservatism, both social and economic, I couldn't help but feel alienated from the Republican party. Pallin seemed like a whack-job, McCain seemed pretty uninterested in campaigning up until the last little while, and so many of the republicans in the news just look like jerks these days.

Looking at Obama I saw a whole lot of liberalism, but I also saw enthusiasm. I had to cringe a bit at the thought of many of his policies, but he just seemed more palatable as an individual. Going into election time, I had to make a decision. Given that I was registered in Washington State, there wasn't a whole lot my vote was going to do. Obama was ahead in the polls by 12-15%. My decision, then, came down to how I wanted to remember my alligance. It looked pretty strongly like Obama was going to win it all, so I had to think in different terms. When it came down to it, his social policies are not going to change a whole lot. Roe v. Wade is already passed and a heavily democratic congress wouldn't let that change even if McCain had been elected. Gay marriage is likely going to stay at the state level so that's also not a big issue. Tax policies might get screwed up under Obama, but if he inspires confidence in markets here and abroad then we'll be better off in the long run. And finally, although he is our president, other countries like him and are excited to have him. That means better relations almost regardless of his ability as a head of state. So, when it came time to mail it in, I circled the bubble next to Obama/Biden. Knowing that he would win, I wanted to be on board. I didn't want to be a nay-sayer who for the next 4 years denies accountability for the state of the country. I didn't just want to be on the winning side so I can say I won, because in reality, he's not what I want. I wanted to hold myself responsible for my president and the state of the country.

I don't know how it's going to turn out. It's an exciting time for our country. We're struggling a bit, but not the way we think. Compared to the rest of the world we're not starving, so much as just choking a bit on our filet mignon. Hopefully Mr. President Elect Obama can give us the heimlich maneuver we need. In any case, it'll be a defining next 4 years and I'm finally starting to be more hopeful. I've made fun of the hope/change tripe of the last year or so, but, as much as I hate to say it, I'm feeling it a bit. I've been lukewarm towards things for a while now and I'm looking forward to what we're going to see in the coming period.

God bless America.