A Great Attitude...I Hope I Can Live Up to It

I'm back from vacation, and ready to hit the ground running. Since the holidays are my least favorite time of the year (let's just say that I bought the Grumpy t-shirt on my vacation with my little ones), I don't plan to take any time off over the next month. Still, I found this in my inbox when I returned, and it reflects some of the attitude that I feel regarding life in Obamerica. I say *some* of the attitude, since I fear that I lack some of the author's maturity. I still think it makes for thoughtful reading, though, and I certainly do not plan to react to an Obama presidency the way that the Democrats responded to W's. Incidentally, I plan to write President Bush a thank you letter for his years of service to our country. The address is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, if you would like to join me...

http://insidecatholic.com/Joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4838&Itemid=48

Dr. Laura Hits the Road for a Rest

I will most likely be silent for the next ten days or so, although I never rule out the possiblity of a vacation post! Rest assured, I have not given up the good fight - just a family vacation. Like the Republican party, I, too, must regroup. I sincerely hope to see you back here when I return. In Pace Christi...

Day One in Obamerica

Wow - so this is what it feels like to be an Obamerican. Somehow it's not as bad as I thought it woud be. Of course, I'm still only an Obamerican-elect. We'll see what happens on January 1, 2009, unless, of course Armageddon strikes before then. Kidding, kidding...so far I've seen none of the signs of impending Armageddon!

I have to be honest. I sort of knew that Obama would win. Not because of the polls, but because there was no clear-cut Republican candidate this year. I supported McCain because he was not Obama, and not because he was my top choice. As I have said before, two-party politics is a series of pair-wise comparisons, and this year, for me it was Obama or not-Obama. What the Republicans have to do now is fall back and regroup, and try to remember what it is to be a Republican. It may be true that America is trending left, but I am not so willing to concede that point. I think that race played a part in last night's win (people are in love with the idea of descriptive representation - they have the idea that Candidate X can represent them better because he looks like they do - a point, by the way, which has been disproven by research. I beat this drum more often than any other: the office structures the behavior). I also have no doubt that Bush's historically low approval rating played a huge role in last night's win. Whether or not he is a true Republican, and I would vehemently argue that he is not, by definition, so, McCain wears the label of the party, and he paid for that dearly last night. Finally, yes, the sheeple-factor came into play last night as well. Last night was a popularity contest, and people wanted to go home with the winner. It stinks to be on the side of the loser. Ask me: I know.

So the Democratic party has a tremendous task ahead of it. For one thing, President-elect Obama (may as well get used to that title) has to decide who he is. Is he the most liberal member of the Senate who made dubious friendships and chose interesting religious mentors? Or is the President-elect the moderate that he campaigned as - a tax cutter and a Republican clone of sorts? Only time will tell. We know that we can't count on the mainstream media to tell us anything at all about Senator Obama, so we'll hope that lesser known sources keep apprised of his doings. Oh, and we'll see how long that middle-class tax cut stays on the agenda. How long was it before Bill Clinton shelved his? Two months after election?

Settle back and get used to life as an Obamerican...it's gonna be a long four years...

The Polls Exposed by Someone Who Knows

Wow - what a great read the following post is! Who would know better than someone who has been there? This post explains so much of the candidates' behavior over the past few weeks, especially McCain's time in PA. Oh, and please pay special attention to what Sean says about the "undecideds". I believe yours truly suggested only yesterday that the media assertion that all of the undecideds going for Obama was fairly unreliable (read: ludicrous).

One other quick word: beware of the exit polls. They depend on a few things. Exit pollers have to take a statistically random sample, which is *really* hard. Some people are just naturally more gregarious, and in this election, don't you just think that the Obamaniacs are the ones who are going to be bursting at the seams to gush to anyone who will listen -- especially exit pollers? Some people are more reticent to disclose for whom they voted. As I said, it's really hard to get a statistically random sample because of the selection effects. Also, in this election, probably more than in others, the political stripes of the exit pollers could come into play, no matter how hard the trainers have worked to caution against it. My point is simply this: don't lose heart. Read what Sean Maelstrom has to say about the polls, and realize that McCain only has to win states by 1 or 2 percentage points. He doesn't require a landslide. Hopefully, stronger minds will prevail. Thanks to the friend who passed this post along to me:

http://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2008/11/03/toast/

The Day Before

I have many thoughts this morning. I have to wonder if McCain can pull it off. I have nothing but disgust for NBC and the way that they have covered this entire election. Can you just imagine the way they would cover an Obama presidency? Oh, yes, we can have confidence that his every move would be closely scruitinized. Rest easy, Obamerican public...the media is on the case.

You know, I know I'm not allowed to say this, but I just have to wonder if Obama would be so revered, dare I say deified, if his politics were dropped into - oh, I don't know - an old white guy? If he looked like Strom Thurmond, would there be the groundswell of support? Would Bruce Springsteen be singing at his rallies? Would all of Hollywood be kissing his ring? Or would the media be suggesting that his politics are out of touch with mainstream America? That perhaps being the most liberal Senator is not something that best serves the average American, since the average American is not so far left of center as to be falling off of the edge of the line. How about Mrs. Obama? If she were not a young, attractive, black woman, would she be feted as some sort of celebrity? Would this hotel receipt be completely ignored by the mainstream media? If she looked like Nancy Reagan, I somehow don't think so. Again, I think she would be vilified as being out of touch with the mainstream American. Most Americans have never eaten lobster. I have never eaten lobster. Most Americans have never paid over $400.00 for a meal. I have never even paid $100.00 for a meal, and I have four children. Somehow, though, no one has accused Mrs. Obama of being an elitist, or of being out of touch. I just don't understand this election at all. Aren't the *Republicans* supposed to be the big spending, out of touch elitists?? Aren't the blue-collar, low-income, blue-staters supposed to revile their out-of-touch politics? Why on earth is SARAH PALIN the one who is so loathed by Democrats? She is more real than anyone in the campaign!

Sigh. Just one more sign that our country has gone end-over-end (it's a family friendly blog...I'm actually thinking of a phrase that requires the insertion of body parts here). What used to be down is now up, and nothing makes any sense anymore. I will spend the day praying for our country and for our unborn. As I have said, I know that our country can withstand an Obama presidency. Our founders were smarter than him, by quite a bit. I fear for what we will all endure in the short term, though.

100 Reasons Not to Vote Obama (with Citations)

Today as we head toward the election, Father West says it better than I can, so I'll let him do my talking for me. Thank you to the friend who directed me toward this wonderfully comprehensive list. I think that almost any one of these issues is reason enough to vote McPalin, but there is surely something for everyone.

A quick word regarding the polls, as I sit here watching the Today show on a Sunday morning. In swing states, all of the poll numbers are well within the margin of error (although try and find the margin of error on the NBC graphic; you might need very strong reading glasses). Silly ol' me with a Ph.D. in Political Science looks at these poll numbers and sees that the margin of error is close, and that there are huge numbers of undecided voters. Ignorant fool that I am, I assume that this means that these states could go either way, and that it will be a long night on Tuesday. Thank God I have Tom Brokaw to correct my foolish, little girl assumptions! He has just informed me (in real time) that what these numbers *really* mean is that Obama is leading in these states, since we know that Democrats will definitely vote Democratic, and that undecided Republicans and Independents are currently weighing whether or not they can cast an Obama vote. (Naturally it's not even conceivable that they could be weighing a *McCain vote). Finally, when speaking of early voting, Brokaw concludes that the assumption is that it is the Obama supporters who are voting early, so early voting will also help the Obama vote. Gee. I'm really glad that wasn't me standing in line to vote early - for McCain.

It's really good to know that we don't have a biased media. I loved watching Tim Russert. He truly was a man for others, and he hid his political stripes well. He asked hard but fair questions, and I always learned something from him. He radiated kindness and intelligence. I won't watch Meet the Press since he died (Requiescat in Pace). Brokaw may just as well wear a T-shirt that says "Obama '08". He couldn't feign impartiality if his life depended on it, and NBC should be ashamed to let him sit in Russert's seat.

Now for Fr. West's list: http://frwest.blogspot.com/2008/09/more-than-100-reasons-to-vote-against.html