The Final US Election Thread

[Divinus Arma]

How long before Bin Laden Slaps us?

[Koga No Goshi]

How long before Bin Laden Slaps us?

Did you vote for the guy or not?

[CountArach]

The speech was alright - it picked up a bit towards the end.

[JAG]

Yep, was a good 'un.

[Lemur]

Okay, this is really petty, but the theological/grammatical side of me is really pleased when a politician uses the correct formulation: "May God continue to bless the United States of America," as opposed to "God bless America." You're not pretending to know God's will, you're just saying that you hope God will look favorably on your nation.

A minor quibble, but it drives me nuts when politicos get it wrong.

-edit-

Just to make it crystal clear: the inclusion of the word "may" is what sets the correct version apart from the idiot version.

[Martok]

WOOT!!!



That is all.

[Lemur]

A final pre-bed thought: I know the odds were always low that the Dems would achieve the magic 60 in the Senate, but still I'm glad they didn't get it. That would have been too much temptation for any party. Which is not to say that they may not already have too much temptation, what with holding both houses of Congress and the Executive. But I have some degree of faith that President-elect Obama will whip his unruly party into line and get them doing something productive.

Forcing the Dems to move their party headquarters to Chicago was a masterstroke.

[ICantSpellDawg]

A final pre-bed thought: I know the odds were always low that the Dems would achieve the magic 60 in the Senate, but still I'm glad they didn't get it. That would have been too much temptation for any party. Which is not to say that they may not already have too much temptation, what with holding both houses of Congress and the Executive. But I have some degree of faith that President-elect Obama will whip his unruly party into line and get them doing something productive.

Forcing the Dems to move their party headquarters to Chicago was a masterstroke.

Part of me hopes that the Dems screw this country to the wall for this. The reasonable pragmatist in me hopes that the Democrats fix what they can and then get crushed in 4 or 8 years.

Obama is a real talent. I just hope that talent falls flat on abortion and translates beyond words. The success that he has had with his fabricated message of "crossing the isle" might stick since it has worked so well for him. Hopefully hey buys his own narrative.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Obama speech started out good but I don't see how "yes we can" is a timeless creed.

Obama/biden certainly exceeded expectations. My optimistic prediction in late september was Obama: 329 McCain:209. Passed that already.

[CountArach]

The reasonable pragmatist in me hopes that the Democrats fix what they can and then get crushed in 4 or 8 years.

No party can fix things and not get re-elected. Even in America.

[Pannonian]

A final pre-bed thought: I know the odds were always low that the Dems would achieve the magic 60 in the Senate, but still I'm glad they didn't get it. That would have been too much temptation for any party. Which is not to say that they may not already have too much temptation, what with holding both houses of Congress and the Executive. But I have some degree of faith that President-elect Obama will whip his unruly party into line and get them doing something productive.

Forcing the Dems to move their party headquarters to Chicago was a masterstroke.

Can you explain to a Brit?

[CountArach]

Can you explain to a Brit?

Washington is full of people who have distinct ideas about how to win an election and about how things should be done. Chicago on the other hand, is underutilised by campaigns as it has a lot of very highly educated professionals (lawyers, etc) who can give a fresh perspective on things. Plus it borders on Indiana, which apparently helped.

[OverKnight]

If Stevens wins and then resigns, Palin could appoint herself as his replacement, correct?

Whilly stunningly Machiavellian, I could see it happening.

As for electing convicted felons: I give you a local Massachusetts folk hero:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Michael_Curley

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

He served in various municipal offices and one term in the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1902-1903). He is noted for having been elected to the Board of Aldermen in 1904 while in prison, having been convicted of fraud. Curley and an associate, Thomas Curley (no relation) took the civil service exams for postmen for two men in their district to help them get the jobs with the federal government. Though the incident gave him a dark reputation in respectable circles, it aided his image in working class or poor circles because they saw him as a man willing to stick his neck out to help a poor man.

. . .Curley's popularity within Boston remained high – despite even a felony indictment in 1943 for influence peddling, which stemmed from his involvement with a consulting firm seeking to secure defense contracts. On the slogan "Curley Gets Things Done" he won an unprecedented fourth term as mayor of Boston in 1945. A federal jury then found him guilty of the felony charges, but he remained mayor even after he entered a federal penitentiary in 1947, serving until 1949.

In 1947, during his last mayoral term, he was convicted for a second time on federal charges of official misconduct, including mail fraud. He spent five months in jail during this term, but still retained a considerable degree of popularity with the working classes. Out of political expediency and because of pressure from the Massachusetts congressional delegation, President Harry Truman pardoned him, enabling his release.

He was a corrupt politician, but he was their corrupt politician. I'm sure the same thinking applies in Alaska.

[Andres]

Okay, this is really petty, but the theological/grammatical side of me is really pleased when a politician uses the correct formulation: "May God continue to bless the United States of America," as opposed to "God bless America." You're not pretending to know God's will, you're just saying that you hope God will look favorably on your nation.

A minor quibble, but it drives me nuts when politicos get it wrong.

-edit-

Just to make it crystal clear: the inclusion of the word "may" is what sets the correct version apart from the idiot version.

But when he uses "May God continue to bless...", he also pretends to know God's will, namely God's will in the past, since by using "continue to bless", he implies that God is blessing America now and has been blessing it in the past.

I think the correct version should be "May God bless the United States of America".

[KukriKhan]

Moderators will be doing the "shut up" job here. Thanks.