Well, what a year.
A year ago we were on the brink of the primary season. Hillary and Barack were the two names on everyones lips for the dems, Mit, Rudy and McCain were the republicans.
No one even speculated that John Edwards had been having an affair and had fathered a baby. We didn't know who was going to be the nominee for either party, let alone who was going to win.
My original candidate was Kucinich. He stood for everything I stand for. Deep down I knew he would never get the nomination, and by any chance he might get it, he is way to liberal to actually win. So then for me, to quote randi rhodes, it was between gucci and fendi. I went back and forth before Super Tuesday. Did I go for the candidate who gave me hope, a feeling of new direction? Or did I go with the one I had been routing for for years, did I vote for a woman? In the end, I went for Hillary. However, I did think she went too long before she conceded. In the end, I did cry during her concession speech. I was glad we could finally concentrate on one candidate. I could put all of my energies into barack. And that I did. The pins, the stickers, the websites, the blog, making calls... I did it all.
I obsessively checked my phone for a text message announcing Obama's VP pick. I analyzed the signs, I went back and forth on who would help him most. Some days I thought Hillary, others I thought Biden, some days I would even think a republican was his only choice. A few days before it was announced, "experts" said they were sure it was Biden because his sons were flying from various areas, the family was gathering... and then, at 3 am in the morning, I received a text. I still have it in my phone. "barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our VP nominee. Watch the first Obama-Biden rally live at 3pm ET on www.BarackObama.com. Spread the word!" I read it, smiled, and went back to sleep. Obama-Biden it was.
I waited with bated breath for the announcements of the VP's. I feared I would have to look at Mit Romneys hair, listen to Rudy's lisp, or endure Condi. So, while I was sitting in the car in Ludlow Vermont, as Adrian ran into a floral shop to see if they sold ribbon, I checked my email on my trusty iPhone to see i had a CNN Breaking News email announcing Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate. A woman. I couldnt believe he did it. All I knew was she was the governor of Alaska. Nothing more. Immediately, I called my friend Jess "SARAH PALIN!? who the HELL is SHE?!' she said she didnt know if it was fully official. and she filled me in on the ethics violation she was being investigated for. Adrian came back to the car, and I shared the news with her. I called my mom - all had the same reactions: WHO!? No one knew what that was going to mean. Would she help or hinder his campaign? Little did we know how much she would help us...
I watched each debate with keen interest, analyzing, over analyzing. I thought some people might like the old grandpa personality.
I dreamed about the election. I dreamed about voting.
And then it happened.
And now, we embark on 2009.
The year that Bush will leave office. THe year I have been waiting for since November 2000.
May 2009 bring hope, happiness, health, safety, and prosperity.
May all that we have been fighting for start to take shape.
May the troops come home.
May we all be happy.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
it's been a busy week...
With CHristmas, there hasn't been much news - but I will say that I got my Christmas present on November 4, 2008. Let's hope it lives up to everything I hoped - not like Mall Madness, one of my Christmas presents in 1990.
Here is a lovely quote from Caroline Kennedy:
"Many people remember that spirit that President Kennedy summoned forth. Many people look to me as somebody who embodies that sense of possibility. I'm not saying that I am anything like him, I'm just saying there's a spirit that I think I've grown up with that is something that means a tremendous amount to me. I think my mother … made it clear that you have to live life by your own terms and you have to not worry about what other people think and you have to have the courage to do the unexpected. Going into politics is something people have asked me about forever. When this opportunity came along, which was sort of unexpected, I thought, `Well, maybe now. How about now?' We're starting to see there are many ways into public life and public service."
Only a few days left of 2008, and then we enter the year of the first black president.
Here is a lovely quote from Caroline Kennedy:
"Many people remember that spirit that President Kennedy summoned forth. Many people look to me as somebody who embodies that sense of possibility. I'm not saying that I am anything like him, I'm just saying there's a spirit that I think I've grown up with that is something that means a tremendous amount to me. I think my mother … made it clear that you have to live life by your own terms and you have to not worry about what other people think and you have to have the courage to do the unexpected. Going into politics is something people have asked me about forever. When this opportunity came along, which was sort of unexpected, I thought, `Well, maybe now. How about now?' We're starting to see there are many ways into public life and public service."
Only a few days left of 2008, and then we enter the year of the first black president.
Friday, December 19, 2008
HAPPY HANUKKAH AL!!!!!!!!
Franken Senate Victory Projected
Democratic challenger Al Franken finds himself on the cusp of winning a seat in the United States Senate after Minnesota's canvassing board awarded him a host of challenged votes during deliberations on Thursday.
As of 8PM ET, the Minneapolis Star Tribune projected that Franken would finish the recount process with a lead of 89 votes, positioning him to become the 59th senator caucusing with Democrats in the upcoming Congress.
According to local paper tallies, Franken currently trails Sen. Norm Coleman by a mere five votes, down from the 358-vote margin that the Republican held just last night. The Associated Press has the count even closer, with Coleman ahead by two votes. An aide to Franken told the Huffington Post that, according to the campaign's internal count, Franken has already taken a small lead.
The gains came as the canvassing board sifted through hundreds of ballots that Coleman had contested during the recount process. On Friday, the canvassing board will consider another 400 or so Coleman challenges. If the pattern remains consistent, Franken should vault past his opponent to a projected lead of approximately 89 votes, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
The process by which the Senate race has come to this stage is often confusing. Coleman held an approximately 200-vote lead after the state went through a hand recount of all ballots. However, there remained approximately 1,500 ballots that one or the other campaign contested (and temporarily removed from the overall vote tally). Coleman challenged about 1,000 of these, Franken the rest.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the canvassing board considered Franken's challenges, which gave a slight gain to Coleman's lead (Franken, after all, was challenging ballots that were, perhaps erroneously, awarded to Coleman during the recount). But the Franken campaign also gained some votes during the two days; the canvassing board awarded him dozens of ballots that had been wrongfully determined to be non-votes or under-votes.
By Thursday, the canvassing board had moved onto the pile of Coleman challenges, and with it, Coleman's lead quickly dissipated. It became clear early on that the Senator had challenged many ballots simply because they favored Franken and had a minor (non-disqualifying) clerical error. The board began plowing through the votes until, by late afternoon, Franken found himself down by only five.
As it stands now, it seems likely that Franken will end this process with a lead wider than even his campaign expected. Earlier projections, from the Associated Press, Star Tribune and Franken himself, suggested that Coleman would lose the race by roughly 20 votes or less. And this tally doesn't even take into consideration the legal and political battle being waged over wrongfully rejected absentee ballots, which the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled, on Thursday, should be counted.
That decision, another loss for the Coleman campaign, could mean even more votes flowing into Franken's tally, though the Court also stressed that the state and both campaigns come up with a uniform standard for identifying these absentee ballots before they are counted.
Democratic challenger Al Franken finds himself on the cusp of winning a seat in the United States Senate after Minnesota's canvassing board awarded him a host of challenged votes during deliberations on Thursday.
As of 8PM ET, the Minneapolis Star Tribune projected that Franken would finish the recount process with a lead of 89 votes, positioning him to become the 59th senator caucusing with Democrats in the upcoming Congress.
According to local paper tallies, Franken currently trails Sen. Norm Coleman by a mere five votes, down from the 358-vote margin that the Republican held just last night. The Associated Press has the count even closer, with Coleman ahead by two votes. An aide to Franken told the Huffington Post that, according to the campaign's internal count, Franken has already taken a small lead.
The gains came as the canvassing board sifted through hundreds of ballots that Coleman had contested during the recount process. On Friday, the canvassing board will consider another 400 or so Coleman challenges. If the pattern remains consistent, Franken should vault past his opponent to a projected lead of approximately 89 votes, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
The process by which the Senate race has come to this stage is often confusing. Coleman held an approximately 200-vote lead after the state went through a hand recount of all ballots. However, there remained approximately 1,500 ballots that one or the other campaign contested (and temporarily removed from the overall vote tally). Coleman challenged about 1,000 of these, Franken the rest.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the canvassing board considered Franken's challenges, which gave a slight gain to Coleman's lead (Franken, after all, was challenging ballots that were, perhaps erroneously, awarded to Coleman during the recount). But the Franken campaign also gained some votes during the two days; the canvassing board awarded him dozens of ballots that had been wrongfully determined to be non-votes or under-votes.
By Thursday, the canvassing board had moved onto the pile of Coleman challenges, and with it, Coleman's lead quickly dissipated. It became clear early on that the Senator had challenged many ballots simply because they favored Franken and had a minor (non-disqualifying) clerical error. The board began plowing through the votes until, by late afternoon, Franken found himself down by only five.
As it stands now, it seems likely that Franken will end this process with a lead wider than even his campaign expected. Earlier projections, from the Associated Press, Star Tribune and Franken himself, suggested that Coleman would lose the race by roughly 20 votes or less. And this tally doesn't even take into consideration the legal and political battle being waged over wrongfully rejected absentee ballots, which the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled, on Thursday, should be counted.
That decision, another loss for the Coleman campaign, could mean even more votes flowing into Franken's tally, though the Court also stressed that the state and both campaigns come up with a uniform standard for identifying these absentee ballots before they are counted.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
this may be wrong
but i could watch this over and over again... it might make me unamerican... but i find hit absolutely hilarious
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