Returns

What does it say about a party when the incumbent party cannot get a majority of their party members off their couches and to the polls? It has been reported that the number of Republicans who voted yesterday was around 40% of those registered to vote. And this in a year when overall turnout was at a record high!

I have to say, having stayed up late to see the returns (but almost certain that we wouldn't have returns for a day or so...), I am relieved that the party in control of the White House has changed! Perhaps the new president will work to restore the rights that we were granted in the Bill Of Rights. I'm getting pretty tired of having my rights trodden upon by the executive branch (and what ever branch Dick Cheney believes himself to be in this week).

How about that concession speech by Senator McCain? It was touching and moving. It reminded me of why I was considering voting republican. He was almost the John McCain he was before he sold-out to the radical right wing of his party. It was disturbing to hear the calls of "boo!" and "terrorist" from the crowd watching the concession speech. I hope the McCain supporters will listen to his pleadings to change the tenor of the discourse in Washington... Though with the substance of his ads as the campaign wore on getting more and more dishonest, mean, and generally hateful, I doubt that that crowd will let it go any time soon.

The one comment in the speech that left me wondering what he could possibly be thinking was when he referred to his running mate as a woman of substance who will go far. Unless he was talking about the distance between Phoenix and Anchorage, I cannot imagine her going far. Sixty percent of the country sees her as the unqualified buffoon that she is. Perhaps the scales will fall from McCain's eyes on the road back to the senate.

I can only hope that Obama meant what he said in his victory speech, that we need to pull together, start working toward fixing the problems we have here and abroad, and try and repair the goodwill we used to enjoy in the world. Perhaps the next time business takes me abroad, I will not be encouraged by my hosts to claim to be Canadian rather than acknowledging my heritage as a US Citizen!

Wherever you are today, I hope that you'll have a good day!

Don Bergquist - November 05, 2008 - Lakewood, Colorado, USA