November 4, 2008 – NewMexiKen

By God, it is the Land of Enchantment

It appears New Mexico has gone from 3 Republicans and 2 Democrats in Washington to 5 Democrats and 0 Republicans.

I get email (9:34PM MST)

Kenneth —

I’m about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first.

We just made history.

And I don’t want you to forget how we did it.

You made history every single day during this campaign — every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it’s time for change.

I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign.

We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I’ll be in touch soon about what comes next.

But I want to be very clear about one thing…

All of this happened because of you.

Thank you,

Barack

I have a dream

And this will be the day — this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

We’re all in this together. So far we’ve had election day comments from Virginia, Colorado, Arizona and D.C. I know there are regular readers in Maryland, Delaware, New York, Michigan, Texas, California, Oregon, Kentucky, Indiana — oh, and New Mexico.

Reactions, predictions, feelings, fears, experiences, emotions — anyone?

Elsewhere, Josh Marshall has set up a site for Sharing Your Experiences …. Here’s one:

My polling place is at the fairgrounds in Southern Maryland, about 40 minutes from Washington, D.C. This used to be tobacco country, but is slowly being developed, or other crops are grown. We waited until 10:00 to vote, to avoid the lines. When we got there a 97-year-old Black man was being wheeled out of the polls in his wheelchair. It was the first time he had ever voted in his life. When he came outside he asked if anyone could give him an Obama button. There were none left at the Democrat’s booth so I gave him mine. He was so proud and I started crying. He looked at me and said, “why are you crying? this is a day for glory.” I am still crying.

NewMexiKen remembers going to a World Series game in Oakland 36 years ago with my friend and neighbor Daniel. Daniel was African-American. We needed to buy tickets and finally found a guy with two. He was incredulous that Daniel and I actually wanted seats together. I wonder where that man is today.

Some of The Sweeties vote

Jill, official older daughter of NewMexiKen, reports:

The bad news is that when we went to vote (with wagon, crayons, and bribe candy in tow), we walked right in and didn’t have to wait for so much as a second to either check in or get a machine.

The good news is that, when Aidan hit the “wrong answer” on the page for the Senate race, the machine actually let us back out and fix it.

Also good news, out front there were five volunteers handing out Democratic sample ballots, and only one Republican. Usually that ratio is 0:1, not 5:1. As we walked by, one of the Democrats was saying something to the Republican about how he must be cold without a jacket. The Republican responded that he was just trying to get used to the kind of austerity he would have to live under if Obama was elected. Which is a pretty funny answer (and everyone on both sides of the path laughed).

Mack hit the choice for president, Aidan for senator, Reid for the representative and all four of us hit the “Record Your Vote Now” button together.

Then we went in the hallway and I cried and they ate peanut butter cups.

[The title of this post takes poetic license. In actuality none of The Sweeties can vote. They are citizens and they are not convicted felons; they are simply too young.]

Fired up! Ready to go!

Here’s the end of Obama’s speech last night in Virginia.

Projection

I say 364 to 174. What say you?

Click map for larger version.

[Posted at 10:48 AM MST. Map added at 11:00.]

Exit Polls

Ignore them. The samples are too small and not random.

FiveThirtyEight.com gives Ten Reasons Why You Should Ignore Exit Polls.

Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November

… really ought to be a national holiday. Today in person (and in spirit for those of us who have already voted) as many as 140 million human beings will have a shared experience. What could be more celebratory?

God bless America.

I Voted

Another thing to like about DirecTV

DirecTV Election Mix

Beginning at 6PM MST, DirecTV will offer it’s Election Mix channel — channel 352 — with feeds from eight networks so you can switch easily to the commentator that annoys you the least.

I Didn’t Vote For Obama Today

Go read this. Take a hanky.

November 4th

Today is the birthday of a bunch of characters. Character-actors, that is.

Doris Roberts is 78. She was Raymond’s mom.

Loretta Swit is 71. She was Major Houlihan.

Art Carney was born on this date in 1918. He’s most famous for playing Ed Norton opposite Jackie Gleason’s Ralph Kramden but he won the Oscar for best actor for Harry and Tonto. Carney died in 2003.

Martin Balsam was born on this date in 1914. Balsam was also a character actor. NewMexiKen’s favorite Balsam roles: Juror #1 in 12 Angry Men, Henry Mendez in Hombre, Mr. Green in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, and his Oscar-winning Arnold Burns (best supporting actor) in A Thousand Clowns. Balsam died in 1996.

It’s also the birthday of Walter Cronkite; he’s 92. What I wouldn’t give for a newsman of Cronkite’s integrity to be on the air these days.

The man who taught John Lennon how to play harmonica, Delbert McClinton, is 68.

The First Lady of the United States, Laura Bush, is 62 today.

The novelist Charles Frazier is 58.

Kathy Griffin is 48.

The Karate Kid, Ralph Macchio, is 47.

And Matthew McConaughey is 39, as is Diddy.

Will Rogers was born in Oologah, Oklahoma, on this date in 1879.

H.L. Mencken called him “the most dangerous writer alive.” Damon Runyan dubbed him “America’s most complete document.” And Franklin D. Roosevelt credited him with bringing his fellow Americans “back to a sense of proportion.” He was a ranch hand, rodeo rider, vaudeville performer, film star, columnist and author, radio personality, pioneer of aviation, tireless master of ceremonies, friend to presidents, and unofficial ambassador of good will under three administrations. He was Will Rogers, and during his lifetime he was the single most popular and beloved man in America.

American Masters

A little of Rogers’ “cowboy philosophy” —

A fool and his money are soon elected.
I bet after seeing us, George Washington would sue us for calling him “father.”
There is no credit to being a comedian, when you have the whole government working for you. All you have to do is report the facts. I don’t even have to exaggerate.
Everything is changing. People are taking the comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke. [Take note Jon Stewart.]
Don’t gamble; take all your savings and buy some good stock and hold it till it goes up, then sell it. If it don’t go up, don’t buy it.
I never met a man I didn’t like.

Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd were married on November 4, 1842.

Why do we vote today?

In an effort to address the problem of voter fraud in presidential elections, Congress passed legislation in 1845 requiring the simultaneous selection of presidential electors in each state. Prior to the enactment of this law, states selected presidential electors on different dates. The new law stipulated that presidential electors be selected on the “Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November of the year in which they are to be appointed.” The 1848 election was the first presidential election in which Americans in every state voted on the same day.

In 1872, legislation was passed that moved election day for the House of Representatives to the same Tuesday in November. The act was amended to include Senate elections after the Seventeenth Amendment was enacted.

Library of Congress

It’s our 56th presidential election and the first time since 1952 that neither the sitting president nor vice president is on the ballot. We’ve only ever elected two sitting senators to be president — Harding and Kennedy.

Cleveland, Eisenhower and Reagan were each elected to their first term on November 4th.

One of what I hope will be many good lines today

I heard no one complain—politeness was breaking out all around, with that cheerfulness between strangers that is generally reserved for religious occasions and sports events. Everyone seemed to be aware that this is a historic day, and even in a state where the results are a foregone conclusion the people in the gym wanted their vote counted, believed their iota of the overall tally matters, which is the absurd and sublime essence of democracy.

George Packer

Short-timer

George W. Bush has 77 days left as President.

But by midnight tonight Bush will no longer be the most important person in Washington, D.C.

Best line of the day for election day

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, …”

Today is the day we give our consent. If you haven’t already, please vote.

The Unsung Heroes of the Republic

Tom Johnson writes a great essay about voting. He begins:

“I love election day. I love voting. I love the old people who work in the polling places, their friendly, businesslike way of going about things.”

Go read it.

Sure omen