A Historic Day

It truly is a historic day. With 53% of the popular vote, Barack Obama is now the President-Elect of the United States of America. He didn't get my vote, or Ryan's, or Sabrina's (in her GATE class poll). I find it interesting that the last time a sitting senator was voted President of the USA was JFK in 1960. They both had a perceived hurdle to overcome with the voters - Kennedy being a Roman Catholic and Obama being African-American. They both can wow crowds with their speeches. I sure hope that the similarities end there and JFK's end doesn't happen to Mr. Obama. I also find it extremely BORING that the Vice President-elect is also a sitting senator. As luck would have it, though, we shouldn't be hearing much from him.

I was listening to Talk of the Nation today on NPR and one of the commentators was saying how he heard on CNN someone talking about Govenor Palin being a top contender for the GOP nomination in 2012 and he thought, "Wait, this election was just yesterday, it's too early for 2012." And all I say to that is, remember the Democratic National Convention in 2004? Right after Mr. Obama gave his stirring speech, the network news guys were saying that he was the up-and-coming member of the Democratic party. And a few minutes later, he was sitting down with a network news anchor who asked him about a run for the president in 2008. Mr. Obama replied that it was John Kerry's convention and he wouldn't say anything about it. I think the media has been in love with the idea of Mr. Obama being the president since they first heard him talk.

But I digress. This election has pushed Ryan over the edge. He has started a blog. You can check it out here. Like I said, it truly is a historic day.

Political Calls

I just got off the phone with a recorded research marketing firm. They wanted to know who I am going to vote for in the upcoming election.

"Press 4 for Barack Obama. Press 5 for Hillary Clinton. If you are going to vote for another person or are undecided press 6."

I make my selection.

"Thank you. Your vote has been recorded."

"This call was paid for by Obama for America."


The next thing we know, I'll be getting calls like this 18 months before the general election. And, I don't even live in a state that has major canidates visiting, let alone spending money on tv ads or phone calls.

Election Day

I have voted in every election for the past 12 years. I remember being so excited to register to vote in my first election when I turned 18. Those election judges at Whitesides Elem. were so nice to me that night when I went with my Dad and sister. It was really neat to be an election judge myself in May 2001 and remind everyone to make sure there were no 'hanging chads' on their ballots.

I will admit that even though I've voted every time, I haven't been a fully informed voter every time. For example, in November 1999, shortly after moving to Boise, Ryan and I went to vote not knowing anything about what was on the ballot. In Idaho you can register at the poll, you just need a picture ID and a proof of residency, so we went to our polling place, registered to vote and then were given ballots with 2 seats to fill and one person running for each seat. It turned out that that election recorded one of the lowest voter turnouts in Boise history with 14.5% of registered voters voting. Wow.

Since then, we have done a much better job of becoming informed, although judges still don't have anything written on them, so I follow my mom's advice and don't vote for incumbent judges (sometimes). Usually, we read the voter guide in the Idaho Statesman, but this year, after reading their trivial amount of coverage, Ryan found a much better guide from the Boise Weekly. We are now prepared to vote. Are you?

Go Vote!