Barack Obama Wins - thoughts on the campaign and election

Senator Barack Obama is now President-Elect Barack Obama... first in many ways!

1. First son of a Kenyan to be President of the United States
2. First President to be born in Hawaii
3. First African-American President
4. and I'm sure many others...

Most importantly is that he accomplished it using an absolutely brilliant strategy... starting with his prowess for fund-raising that was obviously out of the great book "The Long Tail" (a few bucks here and there from millions and millions of people).  Obama put together a near perfect campaign using some of the basic skills he learned as a community organizer (I doubt the Republicans are making fun of his volunteer work any longer).

Democrats had more money than Republicans?  I could not believe all the whining... Republicans have been the party with a financial HUGE edge for many, MANY years.  The shoe was on the other foot this time.

Between David Plouffe (Campaign Manager) and David Axelrod (Chief Strategist), the campaign was brilliantly run from start (about 22 months ago), through an unbelievably difficult primary season and an insane presidential battle.  The campaign strategy and results will most certainly be placed in every political science textbook from this point forward.

One of the many discussions on FoxNews yesterday which major mistakes each candidate made... the list for McCain included choosing Palin, his many slips of the tongue (my fellow prisoners, I couldn't agree with Obama more, bomb bomb Iran, 100 years in Iraq, fundamentals of the economy, etc...) and several others... they could only come up with one mistake by Obama in 22 months - when Obama talked about "clinging to guns and religion".  AMAZING!  How many people go 1 week without making a mistake?

And now for the speeches... John McCain's speech was wonderful and full of class... see for yourself:

President-Elect Obama's speech was one of his best... he asked for bi-partisan help, was gracious and (as expected) inspirational:

I expect Obama's administration to be run from the center (and not the left as many of my friends fear).  The one issue which I expect to be more left than center is universal health care... and I DO like Obama's proposal. I'm just not sure if the current financial crisis will allow this to be a priority early on.

I am extremely pleased that Obama won by such a large electoral vote margin... it gives him a mandate which should help him lead the country with broad support.

One final thought...

I really believe that John McCain's upbeat attitude the last week of the campaign, saying things like "we got them where we want them" and "we will surprise everyone when we win" made Obama supporters very nervous and I AM CERTAIN that it helped to get them to show up to vote... so I want to thank McCain for this... I'm not being facetious... I'm absolutely serious!

Comments

[Cindi]

I couldn't agree with you more!!!!

[Marcia]

I like your comments.

Racism did play a part in this election, but luckily it was more of the over 65 crowd and of course, Southerners. In fact as Palin's rallies got more heated, the threats on Obama's life became a serious, serious consideration. What occurred in our own family from people who claim to be Christians was nothing but hate. Truly saddened me (and Steve) that these people could not see they were not living a life like Christ's message was all about - but then again the spiritual and political sides of the brain are in separate areas so..... they don't always communicate.

But it also means that 52% of this country is obviously not looking at race anymore. I loved seeing so much color in Obama's rallies. Way too white for me at McCain's. I love different cultures and embrace their differences.

Also, the Bible mentions peace I think something like 2000 times, no mention of abortion and only 2 or 3 mentions of homosexuality. People need to look beyond these two issues (they are used for getting people (i.e. the base) to vote and that's it). Look up the passage "put to death" in the Bible Gateway and according to the Bible we should all pretty much be stoned to death by now.

Next, Senators Clinton and McCain both made HUGE mistakes in their campaigns. While Obama "Owned" his campaign and managed it, the other two were "Managed" by their campaigns. In fact, the old John McCain was with us this last week because his campaign knew they could not win (he was told last week and that's when he started chilling out and being the old John McCain again).

Palin was a huge mistake. Apparently, even FOX News is reporting how she did not even know that Africa was a continent (she thought it was a country). There was nothing that scared me more than her in the Whitehouse. Oh, and apparently she was quite the "Diva" and demanded quite a bit. This is why the Republican party plans to cut her down to pieces because nobody wants to work with her and her "I'm a Diva" attitude. I love it..... I'm so sad thinking how low the Republicans have gone (I used to be one, btw).

Let's hope for change. America just sent a huge message to the world and it said, "Yes, anyone can live the American Dream."

Oh, and my old Representative Tom DeLay's "Permanent Republican Majority" well, they got their asses handed to them on a platter!!!!!

Thought bubble.... Bush said after he won in 2004 by what, a small margin - he ran around saying, "The people have spoken and gave me a Mandate an I'm going to use it." Well, he did. Now the question is, with Obama's 6% lead and receiving more vote than any presidential nominee in history.... Does he have a mandate as well and will it be respected?

Remember, Greed and Power happen in all cultures and is a normal part of Human existence. It is keeping it under control that is difficult.