Election Hangover

Once again, I've been slacking on the blogging. I'm not going to make excuses because I hate it when people make excuses for not doing things that they should, and I'm trying not to be a hypocrite. With that being said I maybe a week late in discussing the election results of 2008, but better late than never.

When I moved to California I registered to vote for the first time ever while registering my car with the state. At the young age of 24 I officially became a voting eligible american. I know, I know, what took me so long right? To be honest with you I don't know. Well, maybe I do know; I'm kind of procrastinator in my outside of work life. Anyway, so this was my first ever presidential election to vote in.

On election night I went over to a friends place to watch the results. Myself and Heather were pretty excited that Ohio decided to vote democrat this year and not become that dreaded "Red" state instrumental in the re-election of George W. Bush. So, high-five to you Ohio voters! The election turned out to be a bit more lopsided than I thought it was going to be with Barack Obama sealing the deal at 8pm PST when the west coast polls closed.

Critique of the speeches:

John McCain: I thought Senator McCain's speech was good, but not great. I felt the words of his speech conveyed a good message, but the sincerity in his voice was lacking. It must be hard to be truly sincere when admitting defeat, so I'll give him a pass on that point. The one thing I couldn't help but thinking when the camera panned the crowd was; wow! there are a lot of sad rich old white people there. I'm pretty sure there were some tears running down wrinkled faces.

Barack Obama: I thought this speech was simply amazing and completely what the country needed to see in its next President. I felt the undertone of President elect Obama's speech was very similar to JFK's "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" speech. If you have not already seen the speech here it is for your viewing pleasure from Youtube.


Overall thoughts:
I think President elect Obama is exactly what our country needs at this moment. I'm not saying that he is going to be the best president ever, but I think he is going to bring the peoples trust back to the federal government and especially the "Commander and Chief" of our country. Last tuesday night was indeed a historic night for the United States. I think the video of Jesse Jackson crying tells the story of the struggle that African Americans have waged in the land that they call home. For my generation I don't think that we truly grasp the importance of this moment in our history. We grew up in schools completely integrated where the color of a persons skin never really registered as being a significant difference. I'm sure this night rings louder and more historic for our parents and grandparents generations who may still be holding onto those prejudices of their parents and grandparents.
With that being said I applaud Americans for taking the step of electing Barack Obama to the presidency, but am also disappointed with other happenings on election night. I think an analyst on CNN said it best when they stated " With the election of Barack Obama the population of the United States is sending a message that they are ready for change, but with gay marriage bans passing in Florida, Arizona, and California the country is not completely on board with Obama's ideals."

For me election night was a one step forward and two steps back kind of night. A huge step forward in the election of Barack Obama and two steps back with the passage of laws discriminating against another group of Americans. It seems destined that some minority group will always be fighting for basic civil rights in our country. Eventually, we will fully uphold and believe that every man is indeed created equal.