Wednesday, November 03, 2004
More Post-Election Thoughts
Okay, now that I've seen the two candidates' speeches, and had a little more time to think, I have a couple of trivial comments to make.
I thought Kerry's concession speech was good. But some of it had me confused about what his message was. He spoke of the need for national unity, yet he kept reassuring his supporters that the fight for their interests wasn't over--we'll keep fighting until we get what we want, he said. He also said that now is a time to heal, underscoring the fact that what we need to heal from is the bitter campaign he and Bush have waged on each other. I think it's kinda funny that both candidates are responsible for deepening the so-called divide in America, and now they're both calling for the closing of that divide.
Bush's speech seemed quite normal, just thanking a lot of people. When he mentioned that this was his "last campaign," though, it made me wonder what he's going to do after 2008. Just hit the speaking circuit like Bill Clinton? Take up some activist cause like Jimmy Carter? Go skydiving like his dad?
In other news, I don't understand what's so cool about this Barack Obama guy. Is it just because he's black, because he's young, or because he's got a really cool name? Why are they calling his election a "historic" victory? He's not the first black Senator. He might be the one with the coolest name, but that isn't history.
I thought Kerry's concession speech was good. But some of it had me confused about what his message was. He spoke of the need for national unity, yet he kept reassuring his supporters that the fight for their interests wasn't over--we'll keep fighting until we get what we want, he said. He also said that now is a time to heal, underscoring the fact that what we need to heal from is the bitter campaign he and Bush have waged on each other. I think it's kinda funny that both candidates are responsible for deepening the so-called divide in America, and now they're both calling for the closing of that divide.
Bush's speech seemed quite normal, just thanking a lot of people. When he mentioned that this was his "last campaign," though, it made me wonder what he's going to do after 2008. Just hit the speaking circuit like Bill Clinton? Take up some activist cause like Jimmy Carter? Go skydiving like his dad?
In other news, I don't understand what's so cool about this Barack Obama guy. Is it just because he's black, because he's young, or because he's got a really cool name? Why are they calling his election a "historic" victory? He's not the first black Senator. He might be the one with the coolest name, but that isn't history.
Comments:
Obama's win is historic because he is the only African-American in the U.S. Senate. And although he's not the first, he's only the third black Senator to be elected since Reconstruction. That's pretty historic, since those numbers make it seem like a fairly rare, and certainly a fairly new, occurence. As far as his coolness factor...I don't know what it is exactly, but he definitely is cool. :) He's intelligent and well-spoken and he seems calm and reasonable. I live in the suburbs of Chicago, and out here his win wasn't quite as pronounced as it was in the rest of the state. There are a lot of staunch conservatives out here who claim that he's "too liberal." One of my friends told me that he thought Obama's economic policy was as close as you can get to communism without actually stepping over the line. I disagree with that statement and personally, I think the guy is very cool. Although today he's admantly denying any consideration of a run for president, I wouldn't be one bit surprised to see him run in the near future.
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