Thank you for all the congratulatory messages I have received since posting that I am Google-able. I found out just last night, that I am also Ask Jeeves-able, but only on accident.
If you go to askjeeves.com and type in "where di abe lincoln live" what you will get is my li'l ol' 'blog, right there at numero dos. Why there? Well, if you notice, I typed "di" instead of "did" and if you notice, it brings up a reference I made to Leonardo di Vinci. Beats the hell out of me how Jeeves knows that, but whatever.
PS -- if you type "where did abe lincoln live" I'm nowhere to be seen.
Friday, November 05, 2004
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Despondent Democrats: Depressing News
54,800,000 votes! How awesome would it be if nearly 55 million people voted for me to do anything? I would feel validated if 55 million people wanted me.
But it would really suck if 58,350,000 wanted somebody else to do what I was supposed to do. 55 million is nice, but 58 million is better.
Unfortunately.
Senator John Kerry is not going to be the next President of the United States. The vote isn't neither signed, sealed nor delivered in Ohio, but I just don't see him making up the current 135,000 deficit with provision ballots and absentee ballots. It was close, as it was in 2000, but Bush seems to have pulled out a legit winner this time.
But the situation is quite dire for Democrats. Not only did we fail to win the White House, but we lost three seats in the Senate and (currently) three in the House, with seven still undecided. Tom Daschle, the one time Majority Leader of the Senate, lost his re-election bid to Tom Thune, a Christian conservative in the Christian conservative state of South Dakota. Odd how a man like Dachle managed to claw his way up the management structure of the Democrats being from such a traditionally difficult state for Democrats. The White House wanted Daschle out of office, naming him the chief obstructionist to moving the country forward with their agenda. All in all over $30,000,000 was spent in that state on the Senate campaign, making it the most expensive Senate race this year. As much as Democrats need numbers in Congress, perhaps it is a good thing that Daschle was not re-elected. Not because it is better for Thune, but because Daschle presided over a Senate that lost seats in every election where he was the leader of the party. Perhaps Daschle was just not a very good leader, but that is a discussion for another time.
More worrying still is that the ballot iniatives to constitutionally ban gay marriage in 11 states passed in all 11 states. Not only did it pass, but it wasn't even close. The amendment had, in most cases, at least 70%. That is very disturbing. It even passed in Oregon and Michigan, states that Kerry carried, although I should note than Kerry is against gay marriage (and also against an amendment to ban it). A friend of mine remarked that he no longer knew how to go about living in the United States, when it is so clear now that half the people agree that his civil rights should be abolished. I am certain that a vote on gay marriage is essentially a poll on the acceptability of homosexuals in the United States -- the results don't give me much room for doubt.
Democrats lost two gubernatorial races, only to pick off two from the Republicans, leave no net loss of states, but it is worrying that Indiana now has a GOP governor for the first time in decades. Also just found out that the Republicans look likely to take the Oregon gubernatorial race, with Dino Rossi currently leading Christine Gregoire by nearly 900 votes.
There were some bright spots, especially in my home state and Congressional district. The Illinois 9th re-elected Janice Shakowsky for another term. Cook County (excluding Chicago) also elected Barack Obama to the US Senate by a wide margin, 81% to 17% over Alan Keyes. This election was troubling for a couple of reasons. Keyes, a native of Maryland who had never lived in Illinois, ran a very nasty campaign, even when it was apparent that he would never win. He was down more than 30% in the polls with weeks left in the race. Even with these numbers, Keyes went on the attack like an infant with no control, calling Obama no less than a Nazi at one point during the final debate in Chicago. Who does that, especially when one is down in the polls by such an astounding number? I can only guess that the GOP ran him in Illinois, knowing that Obama was unbeatable and would get a lot of press, as a way of getting some cheap (both morally and monetarily) publicity: call Obama a Nazi, and you call Kerry one by association.
Keyes has vowed to stay in Illinois to help rebuild the Republican party. I can only hope that he does, because he seems to be such a lousy person, he may finally wake southern Illinois up to the fact that the Republicans are, for the most part, morally bankrupt.
Jim Bunning, the odd GOP Senator from Kentucky, beat unknown challanger Daniel Mongiardo in a race that ended up being 51%/49%. In Florida, Betty Castor lost to Mel Martinez, who cashed in on the fact that the GOP saw a surge in the Latino voting bloc. Ken Salazar beat beer heir Peter Coors, in another closely contested race.
But it would really suck if 58,350,000 wanted somebody else to do what I was supposed to do. 55 million is nice, but 58 million is better.
Unfortunately.
Senator John Kerry is not going to be the next President of the United States. The vote isn't neither signed, sealed nor delivered in Ohio, but I just don't see him making up the current 135,000 deficit with provision ballots and absentee ballots. It was close, as it was in 2000, but Bush seems to have pulled out a legit winner this time.
But the situation is quite dire for Democrats. Not only did we fail to win the White House, but we lost three seats in the Senate and (currently) three in the House, with seven still undecided. Tom Daschle, the one time Majority Leader of the Senate, lost his re-election bid to Tom Thune, a Christian conservative in the Christian conservative state of South Dakota. Odd how a man like Dachle managed to claw his way up the management structure of the Democrats being from such a traditionally difficult state for Democrats. The White House wanted Daschle out of office, naming him the chief obstructionist to moving the country forward with their agenda. All in all over $30,000,000 was spent in that state on the Senate campaign, making it the most expensive Senate race this year. As much as Democrats need numbers in Congress, perhaps it is a good thing that Daschle was not re-elected. Not because it is better for Thune, but because Daschle presided over a Senate that lost seats in every election where he was the leader of the party. Perhaps Daschle was just not a very good leader, but that is a discussion for another time.
More worrying still is that the ballot iniatives to constitutionally ban gay marriage in 11 states passed in all 11 states. Not only did it pass, but it wasn't even close. The amendment had, in most cases, at least 70%. That is very disturbing. It even passed in Oregon and Michigan, states that Kerry carried, although I should note than Kerry is against gay marriage (and also against an amendment to ban it). A friend of mine remarked that he no longer knew how to go about living in the United States, when it is so clear now that half the people agree that his civil rights should be abolished. I am certain that a vote on gay marriage is essentially a poll on the acceptability of homosexuals in the United States -- the results don't give me much room for doubt.
Democrats lost two gubernatorial races, only to pick off two from the Republicans, leave no net loss of states, but it is worrying that Indiana now has a GOP governor for the first time in decades. Also just found out that the Republicans look likely to take the Oregon gubernatorial race, with Dino Rossi currently leading Christine Gregoire by nearly 900 votes.
There were some bright spots, especially in my home state and Congressional district. The Illinois 9th re-elected Janice Shakowsky for another term. Cook County (excluding Chicago) also elected Barack Obama to the US Senate by a wide margin, 81% to 17% over Alan Keyes. This election was troubling for a couple of reasons. Keyes, a native of Maryland who had never lived in Illinois, ran a very nasty campaign, even when it was apparent that he would never win. He was down more than 30% in the polls with weeks left in the race. Even with these numbers, Keyes went on the attack like an infant with no control, calling Obama no less than a Nazi at one point during the final debate in Chicago. Who does that, especially when one is down in the polls by such an astounding number? I can only guess that the GOP ran him in Illinois, knowing that Obama was unbeatable and would get a lot of press, as a way of getting some cheap (both morally and monetarily) publicity: call Obama a Nazi, and you call Kerry one by association.
Keyes has vowed to stay in Illinois to help rebuild the Republican party. I can only hope that he does, because he seems to be such a lousy person, he may finally wake southern Illinois up to the fact that the Republicans are, for the most part, morally bankrupt.
Jim Bunning, the odd GOP Senator from Kentucky, beat unknown challanger Daniel Mongiardo in a race that ended up being 51%/49%. In Florida, Betty Castor lost to Mel Martinez, who cashed in on the fact that the GOP saw a surge in the Latino voting bloc. Ken Salazar beat beer heir Peter Coors, in another closely contested race.
Money Quote of the Day
As the late-night waiting crawled toward dawn this morning, network news' finest began to let loose with some atypical comments on the election's already apparent outcome. It had been Dan Rather who'd grabbed our attention earlier in the evening, but around 4:30 a.m. Eastern time on ABC, it was Peter Jennings' turn:
"The liberal years of America, " he said, "at least for the moment, are over." --from Salon.com
"The liberal years of America, " he said, "at least for the moment, are over." --from Salon.com
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Blog the Vote
Well, I finally have a dial-up connection at my home for this one night.
I haven't used dial-up for about two years, and boy does it suck. But, I'll with it because that is how much I care about you, the loyal reader, who is looking forward to my insight and witty updates.
Polls close in select easters states in about an hour and a quarter. See you then!
I haven't used dial-up for about two years, and boy does it suck. But, I'll with it because that is how much I care about you, the loyal reader, who is looking forward to my insight and witty updates.
Polls close in select easters states in about an hour and a quarter. See you then!
I'm Google-able!
Yes, folks, it is true. I am a full fledged member of the Google community. I'm somebody. I'm validated, whether or not you want to post a comment.
If you go to Google and type in "abe lincolns blog cabin" you get these fine results. See that seventh entry! Boo-yah! That is me my friends.
Bask in my popularity! Bask! Google commands you to!
If you go to Google and type in "abe lincolns blog cabin" you get these fine results. See that seventh entry! Boo-yah! That is me my friends.
Bask in my popularity! Bask! Google commands you to!
A great Election Day routine
Eric Zorn, of the Chicago Tribune on his election day routine...
"On the day of presidential elections now, I wake up at 5 a.m. and set my tape deck to begin recording conservative talk radio hosts.
This year I'll record four hours of Tedious Teri O'Brien and the house elf who serves as her co-host; two hours of Bush/Keyes supporter Eileen Byrne and her sensible lefty co-host Jay Marvin; and three hours of Rush Limbaugh, all on WLS AM.
I'll store the tapes away until Wednesday. If Bush wins, I'll record over them and never listen – as I ultimately did after the 2000 election.
But if Kerry wins, I'll listen to and savor every last prediction of victory, smug expression of assurance and pooh-poohing of Kerry's chances, just like I did after Bill Clinton beat Bob Dole in 1996.
The pleasure of listening to Limbaugh crow, "We're going to do it, folks, we're going to win, I can feel it! I can feel it!" when I knew they didn't do it and they lost was, I admit, a small-minded pleasure. But a huge one."
"On the day of presidential elections now, I wake up at 5 a.m. and set my tape deck to begin recording conservative talk radio hosts.
This year I'll record four hours of Tedious Teri O'Brien and the house elf who serves as her co-host; two hours of Bush/Keyes supporter Eileen Byrne and her sensible lefty co-host Jay Marvin; and three hours of Rush Limbaugh, all on WLS AM.
I'll store the tapes away until Wednesday. If Bush wins, I'll record over them and never listen – as I ultimately did after the 2000 election.
But if Kerry wins, I'll listen to and savor every last prediction of victory, smug expression of assurance and pooh-poohing of Kerry's chances, just like I did after Bill Clinton beat Bob Dole in 1996.
The pleasure of listening to Limbaugh crow, "We're going to do it, folks, we're going to win, I can feel it! I can feel it!" when I knew they didn't do it and they lost was, I admit, a small-minded pleasure. But a huge one."
Monday, November 01, 2004
The A states
Oh, and I was totally wrong about calling Arkansas and Arizona for Kerry. Bush has solidifed his status in both of them since I made my prediction.
Another year where Democrats don't win a state that starts with an A.
But Kerry just might pick up New Mexico.
Another year where Democrats don't win a state that starts with an A.
But Kerry just might pick up New Mexico.
Surprise!
On Friday, I was all ready to call it a day for Senator Kerry. Bin Laden's tape was a bona fide October surprise, although I don't think Karl Rove engineered this one. At most, he heard about it a couple of minutes before al-Jazeera aired it.
The first thought that ran through my head was that bin Laden's face reminds everyone that we are embroiled in a "war" on "terror." With American's still giving the nod to Bush for fighting that war (we all know how I feel about this -- American's seem to like fighting the war, but not actually winning it) anything that reminds them of the war would give Bush the edge. I went to bed a very depressed person.
But I woke up the next morning thinking that maybe this really would shock Americans. After all, you never see his face or hear his name (well, not until Kerry reminded Bush and the media), so maybe this would remind undecideds (apparently >1% is still undecided) of the abyssmal job Bush has done? I was invigorated. I went for a run.
I came back in, turned on the television, especially CNN, CNBC, Fox and Bloomberg, because they are American owned. That was important because I wanted to see how American media, which influences Americans far more than the BBC does, was handling it. Well, they were reluctant to mention it, probably because they didn't know how it would affect the candidates. The candidates mentioned it very little. They both had their little statements, but both camps have, again, reluctant to mention it.
The only real talk about it has sidestepped the issue. Bush and Co. is complaining that Kerry used it as political ammo. He is a seedy opportunist, a "Monday morning quarterback" who will say anything to get elected. That sure is a crock, if you ask me. Why shouldn't he exploit the fact that Bush failed to get bin Laden while we still had capable forces in Afghanistan? That was the whole point. Bush must be held accountable for these sorts of things.
So, in the end, I really don't know how it will all pan out.
The first thought that ran through my head was that bin Laden's face reminds everyone that we are embroiled in a "war" on "terror." With American's still giving the nod to Bush for fighting that war (we all know how I feel about this -- American's seem to like fighting the war, but not actually winning it) anything that reminds them of the war would give Bush the edge. I went to bed a very depressed person.
But I woke up the next morning thinking that maybe this really would shock Americans. After all, you never see his face or hear his name (well, not until Kerry reminded Bush and the media), so maybe this would remind undecideds (apparently >1% is still undecided) of the abyssmal job Bush has done? I was invigorated. I went for a run.
I came back in, turned on the television, especially CNN, CNBC, Fox and Bloomberg, because they are American owned. That was important because I wanted to see how American media, which influences Americans far more than the BBC does, was handling it. Well, they were reluctant to mention it, probably because they didn't know how it would affect the candidates. The candidates mentioned it very little. They both had their little statements, but both camps have, again, reluctant to mention it.
The only real talk about it has sidestepped the issue. Bush and Co. is complaining that Kerry used it as political ammo. He is a seedy opportunist, a "Monday morning quarterback" who will say anything to get elected. That sure is a crock, if you ask me. Why shouldn't he exploit the fact that Bush failed to get bin Laden while we still had capable forces in Afghanistan? That was the whole point. Bush must be held accountable for these sorts of things.
So, in the end, I really don't know how it will all pan out.
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