After beginning the campaign of 2008 by seeking the GOP nomination for the biggest job of all, Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., was the only member of the Kansas delegation not on the ballot Tuesday. In the end, Brownback had this to say about the historic election: “To go from Rosa Parks and Linda Brown to President-elect Barack Obama in one generation proves that anything is possible in America. I congratulate President-elect Obama and his family. We should all savor and celebrate this moment in history. I am also thankful to John McCain, whom I supported, as an American hero who even in defeat put his country first and sought to heal our division.”
“There is absolutely no diva in me,” Sarah Palin told reporters the morning after the election. But some of John McCain’s aides beg to differ, judging from the array of stories, all based on unnamed sources, about the GOP vice presidential nominee’s wild 2½-month ride as McCain’s running mate. Among the painful new anecdotes: That Palin and McCain rarely spoke during the campaign. That she pushed (in vain) to deliver her own concession speech Tuesday. And that one of the last straws for the McCain camp was the revelation that she had taken a call from a prankster posing as French President Nicolas Sarkozy. But such finger-pointing can’t obscure the fact that the years-long McCain campaign owns Tuesday’s loss.
The whole world was watching Tuesday night, and now it’s weighing in. CNN’s Christiane Amanpour sees a “tsunami of goodwill” accompanying Barack Obama’s victory, observing that the Times of London said Obama “had revitalized U.S. politics. In Germany, Der Spiegel called Obama’s rise ‘astonishing,’ while the Times of India called Obama an ‘advocate of strong partnership with India.’ Al-Jazeera said Obama had ‘surfed to power on a wave of voter discontent generated by the failures of President George Bush and the Republican Party’ and added that he faces ‘unique challenges.’ It continued that his country was ‘sick of war.’”
“While Barack may have been raised in some exotic places, he was raised by Kansas women.” – Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, at the Democrats’ election watch party in Topeka
A few words about John McCain’s concession speech Tuesday night: classy, touching, pitch-perfect, and just what you’d expect from the honorable senator (if not the angry candidate he sometimes appeared to be). McCain’s closing words bear repeating: “I wish godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president. And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to believe, always, in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here. Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We make history.”
One question hanging over the election, and seeming more pressing with every economic report, is what would possess anyone to want to be president this year. George W. Bush took over when the economy was hale, the budget had a surplus, and the nation was at peace. Now, as NBC’s Tom Brokaw put it this week, a “line that’s been going around is that the candidate who wins is going to wake up and demand a recount.”
This is why they called it the YouTube election. Obama Girl, Iraq veteran Joe Cook, Sarah Silverman, Paris Hilton and a McCain-Obama dance-off rated places among Politico’s “10 most viral videos of the campaign.”
The presidential election made history by electing Barack Obama as the first African-American president and opting for a strongly Democratic Congress. Obama’s victory affords him the responsibility for two costly wars and what seems like an insoluble financial crisis. Now, he must reconcile the gap between what he’s promised and what the nation will have the resources and flexibility to do. There’s nothing easy about the job he just landed.
An independent agency investigator has exonerated Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in the “Troopergate” business. Like an earlier legislative probe, this one said she was within her rights to fire Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. But the new report, which benefited from three hours of Palin’s sworn testimony, went further in saying she did not violate state ethics law or abuse her power. Meanwhile, Palin wouldn’t say today whether she voted for Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, despite his conviction last week on seven felonies. Interesting scenario: If Stevens wins re-election today but gets expelled from the Senate by his colleagues, Palin would appoint his temporary successor. If the vice presidency proves elusive today, might she appoint herself?
Think there’s no stone left unturned in the presidential campaign? Not so, according to Politico, which compiled this list of “10 of the top missing documents from campaign 2008″: The cases on which Barack Obama worked as a Chicago attorney over parts of 11 years. Sarah Palin’s e-mails. Joe Biden’s earmark requests prior to fiscal 2009. The McCains’ full tax returns. Obama’s state Senate records and schedules. Palin’s college transcripts. Obama’s Columbia University thesis. All four candidates’ medical records. Obama’s small donors. John McCain’s flight records for campaign use of a Cessna Citation Excel owned by a company controlled by his wife.
On his HBO show, comedian Bill Maher hit some highlights of the 2008 presidential campaign:
– “Americans were so sick of Bush that seven years after 9/11, they said, ‘You know what sounds good? A black guy with a Muslim name.’”
– “We learned that Barack Obama sat in a pew of Trinity United Church of Christ every week for 20 years, which proved he was a Muslim. And that John McCain didn’t go to church at all, which proved he was a Christian.”
– “The Republicans, who had three candidates who proudly said they did not believe in evolution, which became ironic when their campaigns quickly died off in favor of stronger, fitter campaigns.”
Miami Herald columnist Carl Hiaasen offers an Election Day prayer for the Sunshine State, writing: “Deliver us from scandal, Lord. Let our optical-scanners perform flawlessly. Let the trucks that carry our precious ballot boxes not be hijacked and later abandoned behind a strip joint, and let those who count those ballots be pure of character and pretty good with math. Most of all, Lord, let there be no need for lawyers. But if, in Your infinite wisdom, You see a need to test the faith of this great country with another electoral crisis, please consider doing it in Virginia or Ohio, or maybe North Carolina. God, anywhere but here. Amen.”
Meanwhile, Politico notes another lucky break for Barack Obama, should push come to shove over counting votes: Democrats now fill the secretaries of state jobs in the battlegrounds of Iowa, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico and Ohio.
On an unusually high-quality “Saturday Night Live” (who knew Ben Affleck was so funny?), John McCain palled around with Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin and dropped by “Weekend Update.” Where has this McCain been hiding during the homestretch of the campaign? If he’d been around more, might the election eve polls look better for the GOP?
Turns out there’s some scholarly, if sexist, justification for Sarah Palin’s pricey wardrobe. Northwestern University researchers asked 73 college students to look at photos of congressional candidates from 2006 and rate the candidates for competence, dominance, attractiveness and approachability. The study indicated that in male candidates, seeming to be competent is what counts for potential voters. “For female candidates, it really matters if they’re perceived as competent and perceived as attractive. Those two qualities are sort of twin predictors of whether or not someone is going to be more or less likely to vote for them,” said Joan Y. Chiao of Northwestern’s psychology department.
Columnist Charles Krauthammer argues that John McCain is more prepared to deal with the economic crisis than his poll numbers would suggest: “Generally speaking, he sees government as a Rooseveltian counterweight (Teddy with a touch of Franklin) to the various malefactors of wealth and power. He wants government to tackle large looming liabilities such as Social Security and Medicare. He wants to free up health insurance by beginning to sever its debilitating connection to employment – a ruinous accident of history (arising from World War II wage and price controls) that increases the terror of job loss, inhibits labor mobility and saddles American industry with costs that are driving it (see: Detroit) into insolvency. And he supports lower corporate and marginal tax rates to encourage entrepreneurship and job creation. An eclectic, moderate, generally centrist agenda in a guy almost congenitally given to bipartisanship.”
This presidential campaign has seen more opinion polling than ever. But here’s why Tuesday’s outcome still might be a surprise, as reported by McClatchy Newspapers: Because of the “14 percent of Americans who don’t use landline phones at home, and thus aren’t called by many pollsters.” Because first-time voters and African-Americans could turn out in higher numbers than expected. And because “for every 100 households called, 75 to 80 refuse to be polled or don’t answer their phones.” Another tidbit: 55 percent of cell-only users support Barack Obama. Then again, that percentage was established via polling, which may or may not be reliable.
Some curiosities in the latest SurveyUSA poll of the presidential race in Kansas, which finds John McCain beating Barack Obama big 58 to 37 percent: Supporters of McCain include 21, 20 and 40 percent of Democrats, liberals and pro-choice voters, respectively (are they Hillary Clinton die-hards?). The margin is smallest (1 to 4 percentage points) among moderates and those who go to church only occasionally or “almost never,” don’t own a gun and already had voted when the poll was taken early last week for Wichita’s KWCH, Channel 12, and Kansas City’s KCTV.
“Did you all see Barack Obama’s infomercial? It was called ‘American Stories.’ You know why they called it ‘American Stories’? I guess it sounded better than ‘Barack Obama Running Out the Clock.’” – Jay Leno
“John McCain campaigned in the Ohio town of Defiance. Next comes Anger, then, finally, Acceptance.” – Leno
“Insiders of the McCain campaign say that Sarah Palin has gone rogue. Republicans are complaining that she’s not listening to their advice, she’s not taking their notes, and she’s going off on her own and saying whatever she wants. And then when the campaign was asked what they like best about her, ‘She’s a maverick!’” – Leno
“Barack Obama had a half-hour television special. Did anybody happen to see it? It’s a lot of money, ladies and gentlemen. Don’t kid yourself. A half-hour, prime-time network television. I mean, it costs a lot of dough. And they say it was the most money spent by a Democrat for a half an hour since Eliot Spitzer.” – David Letterman
“More Republicans endorsing Barack Obama. Great. Now Republicans will have to suppress their own turnout.” – Stephen Colbert
“Think about it. Just six days (now three days) from today, we’ll know for sure exactly which candidate will be suing the other for voter fraud.” – Leno
“Here’s how it works. Election is Tuesday. And then Wednesday is the first day of Sarah Palin’s 2012 campaign.” – Letterman
John McCain has been losing support among independent women voters, and columnist Anne Applebaum, herself an independent voter who supported McCain in 2000, explained why. She contends that McCain has abandoned what appealed to voters in 2000 and aligned himself with the “rapidly deteriorating, increasingly anti-intellectual, no longer even recognizably conservative Republican Party.” She lamented: “Although McCain has one of the best records for bipartisanship in the Senate, he’s let his campaign appeal to his party’s extremes. Though he is a true foreign policy intellectual, his supporters cultivate ignorance and fear.”
Columnist David Brooks, a McCain fan, made a similar argument in noting how the GOP is losing the center. Self-declared moderates favor Obama by 59 to 30 percent, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll, and voters favor Obama by 21 points on the economy and by 14 points on tax policy, according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.
Barack Obama may or may not have swayed many undecided voters with his 30-minute campaign infomercial Wednesday night, which included an endorsement from Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. But the program was a ratings hit, exceeding the combined regular ratings of all the network shows that normally run during that time period. The Hollywood Reporter joked: “If Barack Obama fails to win the election, perhaps the networks should hire him to entertain viewers on Wednesday nights.”
The Arizona Republic endorsed John McCain, calling him trustworthy and a “voice of credible authority.” Meanwhile, the Anchorage Daily News endorsed Barack Obama, taking pride in Gov. Sarah Palin’s vice presidential nod but judging her unready and McCain ill-equipped to deal with the financial crisis: “In a time of grave economic crisis, (Obama) displays thoughtful analysis, enlists wise counsel and operates with a cool, steady hand.”
In other home-state endorsements for the tickets, the Chicago Tribune went with Obama – the newspaper’s first-ever endorsement of a Democrat for president – and the Wilmington (Del.) News Journal went with Obama-Biden. The Chicago Sun-Times also endorsed Obama.
Sarah Palin said that recent descriptions of her by unnamed McCain aides as a “diva” and a “whack job” who alienates campaign staff were untrue – and she wants to meet with anyone who might feel that way. “I have never met any of those who I have heard to have written something or say something negative,” Palin said. “I would love to meet these people, have a conversation instead of them superficially making a statement like that.” Palin also is optimistic about the election. “I truly believe that the wisdom of the people will be rebuilt on (Election Day),” she said. “As they enter that voting booth, they will understand the stark contrast between the two tickets.”
Barack Obama will air a 30-minute program at 7 tonight, the first time since Ross Perot that a presidential candidate has aired a prolonged campaign commercial in prime time. Based on the trailer and Obama’s campaign speeches this week, the program will make a closing argument for his campaign and will highlight everyday voters, their everyday troubles and his plans to address them, the New York Times reported. The program will also include a live broadcast from an Obama rally in Florida.
Given that Obama has a lead in polls, is the program a risk? Could it come across as over the top? A “Saturday Night Live” skit had Obama playing it safe by turning the program into a variety show that included a singing Bill Clinton.
Kansas remains ruby-red McCain country, with the Republican favored to win 53 to 41 percent over Barack Obama in the latest SurveyUSA poll co-sponsored by Wichita’s KWCH, Channel 12. But Obama led by 10 percent among the 15 percent of Kansans who said last week that they had voted early. McCain led by 15 percent among those yet to vote.
The Web site politicalhumor.about.com has been rounding up the best bumper sticker slogans of the presidential campaign. Those for Republicans include “McCain-Palin: A Hero and a Hottie,” “Your Wallet: The One Place Democrats Are Willing to Drill,” “Burly Men for Palin, Girlie Men for Biden,” “Clinging to God and My Gun While I Vote Republican” and “I Wanna Be Sarah’s Intern!” The Democrats‘ include “John McCain: Like Bush, But Older,” “This One Is Voting For That One,” “McCain-Palin: Unstable and Unable,” “Polar Bears Against Palin” and “If I Owned 7 Houses, I’d Think the Economy Was Great Too!”
After beginning the campaign of 2008 by seeking the GOP nomination for the biggest job of all, Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., was the only member of the Kansas delegation not on the ballot Tuesday. In the end, Brownback had this to say about the historic election: “To go from Rosa Parks and Linda Brown to President-elect Barack Obama in one generation proves that anything is possible in America. I congratulate President-elect Obama and his family. We should all savor and celebrate this moment in history. I am also thankful to John McCain, whom I supported, as an American hero who even in defeat put his country first and sought to heal our division.”
