The 2008 US elections are over. Senator John McCain has just given his concession speech in Arizona, and it was one of the best speeches he ever made. It was decent, honest, fair and without any trace of bad feelings. The old man who did his best to win the White House acknowledged freely that he was beaten by a far superior opponent, and he pledged his full support to "his new President".
This was a great finish to a rather mediocre campaign, and for the first time in six months I recognised the old John McCain we knew for many years, the Senator of sincerity and great bi-partisan attitude. It seemed to me that in the moment of defeat he was freed from the shackles of his right-wing campaign team, from the pressure of Steve Schmidt and the shadow of Karl Rove. In defeat John McCain returned to his roots, and I salute him for this as a fellow naval officer.Meanwhile the results from numerous US states have been coming in, and it is now without any doubt that Senator Barack Obama is the President-elect and will become the 44th President of the USA on January 20th of next year.
As I write this, the balance in the all-important Electoral College stands at
333 for Barack Obama to 155 for John McCain.
This means that Barack Obama has not only won the required majority of 270 votes in the Electoral College, but that he has already bypassed it by 63 votes (with possibly more to come).
This is not just a win, it is a landslide, as some analysts had predicted it during the past three weeks. Barack Obama achieved this massive success by winning several of the crucial so-called 'battleground states', including seven states that fell to the Republicans four years ago: Ohio, Iowa, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and - most crucially - Florida and Virginia.
We all remember with sadness and anger the electoral fraud the Republicans under Governor Jeb Bush - younger brother of George W. Bush - committed in Florida in the year 2000, thus depriving the true election winner Al Gore of his right to become President.
And in the case of Virginia history has truly been made tonight, as this state had not been won by a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964, when it went to President Lyndon B. Johnson.
This means that Barack Obama has not only won the required majority of 270 votes in the Electoral College, but that he has already bypassed it by 63 votes (with possibly more to come).This is not just a win, it is a landslide, as some analysts had predicted it during the past three weeks. Barack Obama achieved this massive success by winning several of the crucial so-called 'battleground states', including seven states that fell to the Republicans four years ago: Ohio, Iowa, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and - most crucially - Florida and Virginia.
We all remember with sadness and anger the electoral fraud the Republicans under Governor Jeb Bush - younger brother of George W. Bush - committed in Florida in the year 2000, thus depriving the true election winner Al Gore of his right to become President.
And in the case of Virginia history has truly been made tonight, as this state had not been won by a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964, when it went to President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Meanwhile the Democrats have extended their majority in the Senate by five, with now 56 Democrats to 40 Republicans (out of 100 Senators) declared elected to the upper house of the US Congress.
In the race for the 435 seats in the House of Representatives (where the majority is 218) so far 351 electoral districts have declared a result. Elected are by now 214 Democrats and 137 Republicans. This means that the Democrats are now only four seats away from a total majority in both houses of Congress. These four will come soon, and likely a good few more.
A truly massive landslide for the Democrats, indeed, and a night in which hope for a better and fairer future has been restored to the USA.
The Emerald Islander
1 comment:
It is a shame John McCain did not have a good speech writer or someone to work with him on his presentation. His body language and speeking ability was limited throughout his campaign; whereas Barack Obama was quite charming and persuasive. Not to mention that bit of scots irish temper that John has displayed on occasion, has that not gotten us all into a bit of trouble. Not to mention his being in the military which in itself is a fight or flight situation. Barak on the other hand had practiced through the Harvard Law Review, persuading people and honing his skills. Now what one may ask? For the next election i would say that Giulliani is someone to watch and possibly Palin.
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