2008 American Presidential Elections

[tifa]

Congratulations to president Obama! I'm glad he won instead of McCain.

I hope he can heal and change America as well. :yay

[Grey Day]

Congrats Obama!! <3

The speech was so touching and inspiring ^^

Best wishes for America .. and hopefully we can make a difference!

[Rain]

well it was expected. but not with such a big margin imho.

he had roughly double the electoral votes of McCain, thats a decent sized margain

but yeah, the popular vote was far far closer

definitely a tight race

Congratulations to President Obama, i hope that he is able to heal america. He'll have a tough job, that's for damned sure. :yay

yeah, now the real struggle beings. He has only won the chance to have the chance put his plans into action. We're still a far way waway from being in a better place

[gab00n]

I think we can all laugh at Florida though, they passed Amendment 2. What idiots they truly are.

Here is what it says: "Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized."

What that means: "Amendment 2 does nothing to protect marriage. But it does take away important family protections, health care insurance, hospital visitation and medical decision-making authority, from all unmarried couples, gay and straight. It permanently bans civil unions and dismantles domestic partner benefits that seniors, teachers, police officers and firefighters rely on in more than 18 communities across the state."

"We unequivocally cannot allow this initiative to pass because not only would the amendment bring about an entirely new civil-rights movement against a blatant injustice, but also would, in effect, dissolve all civil unions in the state of Florida. Even heterosexual couples would lose their common-law marriage status, and subsequently forfeit any benefits that are shared with a significant other."

Ha-Ha, they thought they were voting against gay marriage but forgot to read the fine print. What a bunch of idiots, serves them right.:rotflmao

[Shadoblak]

The gay marriage bans have surprised and disturbed me. If my generation is serious about building and change, then this is our new battle. Out of one fray and into another. This is discrimination pure and simple. And we can't stand for it.

[Babbo]

Congratulations to President Obama, i hope that he is able to heal america. He'll have a tough job, that's for damned sure. :yay

Yup. Babbo's just counting down 'til the days that the republicans start bitching about how the Democrats aren't changing anything. Prolly won't be anywhere near the six years the republicans had to screw up everything from foreign relations to the economy. Was listening to Rush Limbaugh on the drive up to school. What a laugh. The guy spent most of the time yelling about how Obama is going to raise taxes and blame it on Bush. Of course the fact that blaming the Bush adminstration for many of the problems that are going to be addressed in the years to come is VALID sort've got left out of his discussion. He also kept on bringing up how Obama's brother lives in a hut. Whether that's true or not it sort've made him (rush) look like a bit of an ass ibo <.<

That's somewhat surprising, to think i live within that constitution free zone... :hm :zomg

I don't know if i would trust anything the aclu says, they have a way of persecuting religious people, by wanting god removed from every facet of our society when it isnt hurting anyone. It's not fair.

Pfft. That's what ignorant people who think that separation of church and state isn't supported by the government say >.>


The belief in god was a key point of the creation of America, the right to believe or not to believe, or whom to believe in, and to blatantly want it purged from everything american is just a mean spirited attack by people who have nothing better to do with their time.

LOL o,o Many of the founding fathers were Deists (that is they believe that there was a deity that created the world, but he did not . Much of the constitution was based around the fear of prosecution from religious governmental institutions who were often the one and the same.

I mean come on, trying to have christmas trees removed from schools (because they're supposedly religious?) is about as dumb as the NAACP having a funeral for the N word.

Ironic considering that people who think like you often decry the secularization Christmas at the very same time ;D


Someday i hope we can purge america of the ACLU and the NAACP, put the money that's wasted on them into some programs to help the homeless and jobless. I would vote for a candidate who could do that.

Eh? You realize their both not for profit NGOs right o,o?

[ookami]

Hahaha laughing at all the McCain fans saying we'll see, what the hell do you mean its enebitable lol. Great for Obama I'll have a beer for him.

[balladbird]

Hahaha laughing at all the McCain fans saying we'll see, what the hell do you mean its enebitable lol.

Let them have their conspiracies. They're just sucking on sour grapes.

Or maybe they're not... hmm... I shall start to worry if, between the ceremony in january and the state-of-the-union a year after that we're all speaking arabic and wearing turbans to the government-approved farm collectives, joyously spreading our wealth.

At least the Republicans won't be around to say "I told you so!" They're all good Christians, after all... so they'll have been carried away in the rapture... Obama IS the anti-christ, after all. :rotflmao

[ookami]

Well seeing as I'm having beers for Obama I think hes about to get very drunk. All the McCain supporters look like they're about to come up with some bullshit about why Obama shouldn't be president, and there won't be anything new added to their list of why nots. They all look ded guttered :D.

[balladbird]

Well, the results of this election provide very little wiggle room, in terms of contesting the results.

The electoral college swang so heavily in Obama's favor that even if the decisions in two large states (Florida and PA, for example) were to be contested, it wouldn't change the end result in the least.

Not to mention that the popular vote shows a seven million voter gap between Obama's support and McCains. One of the largest in the country's history.

[kiera2]

And they think they will actually win with her oh dear >< Not a wise idea for the republicans at all.
I don't know if it's that, so much as the fact that she really embodies all those far-right values that a lot of Republicans go in for. Republicans I've seen seem to be divided between those that thinks the party needs to change and evolve, and those that believe if they stick to their traditional values they'll win.

Yup. Babbo's just counting down 'til the days that the republicans start bitching about how the Democrats aren't changing anything.
Saw this on forums elsewhere and it amused me:

[11/4, 9:24pm] [Subject: Dow Jones futures are slightly down right now]
Obama's fault. Worst presidency ever.

[11/4, 9:33pm] [Subject: RE: Dow Jones futures are slightly down right now]
Now they're up slightly. Financial crisis over. Obama = best president ever.

[Babbo]

Most of the discussion Babbo heard today incidicated that Palin would be good for raising money. Running for the Presidency though seems a bit too unlikely considering how much of a blatant drag she was on the republican ticket. In any case Babbo's more interested to see what kind of changes the republicans will be making to their platform and practice; especially with the 2010 elections coming up <.<

Not surprising <.<

Babbo was really talking more along the lines of politicians playing the blame game though >.>

*Is dissappointed that he missed out on the dog pile on ceria's last few posts here*

It would feel too much like gloating to dissect them now though <.<

[Inevitable.Exit]

Where is Earthforge?

Anyway. Facebook/Myspace exploded in a bunch of hate/anger/bitterness/ignorance last night. It was quite amusing.

[kiera2]

Running for the Presidency though seems a bit too unlikely considering how much of a blatant drag she was on the republican ticket.
She was a drag amongst moderates, but the hardcore right loved her.

Anyway. Facebook/Myspace exploded in a bunch of hate/anger/bitterness/ignorance last night. It was quite amusing.
Really? What I saw on Facebook were overwhelmingly messages of congratulations and celebration - when the result came through my Live Feed exploded with people from all over the world saying how thrilled they were that Obama won. And I saw dozens of statuses like "_____ is proud to be an American again," with replies like "Nice work!"

[CeriaHalcyon]

I'm disappointed in the voters of Florida, because they passed an amendment to our constitution which not only defines marriage as man and woman but it also eliminates all of the rights of the gay community that they have fought hard to achieve. Civil unions are now abolished as well as partner benefits and rights are now gone. It's persecution and now it's been approved.

As someone who used to work with and be friends with members of the gay community, my vote was on their side, but it wasnt enough.

In this day and age i'm disappointed that this amendment passed. i thought for sure there would be overwhelming support for its defeat and yet it succeeded, and i'm simply :headscratch :noes

[gab00n]

Sarah Palin doesn't know that Africa is a continent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWZHTJsR4Bc&e

This is the person republicans want running against Obama in 2012.:rofl

[kiera2]

I can't help but find people who find themselves suddenly proud again to be a disgrace to the soldiers who are dying for our freedom.

It's fine if you hate bush, or hate the war, it's still no excuse for not being proud to be an american.
I think that's a pretty horrible way to misconstrue the sentiment. How on earth do you connect being ashamed of one's government with lack of respect for soldiers? I didn't think anyone had made that particular leap of 'logic' since Vietnam.

[Shadoblak]

[B]I can't help but find people who find themselves suddenly proud again to be a disgrace to the soldiers who are dying for our freedom./B]

That's a disgusting accusation. Being sad ashamed for the state of your country and not respecting the people fighting to protect your freedom are two ENTIRELY different things. You should be ashamed of your self for connecting the two.

[Shdo]

he did said that about being proud to be an american, not being proud of the goverement. just to make something clear.

nothing wrong to be ashemed of your govrement, this is the point in democracy, you dont like it, you hate it, you vote for someone else.

its when you start to burn the flag or burn puppets of soldiers that its worrying. or when you call for the destruction of parts of your country.

[CeriaHalcyon]

I guess some might not understand my thoughts, i've always believed in bush, believed that he's done the best he could under the situation, and i was always disgusted by the anti-bush sentiment in this country, and the anti-war sentiments also.

and because obama was elected all of a sudden we're now proud again? there should've never been a lapse in pride, and i can't help but see that as a little bit disrespectful to our troops.

[dramaelfie]

I'll just link you all to my journal on devART cuz I'm sick of retyping everything. :p

http://dramaelfie.deviantart.com/journal/21337778/#comments

As you can see, I'm extremely pleased with some of the election results and highly disappointed with others.

[kiera2]

and because obama was elected all of a sudden we're now proud again? there should've never been a lapse in pride, and i can't help but see that as disrespectful.
For the people who disagreed with Bush - and disagreeing with your government is a very healthy thing - it makes perfect sense to be ashamed that he was elected for a second term, and proud when he's replaced by someone they think is better.

On an unrelated note there's a fantastic article about the campaigns <here (http://www.newsweek.com/id/167582?tid=relatedcl)>.

[CeriaHalcyon]

Sorry everyone for getting you all riled up this late :zomg

I guess i was mistaken in my placement of blame, i was surprised by the statement that americans would "now be proud to be americans" and i found it to be disrespectful to americans as a whole.

[Dizzy]

Sarah Palin doesn't know that Africa is a continent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWZHTJsR4Bc&e

This is the person republicans want running against Obama in 2012.:rofl

That is brilliant. Palin is officially my new favorite Republican :wha

Also, I'm finding that up here in Canada we've had a lot more excitement about the American election than our own. I dunno whether that's because of how big Obama's worldwide influence is or how piddlingly insignificant our politics is, but I'm finding it interesting nonetheless o:

[Kreed]

i am so tired of debateing with random people on deviant art. i think i made some pretty good points, as well as many other people who posted in this journal entry, but what do you guys think? my screen names Onyxkreed(my avatar is Rukia) http://xiao-feng-fury.deviantart.com/journal/21330876/ i voted obama, i just feel we needed change. i don't think i'm going to hell for it, i just don't like being preached to. i tried to be respectfull but up untill the end, i kinda got fed up with this persons condescending manner of speaking, not just to me, but to alot of people.

[kiera2]

That is brilliant. Palin is officially my new favorite Republican :wha
Seriously. And people complained that the "liberal" "sexist" media were being too hard on her? Hah, they were <being kind (http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=l1KvgwTrpQE&eurl)>.

Also lol, since when did DeviantArt become a forum for political debate? (Not that I can really laugh I guess, after spending so much time talking politics here of all places.)

[Kreed]

thats exactly what i thought when i read the journal, but i just couldn't help but post my thoughts lol. although, maybe i should delete the link, i don't want to cause a dispute here, lord knows it got out of hand over there. .

[bradc]

I am glad McCain didn't lose his dignity and pride with his speech congratulating Obama. But the health and old age is a great concern for everyone, and sticking to Bush's policies rather than his own policies, I am not sure how the fellow citizen will follow.

Obama won, but however he may not be able to solve every problem. This is true though... As everyone government they are not able to deal with every single problem and partially half those problems are your own to deal with.

Not much changes since 1997 and now; the U.S. will try to reach out to China again. The financial economy is still bad... There's not anyone can do. Well except stopping Racial Discrimination for once :)

Thank goodness... Palin is going back to Alaska where she belongs; how can anyone let this woman run for President at all. It's just Hilary-ous :XD

[Rain]

gab00n- :lmao she really needs her own talk show :XD

I mean she is a self-titled feminist who won't call herself a feminist because she doesn't like to use titles

:rofl


ceria- i see what you're saying, and for once I don't completely disagree

not necessarily with the fact that we should never have lost our pride, I think it was wonderful that americans have had their eyes opened and are, more or less, finally not calling themselves the greatest country on earth, period.

I do think it's bad to say "now we can be proud to be americans" just because nothing has really changed in the last few days

I know this is actually the total opposite of what you were saying:oops

[Ichuki Kuchigo]

That is brilliant. Palin is officially my new favorite Republican :wha

Also, I'm finding that up here in Canada we've had a lot more excitement about the American election than our own. I dunno whether that's because of how big Obama's worldwide influence is or how piddlingly insignificant our politics is, but I'm finding it interesting nonetheless o:

Thats sad though, Mccian should never have picked her,she was obviously very err-unqualified for the job, and thats very disappointing to me seeing as I was looking forward to a really intelligent female to prove people wrong about "women being more stupid then men" but she really dumped in that department,

Eh I lost hope when Hillary lost though, so I half expected it:sweat

[Kiara]

I just have to say that for my entire life, I have been proud of being an American. Even through the really horrid Bush administration (and I apologize in advance for those who thought it was wonderful, but that is MY opinion), I always manged to remember the true spirit of America reading from my history book. Truly, my nation is a place where opportunities lay if your willingly to work for it. President-elect Obama is truly the embodiment of that spirit. He starts from nothing, but worked so hard, and now holds the highest office in the land.

I am patriotic person-not that you couldn't tell already- and I could not begin to describe how exciting I was to vote for the first time this election. Barack Obama has inherited a number of huge problems, but I think as a nation, we can get through it.

Every nation has their own spirit- their own set of ideals. I thought that Obama was truly that spirit of America. And whereas Senator McCain, though I have no doubt in my mind he loves America, I just didn't think was right for the job. That's why I have always believed before and after the election, Obama was the one. (Plus, he actually has plans to fix our economy and to get out of Iraq....>>...McCain didn't seem to have that. And no offense to her, but Sarah Palin as a v-p...that's scary))

ps- sorry for any grammar errors, I am kinda half asleep XD

[kiera2]

I was looking forward to a really intelligent female to prove people wrong about "women being more stupid then men" but she really dumped in that department
At least it's got the Republicans to stop saying that mothers of young children can't be politicians.

[kiera2]

Just giving this thread a bit of a bump in case anyone's still interested in some <random facts about Obama (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/barackobama/3401168/Barack-Obama-The-50-facts-you-might-not-know.html)>.

[Guts]

I have to point out that Obama is manipulates minds with rhetoric. For example, he made it seem like McCain wanted to give tax cuts to the millionaires at the expense of the middle class. However, think of it this way. If the business tax goes up, the businesses will just say, "hmm, how can we still make a profit? I know! We'll raise our own prices!" Then we have inflation, and it ends up hurting the middle class more than anyone else.

Obama also makes it seem like there has been zero progress in Iraq. This is simply not true. Violence and crime has reduced by 90% and Iraq's military is steadily being given more and more responsibility. If we pull out, Al Qaeda will use Iraq as a puppet to destabilize the middle east, and this will lead to a problem on a global level.

[balladbird]

I have to point out that Obama is manipulates minds with rhetoric. For example, he made it seem like McCain wanted to give tax cuts to the millionaires at the expense of the middle class. However, think of it this way. If the business tax goes up, the businesses will just say, "hmm, how can we still make a profit? I know! We'll raise our own prices!" Then we have inflation, and it ends up hurting the middle class more than anyone else.


While fundamentally correct, your statement is an oversimplification of the current situation. The taxes for the rich have been curtailed well past acceptable limits in the years following Reagan's administration, to such an extent that they pay virtually none at all.

Add to this the fact that the Bush tax cuts (which McCain decided to support late in his campaign, a move which proved incindiary) offers tax rewards to corporations who outsource... a cynical aid to the extremely wealthy that does nothing at all for the middle class.

products will probably become more expensive as a result of higher taxing on the wealthy, this is true, but this will be offset fairly by the tax breaks given to the poorest 95 percent of Americans, and the result will be a net-gain for almost all tax brackets. It's certainly a better plan than our current one.



Obama also makes it seem like there has been zero progress in Iraq. This is simply not true. Violence and crime has reduced by 90% and Iraq's military is steadily being given more and more responsibility. If we pull out, Al Qaeda will use Iraq as a puppet to destabilize the middle east, and this will lead to a problem on a global level.

Obama's claim was never that there was no progress in Iraq, only that the costs to the country have been astronomical for the relatively slow and unsteady rate of progress we've had... a fact that is undeniably true.

As to what you say... again it's a fundamental truth, but a severe oversimplification. violence and crime has been reduced by 90% only in the handful of districts that American influence is the strongest in, and even in those areas that percentage fluctuates terribly. While the threat of a civil war is somewhat reduced, it's still an unstable powder-keg. While things are progressively more stable, the quality of life in Iraq is significantly lower now than it was before our invasion. I'm not sure where you're getting your information on our war progression, but it's a rose-colored lens to be sure.

Al Qaeda didn't have a significant presence in Iraq until after America invaded, so in a way we're the architects of our own misfortune in that regard.

[Rain]

I have to point out that Obama is manipulates minds with rhetoric. For example, he made it seem like McCain wanted to give tax cuts to the millionaires at the expense of the middle class. However, think of it this way. If the business tax goes up, the businesses will just say, "hmm, how can we still make a profit? I know! We'll raise our own prices!" Then we have inflation, and it ends up hurting the middle class more than anyone else.

similarly to what ballad saud, this is true, but not the whole story

right now, the businesses and millionaires are getting tax cuts and still making millions and billions of dollars. They are still making people pay far more than they need to because they can sell so much at such a high price

so the middle class is getting screwed on both ends.

these huge businesses may charge more because of higher taxes, but the people would get more than that back in tax breaks


At least Obama's plan a) tries to help correct this, even if just a little bit and b) shows that he won't just let these million dollar companies do it because they can

[CeriaHalcyon]

I heard something tonight which i don't find surprising,

a bank teller was quoted in saying that the banks didnt need the money that the bailout afforded them. and much to my dismay, they aren't lending it to anyone as they were supposed to, they're sitting on the money to use in buyouts as other banks fall apart.

maybe this is old news, i'm not sure because i rarely watch it, maybe it's false, but even still the bailout hasnt done anything... but fail...

[Shdo]

and to pay for AIG vacations.

[cornflakes]

It's not a magical solution that will automatically whisk away all the problems instantly, dudes. Give it time.


Or not.