Fiat Lux
Here’s my call for Tuesday (hopefully I will not jinx anything!). Obama 286, McCain 252.
I don’t think we’ll take 60 in the Senate. My call: 57 seats.
And CA Prop 8? Too close to call.
Finally, just for fun, this slightly cheesy video:
If you have not voted early, do your duty tomorrow. I’ll be there when the polls open at 7.
That’s it, in a nutshell.
I realize this is an issue that causes a lot of pain and confusion, even for some people who are generally liberal on social issues.
Bottom line, though, is that change is not always pretty, or safe, or easy, or even comfortable.
No on 8. It’s the right thing to do.
UPDATE: I am very pleased to note that Chuck Geschke, Founder & Chairman of Adobe is quoted in this No on 8 press release.
What happened to the heroic, forward-looking rhetoric great leaders are supposed to provide in times of crisis?
FDR gave us “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”
Churchill gave us “We shall fight on the beaches.”
George Bush cruises in with “This sucker could go down.”
Afternoon update: OUCH. Largest one-day drop on the DOW, ever.
I spent the evening watching Obama’s historic speech in a packed hotel room in downtown San Francisco. I got home to find close to 100 posts piled up in the “Politics” section of my feed reader. With that amount of text flying, it’s virtually impossible to find anything to say that’s truly original, and there are far better writers than me who will turn out much more lyrical paeans to Obama’s speech.
So I’ll just share one part of the speech, that made my jaw drop amidst all the cheers and even a couple of tears:
….part of what has been lost these past eight years can’t just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose, and that’s what we have to restore.
We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country.
The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than they are for those plagued by gang violence in Cleveland, but don’t tell me we can’t uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals.
I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in a hospital and to live lives free of discrimination.
You know, passions may fly on immigration, but I don’t know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers.
But this, too, is part of America’s promise, the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.
Obama called out what are arguably the four most divisive issues in American domestic policy, and talked about trying to find common ground on them.
A less gutsy politician wouldn’t have done that. And in fact the speech could have been just fine without that section. But no, Obama went the extra mile and took all four of them head on.
Election Day is less than 70 days away. Bring it on. We’re ready.
San Francisco is a deeply flawed city in many ways (not to mention the whole voter initiative process, for that matter), but it also manages to come up with little gems like this. What started out as a joke is now going to be on the ballot this November:
San Francisco voters will be asked to decide whether to name a city sewage plant in honor of President Bush, after a satiric measure qualified for the November ballot Thursday.
[snip]
The measure, if passed, would rename the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant the George W. Bush Sewage Plant.
It almost makes me wish I still lived in SF.