Voting on the Vote

[Trusty]

The election is over, and we are still a family. Let's learn from our experiences.

Notice the poll asks WHO (not gender, race, or press coverage); also, it doesn't ask about events (war, economy, etc.), but who was most influential in determining the outcome of the election. (Of course, the candidate's reaction to events, etc. may have played a part in determining your vote.).

Also, you may want to add the one biggest thing that your candidate did, during the election process, to get your vote? Please "vote" and share.

[Jane]

I'm not sure if it was the attraction of Barack or the disgust at Bush that played the biggest role. And John McCain was a different McCain than 2000 when I could have voted for him. And then there's Sarah Palin.....

[Jane]

The biggest thing my guy did? Ran a good campaign and appealed to the best in us.

[gailkate]

I'm wondering if Trusty plans to vote and comment. sometimes he sets these up and wanders off.

I think the most important thing my guy did was 4 years before this election. His speech as an unknown at the 2004 Dem Convention has been derided by foes in and out of his own party as just grand rhetoric. But there's no "just" about grand rhetoric, and it's only derided by people who don't have the passion to inspire.

Obama spoke to the idealism and faith in this country that I grew up with. He made me believe it was still possible, that patriotism
could swell all hearts again and bring us together as a free and generous people.

There isn't a cynical cell in his body.

[booklady]

I thought about this question, as we say in MS, a good bit in the last day, and then cast my vote for Obama. Despite the economy, George Bush, and everything else, Obama himself was most influential in the election, capturing the imagination and the hopes of Americans.

In my opinion, McCain did some things that cost him some votes (including, for some people, choosing Sarah Palin). His harping negativity really turned me off.

[jspnrvr]

It was the American people. Obama ran a tight, well disciplined campaign; he stayed on message and had a good organization on the ground. Over 60 million Americans responded to his message and cast their votes in his favor. If it's God's will that Senator Obama be our next President, so be it.

Congratulations, Senator Obama, and God bless you.

I wish him only the best; he is going to be our President, and if our President is in trouble it is because our nation is in trouble, and there is no shortage of enemies waiting to pounce on us or our friends if they sense weakness or we seem to be abandoning our allies. If he's doing something I think is right I'll say so. Likewise if I disagree.

I wish him luck in keeping together the coaliton that put him in office. He's made a lot of promises to a lot of different groups of people; not everyone will recognize that as a political tactic and they will expect him to deliver.

There are also almost 60 million of us who did not vote for Senator Obama. So keeping in mind the fact that politics end at the water's edge, be of good cheer fellow conservatives! See you in 2010, and 2012!

" We should never despair, our Situation before has been unpromising and has changed for the better, so I trust, it will again. If new difficulties arise we must only put forth new exertions and proportion our Efforts to the exigency of the times." George Washington

God bless our troops,
God bless the Office of President of the United States,
God Bless America.

[joew]

Barack Obama brilliantly managed to cast himself as the candidate of change, at a point when most people wanted a change. By convincing large numbers of them that they had to vote for him to get change, he nailed down the votes he needed to win.

[booklady]

Well, Joe, he also had to seem competent at the same time.

[Trusty]

quick. I'll be out of town 'till monday - will comment then.
Thankya. Thankya...

[ozski]

IMO Obama managed to do what Ronald Reagan did; become the poster boy of hope and optimism in a dire time in our contry. (FWIW, I didn't vote for Reagan, either.) Mr. O certainly was more eloquent of the two major candidates. Time will tell, and I gladly would accept being wrong with that assesment. I do hope there is more substance than just a smoothly run campaign and sales pitch.

Why I didn't vote Obama:
ACORN and Ayers, and too many unanswered questions regarding the two.

Why I voted McCain.
Of the two I trusted him most, and agreed with his stand on partial-birth abortion.

[gailkate]

ACORN has not been shown to have done anything unethical. They turned in the phony reg cards themselves, flagged as suspicious, which is what the law requires. Moreover, there was no fraudulent voting. Obviously, if the polling place has a match for Mickey Mouse, then there's a serious problem with the state's voter rolls. The card has to match one of several databases and then the voter has to provide ID in that name. ACORN is not made up of crooks and they don't register frauds. It isn't even possible - at least not in any state I've ever lived in. Much more possible would be a voter being disqualified because his name didn't appear exactly the same on the roll. For example, I have used my middle initial and my maiden name initial.

When Obama got to Chicago as a young man (after college), he eventually (after law school) met a man named Bill Ayres who was part of reputable Chicago organizations and a professor at the U of IL. Why would Obama ask if that man was a 60s radical, charged with blowing up buildings when Obama was 8 years old? There are old stories in MN that I know nothing about because I've only lived here 28 years.

If Obama eventually heard Ayers' background, why would he refuse to associate with him when powerful people - including Republicans - seemed to consider Ayres redeemed, an upstanding citizen? I have served on boards and committees where I knew little about the other members. I never considered those meetings to be "palling around."

[ozski]

Trusty wanted to know why we voted for our candidate.
I'm only sayin'.

The fact that the major candidates on both side of the aisle tended to not address allegations made against them, (and perhaps clear up some issues for the undecideds like me) but instead looked to further tear down their opponets credibility was rather sad and all too common. I'm just saying the two A's I listed concerned me more than Ms Palin's wardrobe and Joe the Plumber owing back taxes and McCain's thoughtless remark on the fundamentals of our economy being sound.

Perhaps they didn't consider some topics worthy to spend time on. But the concern of the voting public should never be considered a waste of time.

gk, I thank you for taking the time to address my concerns.

[sailor]

What major player determined the outcome of the election?

I think poor old John lost it more than Obama won it.

He lost his way. His campaign was poorly run. The Dems successfully ran him over by painting a picture of him being an angry old man that would be another 4 years of Dubya. They set the trap and he fell into it. And, once he was in the trap the harder he tried to get out of it, the more he resembled the image the dems were portraying him as.

My hat's off to the Obama team. They ran a good "I'm rubber you're glue" campaign. I certainly hope the smarts they used to win continues through his Presidency. In my opinion, the early indicators are looking good.

[Trusty]

Nov 8, 2008 10:50:02 GMT -5 gailkate said:

I'm wondering if Trusty plans to vote and comment. sometimes he sets these up and wanders off.

Yeah. Ain't that sumthin'...

When I set up this poll, I was sure George Bush was the figure that influenced the election more than anyone else, and I still kinda feel that way, but not as strongly. (Is "strongly" a word?)

Anyway, as time went on, it seemed like both camps knew what was gonna happen, and McCain was riding it out to make a good show. Bush was quite a weight on his shoulders.