Election Day is Here

It is election day '08.

CNN has reported the first poll result in the country from Dixville Notch, New Hampshire: 15 Barack Obama, 6 John McCain, 0 for Ralph Nader.

On last Sunday's Meet the Press and a Fox News program, all predictions including one from Karl Rove gave 300+ electoral votes to Barack Obama, with landslide gains for Democrats in both the House and the Senate. Barring any disaster, Democrats will likely win both the White House and the Congress. That would be a historically significant shift of power and a sound rejection of Republican policies of the last eight years.

There was a letter to the Ann Arbor News a couple of days ago, in which the writer commented that the current and the last two economic recessions in the US all had been preceeded with eight years of Republican presidencies. I didn't know the US history that well. So here is a quick googling of US presidents: Calvin Coolidge (1923-29), Ronald Reagan (1981-89) and George W. Bush (2001-08) are indeed Republicans. The end of William Jefferson Clinton presidency (1993-2001) also saw a recession. But over all, the US economy grew significantly over the Clinton presidency. History never guarantees the future. But history is a good indicator.

The end of the election day is now only 16 hours away. Hope is within grasp.

Notes from 2008-11-01:

There is an article on Ann Arbor News today, front page, about McCain/Palin supporters being harrassed in Ann Arbor. I think I understand why those who did those things did them. Afterall, I myself have felt depressed for the last eight years by the stupidity, ignorance and arrogance so rampant in the administration. Then there are all those lives lost in the Iraq war. It's understandable that some people may have an ax to grind. However, such harrassing actions against individual are obviously just as stupid. Such stupidity only serves to divide the people in this United States.

On our way out of the house today, two senior African American Obama volunteers came to our door to remind us to vote. I told them that I was prepared to vote. I have been ready for a few years. This country is a bit too radical for me personally -- although they label themselves conservative. There is nothing conservative about racking up national debt in trillions while the individuals pocket hundreds of millioms a year. There is nothing conservative about going into a country, killing tens or even hundreds of thousands of people and then just calling them collateral damage. There is nothing conservative about labeling themselves compassionate conservative to fool the voters and turn around leaving them hanging in the wind to dry when disasters strike. Their behaviors have shown themselves to be radicals, repeatedly. As W himself quoted, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." A third time would be bryond shame for all.