We did it. It finally happened. It was indescribable to see Obama finally walk out and give his acceptance speech. Two days later, it's still hard to believe it, like it's almost too good to be true. There's nothing more reassuring in this country than knowing that our voices, our beliefs, and our votes actually do mean something. It's turns out that there's still hope in the democratic process after all. The majority of people refused to be swayed by the robocalls, the false information, the name-calling, and all the other dirty tricks. People woke up and refused to fall victim to the problems that plagued the last two elections. Change did happen, and history was made.
After eight years of being let down by those in charge, of watching our civil liberties being dismantled one by one, of watching our alliances throughout the world gradually fall apart, of watching the national economy tank and watching millions of Americans suffer in the process, we now finally have a leader that we can actually have hope in. He might not be able to fix everything, but we can take comfort in knowing that he's actually going to make an effort to do so. The American people will now have a president won't just fight for the well-off and the special interests, but will fight to make everyone's lives better and make the country as a whole a lot stronger.
We will be better off. Just wait and see.
However, in California, this victory has been somewhat dampened by the passage of Prop 8, which now bans same-sex marriage within the state. Even in a solid "blue" state such as this, tolerance for others and a desire for equal rights apparently aren't universal beliefs. 52% of Californians have voted to strip people of the rights granted to them, to everyone, by the state. Keeping gay marriage legal would not have nullified anyone else's marriages or forced beliefs onto any children, religious organizations, or any other people that have a difference of opinion. Yet 52% of Californians still refused to acknowledge this fact, instead opting to impose a belief structure that systematically discriminates against certain people based on who they are and establishes a system that says we are not all created equal. It's unconstitutional, and it's un-Christian. Yet somehow, bigotry won. What's also troubling about the passage of this proposition is that it shows how state policy decisions, particularly in regard to social issues that affect the rights of thousands and thousands of people, can in fact be bought by special interests (in this case, the Mormon church).
I'm hopeful that the tide will turn though. Nothing will make me laugh harder than seeing this proposition eventually get overturned. Thousands of outraged citizens are looking for ways to fight this. The ACLU has already filed a lawsuit. The primary result of this proposition will be an explosion of legal battles about the legality of the ban and the status of all the same-sex couples who were legally married throughout the past year. If the courts don't overturn the ban in the next few months, then you can guarantee that this issue is going to come up again on the 2010 ballot. And you can guarantee that people aren't going to give up their civil rights without a fight. This is gonna be huge. Get ready.
In 2000, the original California gay marriage ban received 61% approval. Eight years later, the new ban only received 52% approval. A lot of people are dead-set in their ways and resistant to any form of change. But over time, people change and so do their attitudes. For people who aren't directly impacted by the gay marriage issue (i.e. every straight person in the state), it's only a matter of warming up to the idea of equal rights and treating gays with respect and tolerance. Things will change. It might take a few years, or it might take a few decades, but things will change.
In the midst of this disappointment, there were some unexpectedly positive results with the other state measures. The biggest news is that Prop 4, the abortion limitations amendment, was unexpectedly defeated 48% to 52%. This marks the third time in the past three years that that this restriction has been voted down. I have a feeling that the anti-choice crowd will fight to get it on the ballot for a fourth time in a year or two, but it's nice to know that the majority of voters still respect a woman's right to choose. And in South Dakota, a bill that would've banned abortion in most cases was defeated for the second time.
The other bills: the super awesome bullet train thingy won, children's hospitals and veterans get more money, and farm animals get bigger cage. Both energy bills failed, as did the "throw more people in prison" proposition. Prop 9 passed, while the rehab bill failed. And it looks like the redistricting proposition has passed by a slim margin, as did Measure R. And in San Diego, Mike Lumpkin ran a great campaign and turned what was supposed to be a landslide in a safe Republican district into an actual race, but he still came up short. Apparently, voters prefer inexperience and nepotism over credentials and good ideas. Would've been nice if the Democratic Party had actually given Mike some help, but unfortunately that's the way that a two party system works. He still fought a great fight though.
There were some interesting results is various other states, as well.
The amazing thing about the Obama victory isn't just the fact that he won, but the fact that he won by such a huge margin. I know the polls had been pointing that way for the past few weeks, but I still had doubts that he would be able to pick up Ohio, Florida, and Virginia, let alone solid "red" states like Indiana and North Carolina. After 2000 and 2004, I guess we were just expecting the Republicans to find a way to steal the country again. But here we are two days later, with joyful disbelief giving way to the realization that the good guys actually won this time! In the end, that crazy 50 state strategy actually kinda worked. McCain had to play defense in states that weren't even thought to be in play a month ago. For the last month, the McCain campaign was just grasping at straws, resorting to characterizing Obama as a socialist and a terrorist-sympathizer. And in the end, they were desperate enough to resort to calling Democrats and telling them that election day had been pushed back to Wednesday due to the high turnout! But in the end, hope triumphed over bullshittery. Definitely an impressive accomplishment for what was an amazingly well-run campaign. It'll stand out in history because it felt like more than just a presidential campaign; it became a nationwide force, a unified movement behind a powerfully inspirational figure. It was a great experience to be a part of.
It'll be interesting to see what happens with the GOP over the next four years. One option is to look at the polls and see how a majority of voters viewed Sarah Palin as a major drag on the Republican ticket. They can look at that and look for more substance and a more moderate stance to adopt, going past the Rovian politics of the past decade. Or they can look at the excitement she stirred up among the wingnut base that seemed to ignore her ethics violations and inexperience. They could look at her popularity and see it as the direction to take the party...which would be both frightening and hilarious. Fortunately, it seems like Palin is losing favor with more of Republican party, with criticism from anonymous McCain aides becoming increasingly public each day (my favorite revelation: she apparently didn't realize that Africa is a continent, not a country). So maybe, just maybe, decency and sanity will prevail. In the meantime, let's focus on the important thing: now we can rest easy knowing that Sarah Palin is not heading anywhere near the White House anytime soon.
I'm looking forward to see what the next few years bring. The campaigning and advertising are finally over with, but now we have a long and complex battle over equal rights to figure out. For now though, I'm completely burnt out. I think I'll sleep in tomorrow.
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