The freakish size of Nancy Reagan's head.

[Killbert-Robby]

The news is going to be great, I cant wait for the first mention of "Redneck insurgency"

*edit* Ok watching both speeches.
I feel bad for McCain. I really do. Before the whole race, I would not have minded him being president. But now he's surrounded himself in psychotics. Palin, his supporters, and he *knows* it. You can see it in his face when he hears people yelling things like "gun him down" while he's conceding. But McCain took it well. His crowd though, as usual, nutjobs.

And while I may not like either candidate, the thought of not having Palin anywhere near the reins is relieving.

[Phact0rri]

oh it was a rough night in tennessee.. the amount of just bad will made me sick. everyone of the mccain supporters (like 90% of my work place) were tso vindictive and mean. At least most of america knows the score... thankfully.

[Rkolter]

I feel bad for McCain. I really do. Before the whole race, I would not have minded him being president. But now he's surrounded himself in psychotics. Palin, his supporters, and he *knows* it. You can see it in his face when he hears people yelling things like "gun him down" while he's conceding. But McCain took it well. His crowd though, as usual, nutjobs.

I was appalled that they booed so much McCain had to stop three times.

[McDuffies]

And while I may not like either candidate, the thought of not having Palin anywhere near the reins is relieving.

Have I just heard you choosing the lesser of two evils?
I guess you just sold yourself ethically and politically.

[Robin Pierce]

And while I may not like either candidate, the thought of not having Palin anywhere near the reins is relieving.

Have I just heard you choosing the lesser of two evils?
I guess you just sold yourself ethically and politically.

Robby's not american, as far as I know, so he can't vote there anyhow. That just means that instead of 'selling himself out', he's internationally relieved. You know, us internationals have a clear card to whine about whatever we want anyways so..

[Killbert-Robby]

And while I may not like either candidate, the thought of not having Palin anywhere near the reins is relieving.

Have I just heard you choosing the lesser of two evils?
I guess you just sold yourself ethically and politically.

Did I say ANYTHING about choosing one over the other? No, I said I'm relieved Palin isn't in a position of power. I don't HAVE a choice in this. Settle down smartass. I like to think there's at least a small difference between throwing away your one vote every four years, and expressing an opinion on the losing party.

[Rkolter]

Looks like Missouri may go to McCain by 6000 votes out of 2.8 million.

0.21% of the vote.

[Dr Legostar]

it was certainly interesting to watch and a pleasant change from the last two elections, especially 2000 when we had no idea who won until.. what... December? Obama really made a great acceptance speech and McCain's speech was also good, for his part, not for his supporters part, they were just an embarrassment. Should be a very interesting four years, maybe eight, who knows.

[Yeahduff]

Did I say ANYTHING about choosing one over the other?

the thought of not having Palin anywhere near the reins is relieving.

*shrug*

[MixedMyth]

An interesting follow up article to the campaign. A lot of behind the scenes stuff for both campaigns that, for me at least, helps to illuminate why things went down the way they did.

[Dotty]

I have voted for the lesser of two evils before. I would have in that last election, as well. I wouldn't even remotely consider it selling out, as the interest behind it all would be protecting America from the more evil of the two pairings. Palin is a nutjob, pure and simple, and McCain had a larger list of policies I didn't much care for. Biden has decades of experience, and an Obama win would, and did, inspire joy and relief in Americans, seeing that "change" (be it metaphorical or be it something more tangible than the color of a mans skin) come to fruition. A clear message of hope and enlightenment for America, be it through democratic economic savvy, or even as minor as yes. An African-American has finally become president. Music from as little as a couple years ago sarcastically mused at the idea, thinking the people of USA would NEVER accept a colored man into office was pretty concrete. It's inspiring to see them proven wrong. On top of that, Americans seem to be concerned with bringing their boys home from Iraq, and really concerned about the economy. When it comes to those two issues, Democrats seem the more logical choice. They've always been strong in economics, and have been talking about finishing the war up since after Kerry stepped down there in 2004/5, after it was made clear that his wanting to keep the war going was not a popular idea. (Sure Bush started the war and all, but at least he has some idea whats going on since back then he was heavily immersed in it all. New guy might botch it worse? -best rational for the second voting of Bush in 2004 I had understood since that election which left me confused as to why a country would choose a man who waged 2 wars in 4 years and was sniffing for more at the time-.)

Do note I want nothing to do with the Robby/Duffies debate going on here, I just thought the notion of voting for the lesser of two evils being compared to selling out was confusing, if not simply asinine. It's not uncommon at all in elections to not have any real candidates you can get behind, but there's always one of them that is going to do more for you than the other ones are, or there is one who isn't proposing legislature that offends you. I'm having difficulty grasping how voting for the lesser evil can be considered selling out... unless there's a part of American politics that I don't quite follow, where you have to vote for Team A or Team B because they're your team, and voting for the other because they have a chance at winning, and seem a lot more sane in the head, and that would be considered selling out?

(Canadian, another one of those *in ur tubez watching ur voats*)

[McDuffies]

Do note I want nothing to do with the Robby/Duffies debate going on here, I just thought the notion of voting for the lesser of two evils being compared to selling out was confusing, if not simply asinine. It's not uncommon at all in elections to not have any real candidates you can get behind, but there's always one of them that is going to do more for you than the other ones are, or there is one who isn't proposing legislature that offends you. I'm having difficulty grasping how voting for the lesser evil can be considered selling out...

I'm having that difficulty too, perhaps Robby can explain it to both of us.

[MixedMyth]

I was gonna say. Let us assume that a person in the year 2000 who goes to vote. Whether or not they liked Gore a lot, things might have been different...

In fact, I remember a LOT of people saying, "Oh, I'm not going to vote. There's no difference between the two candidates and I don't like them."

There is ALWAYS a difference. And not voting for the lesser of two evils is a sure fire way to end up with the greater of them.

[Levi-chan]

Better to vote for someone than against someone.

[Dotty]

Do note I want nothing to do with the Robby/Duffies debate going on here, I just thought the notion of voting for the lesser of two evils being compared to selling out was confusing, if not simply asinine. It's not uncommon at all in elections to not have any real candidates you can get behind, but there's always one of them that is going to do more for you than the other ones are, or there is one who isn't proposing legislature that offends you. I'm having difficulty grasping how voting for the lesser evil can be considered selling out...

I'm having that difficulty too, perhaps Robby can explain it to both of us.

I just hope what I wrote wasn't too harsh sounding, I tried to make it universal as I was muddled onto what was going on around the statement

[Yeahduff]

In more news from the "Voting Doesn't Matter" file.....

California bans same-sex marriage

Californian voters have chosen to ban same-sex marriage, months after it was legalised by the state's top court.

The measure restricting marriage to heterosexual couples gained 52% support - more than 5.1 million votes - with nearly all precincts declaring results.

Twenty-seven US states already ban same-sex marriage. California's legal approval had seen thousands of gay couples wed there since May.

State Attorney General Jerry Brown has said those marriages will remain valid.

Legal challenges to the measure, known as Proposition 8, are likely.

The referendum called for the California constitution to be amended by adding the phrase that: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognised in California."

Bitter campaign

The ballot measure was keenly fought with more than $70m spent on advertising by both sides - breaking national records for campaigning on a social policy initiative.

The BBC's Peter Bowes in Los Angeles says that for many liberal Californians, on a day when Barack Obama was swept to victory, the election was a bittersweet experience.

He said they won the White House - but lost on an issue many believed had already been resolved by the courts.

Conservative groups have welcomed the ban.

"People believe in the institution of marriage" said Frank Schubert, co-manager of the Yes on 8 campaign.

"It's one institution that crosses ethnic divides, that crosses partisan divides."

But gay rights supporters vowed to fight on.

Kate Kendall, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights said "there has been enormous movement in favour of full equality in eight short years".

"That is the direction this is heading, and if it's not today or tomorrow, it will be soon," she added.

Florida and Arizona also backed proposals to ban gay marriage, by 62% and 56% respectively, on 4 November.

Other proposals

The measure was among 153 state-level proposals up for vote on US presidential election day.

Other measures under consideration by 36 states ranged from initiatives on gambling, drug laws and stem cell research to tax laws and affirmative action on race.

There were 59 such initiatives in 2008.

In South Dakota and Colorado, measures curtailing abortion rights were rejected.

Michigan voted to allow medical use of marijuana, while Nebraska voted to end race- and gender-based affirmative action.

In Oregon, a measure designed to limit teaching of students in language other than English to no more than two years was defeated.

Washington state voted to allow doctor-assisted suicide for terminally ill people.

Amid deep economic uncertainty, proposals to cut state income taxes were defeated decisively in North Dakota and Massachusetts.

Missouri repealed a $500 loss limit designed to protect compulsive gamblers on riverboats.

[Levi-chan]

Not all is bad.

(11-05) 18:16 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- A day after California voters approved a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, the incendiary issue returned to the state Supreme Court, where gay and lesbian couples and the city of San Francisco filed lawsuits Wednesday seeking to overturn Proposition 8.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Jerry Brown, who represents the state in court, said he would defend the legality of the thousands of same-sex marriages conducted in the 4 1/2 months leading up to election day - even though sponsors of Prop. 8 say the measure was intended to invalidate those marriages. That controversy is also likely to end up before California's high court and could reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 13UM63.DTL

[Cope]

"People believe in the institution of marriage" said Frank Schubert, co-manager of the Yes on 8 campaign.

"It's one institution that crosses ethnic divides, that crosses partisan divides."

oh god, the stupid, it hurts so much.

[Tellurider]

In Oregon, a measure designed to limit teaching of students in language other than English to no more than two years was defeated.

dammit. nothing I vote for wins!

[MixedMyth]

Better to vote for someone than against someone.

True...though technically both are possible at the same time.

But sometimes the field has slim pickings.