Nov

First and foremost, I want to say I am VERY proud of my sister Terra for actually voting in this election. She’s 32 years old and had never voted before!!! She voted for McCain, but I am still very glad she made her voice heard.

Turns out she wasn’t the only one – Politico is reporting that, as expected, we had record voter turnout this time: over 130 million people voted, which is 64% of eligible voters. Not fantastic, I know, but an improvement over the steady 50%-ish that I grew up with.

  

Nov

I know that it’s typical to finger-point after a lost election, but this seems a bit much…
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/06/us/politics/06mccain.html

I mean, a key issue for these McCain insiders to keep in mind is … THEY PICKED HER!!! Seriously, you now expect us to feel sorry for you because you nominated someone grossly unqualified (not to mention just flat out … umm, let’s go with not smart, to be polite) to be Vice-President of the United States, and quite possibly to take over as President?!! I don’t think so. And this kind of small-minded nit-picking is just pathetic.

Again, THEY PICKED HER!!!

  

Nov

This week’s topic was fun, though I am delayed since I spent all of yesterday talking about the election! I do love a good yack session, much to Craig’s chagrin!

Here’s my top 10 list of things I love to blah, blah, blah about:

1. my kids – the good, the bad, the ugly and the hilarious
2. politics – and NOT just in election season
3. men – how amazing/stupid/annoying/useful/useless they are (depending on my mood)
4. my research
5. books I am reading
6. sports – especially Vanderbilt & Kentucky basketball; Vanderbilt & Titans football
7. my students – kind of like with the kids, the good, the bad, the ugly & the hilarious (all anonymously, of course)
8. gadgets
9. the meaning of Life
10. bad drivers – they follow me everywhere!!!

  

Nov

How gracious Obama was compared to McCain! And did you notice how the Democrats didn’t boo McCain the way the Republicans booed Obama?!!

In the end, yes, it was a perfect storm – W, the economy, two unpopular wars (one of them downright unjust), a completely inept campaign run by the McCain camp. But he won. You can almost hear the collective sigh of relief all across the country. He won despite the South showing that they are unable to stop being a broken record with one-track (small) mind. After eight long years, finally things will change for the better.

His speech brought tears to my eyes. He said “I’ve never been more hopeful”. Neither have I. I hope so much it scares me! He will have a lot to live up to in terms of people’s expectations, plus W will no doubt find a way to make things even worse before he slinks out of office. But I think Obama is up to the task. We’ll find out soon, I just hope it’s soon enough.

Going to sleep very, very happy!

  

Nov

Wow, how I envy those people in Grant Park tonight! I am first and foremost overjoyed that Obama has won and we will depart from the disastrous policies of the last 8 years. A decisive and impressive win. Secondly, I feel enormously relieved that this damn thing is over – this election has gone on so long, it’s almost hard to remember what life was like before it!

McCain’s speech was … somewhat expected, somewhat odd. Obviously he’s disappointed, but he seemed to be trying to paint it as a “racial election”, when the data shows that it really wasn’t. Also thought it was interesting that he basically shunned Palin – very quick handshake, then he turned his back on her. Also interesting that he didn’t let her give a speech. Too bad, I was looking forward to a last time of hearing her say “maverick” a few more times!

Obama! Obama! Obama!

  

Nov

Obama is going to win this election! Okay, so maybe you didn’t hear it here first. BUT, things are definitely looking good for the Obama camp.

I have been perusing the various polling sites I’ve been haunting for what feels like forever now, plus looking over notes from our friend Tony, who has been haunting even more sites than me. And … drumroll please … I am now prepared to enter my official prediction for this race:

OBAMA 382 McCain 156

Notwithstanding McCain’s attempts in Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, Obama will take all the Kerry states from 2004 (Kerry earned 252 electoral votes), PLUS: Iowa, Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada – those 4 seem pretty safe, and put Obama in the win column with 278 right there. I agree with fivethirtyeight.com that Obama will lose narrowly in Indiana, but I do think that Missouri will pull through, adding 11 more to the total (289). Then I think Obama will pick up both Ohio (20) and Florida (27). I have a nagging fear that one of those will slip away (most likely Ohio), but I will stick with predicting that both fall in the Obama camp. That would make it 336. I also think Obama is going to squeak by in both Virgina (13) and North Carolina (15), bringing us to 364. I also disagree with the predictions that North Dakota is going to stay red, I think Obama will win another close one there as well, making 367. And THEN, my big upset prediction that puts us over 375 and into official landslide territory – I think Obama is going to pull a big upset in Georgia, adding 15 more votes for a final total of 382. I do think there’s a non-trivial chance that McCain actually ends up losing his home state of Arizona, but I’m not confident enough of that to put it in the blue column.

Other official predictions (which probably carry more weight than mine! :

fivethiryeight.com – Obama 349, McCain 189

electoral-vote.com – Obama 353, McCain 174, with the 11 from Missouri still a tossup

pollster.com – they are wussy and not giving an official prediction, but they list a solid 291 for Obama, to 142 for McCain, with 105 still considered a tossup

CNN – Obama 291, McCain 157, 90 tossup

Our friend Tony has a somewhat schizo prediction his “gut” predicts Obama 367, McCain 171 (Kerry states plus Iowa, New Mexico, Colorado, Virgina, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, Nevada, Missouri and Montana). But his head says 273 (Kerry states plus Iowa, New Mexico and Colorado).

As for the Senate … much as I would love to see us filibuster-proof, it’s looking like we’ll have 59 seats, not quite reaching the magical 60. I think the Republicans campaigning for those contested seats have been doing a good job of scaring enough people away from “one party rule” that a couple of the close races are going to tilt Republican.

Well, enough predicting I guess, we’ll see soon enough. In 24 hours it will all be over!!! And you know, even if it’s not an Obama blowout, if he gets just 270 votes, all that matters is that we don’t get 4 more disastrous years just like the 8 we’ve suffered through under W.

I know a lot of you who read this think differently than me, and I respect that. The MOST important thing tomorrow is that ALL of us, whoever we’re for, VOTE. We MUST make our voice heard. I like my guy – you’ve probably figured that out by now. By government by the people only works if we participate in the process. It’s not just a right, it’s not just a privilege, it is a profound responsibility.

  

Nov

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/11/mccain_keeps_repeating_debunke.php

I had a lot of respect for McCain coming in to this campaign, I truly did. But the guy has sold his soul to this process. It’s disgusting, and a little bit sad. The Talking Points piece really says it all – he lied to people and assumed we’d all be too stupid to figure out the truth. It’s the Republican way, I know – but I really thought better of McCain.

Will be SO GLAD when this is over … I feel confident about Obama’s chances, but still a little worried that the Republicans are right and that people really are too stupid to see truth …

  

Nov

So, I wrote an article for the local paper! I got asked to do it as a result of a workshop on gratitude that I’m doing for our synagogue next week. It was an interesting process, working with the publicist to translate my scientific prose into accessible-for-laypeople prose, but I think it turned it okay. Craig likes it, and you can be sure he’d tell me the truth if he didn’t!

This is actually an area I have started doing a lot of research in. It’s an interesting area, and one that unfortunately has developed a large cult following. But, just because a lot of people jump on the bandwagon doesn’t mean there’s not something to it! MUCH more rigorous scientific research is needed in the area – that’s where people like me come in – but so far the results really do seem to indicate a lot of benefits for pretty simple techniques to increase levels of gratitude. More on this in the future as I get my studies going…