Massachusetts Democrant

The Post-Election Rant

Now the hard part begins, huh?

Whether you supported Obama or not, I hope everyone appreciates the history of what happened Tuesday night. The same people that celebrated in the streets MUST be engaged in the process, whether it is in their towns, state or wherever. Certainly the world looks at us differently now.

With today's economic summit, the Obama transition is looking more like it will be a shadow government, hitting the ground running on 1/20/09. Given the crises to deal with, that is a good thing. If you haven't seen, there is a transition website change.gov, up and running.

Before any Democrat gets too cocky, please remember that it was in this very decade that the GOP machine looked like it had rendered the Dems out of the picture. These things run in cycles, folks.

OK, except in Massachusetts where the GOP lost even more ground. Howell and Beatty didn't even win their own town.

McCain's concession was gracious and one hopes that perhaps since his presidential aspirations are gone, he will go back to being John McCain again.

And just for entertainment purposes, I hope Sarah Palin stays Sarah Palin. Not even the end of the week and the number of stories that have popped to the surface are hysterical. Mind you, as Campbell Brown on CNN so accurately refrained to the GOP people trashing her... YOU picked her! YOU told us she was capable of being a heartbeat away!

While Kerry did not do as well on the Cape as he did in the rest of the state, he did virtually the same as he did down here when running for president. In 2004, he got 55.8% on the Cape, this year, 55.3%. Obama did slightly better than Kerry did in 2004, getting 57.4% of the vote. McCain did about the same worse, compared to Bush '04, as Obama did better. Of the 24 towns on the Cape and Islands, Obama outperformed Kerry '04 in 19 of them.

LOTS of ticket splitters in Sandwich, as Jeff Perry rang up 8504 votes there, compared to 5928 for McCain (and 6111 for Obama).

I stood at the polls most of the day, holding signs, kibbitzing, enjoying the unseasonably warm air we had. My favorite and proudest moment was when my youngest daughter came by, when her mom stopped in to vote. My daughter had a handmade sign she had created asking people to vote Yes on Question 3. She ended up spending a couple hours out there, holding her sign and one of the more printed signs. She even took an Obama sign for a bit. She was pretty happy when her side of the issue prevailed. Her dad, the grizzled veteran of these things warned her, "Enjoy this, it doesn't always turn out that way for you."

No matter what side you are on, staying engaged is what should be expected of us as citizens.