Puste ut...

I have been hesitant to write because I can't quite get a handle on how I'm feeling as a result of the election. I am, of course, delighted that Obama won. I really like his public persona: I like his seriousness of purpose, his inspiring oratory, his vision for the US, his even temper, and his realism. I'm just so afraid everyone is expecting that he will single-handedly make everything better over night. I thought his acceptance speech was really good. It was tempered and realistic, and it appears that he's trying to contain the limitless expectations now placed on him, while still maintaining people's sense of hope. This opinion piece by Roger Cohen really sums up a lot of what I'm feeling.

As I have been thinking about this election over the past months I would often tear up at the thought of the symbolic value of a black person being elected and sworn in as president, but to my surprise I wasn't really emotional in response to Obama's victory and speech. My primary feeling was that of relief that he won, and concern about the future. I did feel for Jesse Jackson. The emotions on his face showed through so strongly. (And as a side note I was happy to see Sarah Palin looking visibly upset.)

One of my old friends from my high school exchange year in Stange (1983-84!) contacted me on Facebook to ask if I could send him campaign buttons from both sides. I took E with me to the Republican headquarters here in town on Monday before the election, but they were all out of McCain/Palin paraphenalia (something I took as a bad sign at the time). Eventually I just decided to order off the internet from both parties. Both had "value packs": the Republicans offered this, which I'm really looking forward to receiving:

You get 20 buttons for $10, plus an additional $9 for shipping. The Democrats send you a similar pack of 50 buttons for $10, but charge $11 for shipping. Still it's a better deal, since you get more than twice as much propaganda:

I'm not going to think about the discounts that they're all offering today, the day after the election. I have to admit I'm going to pick out a few from both sides to keep before sending them along to my high school buddy (I'm hoping for the art deco one with the palm tree, and the Republican "It's A Girl" one).

I also have to say that I was impressed by McCain's concession speech. He said what he had to say. Now I'm excited to see the transition take shape and to get this Bush joker out of the White House once and for all. In a way I'm sorry that I'm not more elated, not more connected to the collective euphoria that appears to be rampant right now in the U.S. I guess I just see the problems as so profound that I want to focus on them, rather than on the "horse race" of the election.

Last word: It appears that most of the voting went off okay. I haven't read many reports of voter fraud or failure. That to me is almost the best part of this particular election, given the horrible "irregularities" of 2000.