Tiny Rural New Hampshire Vote Proves Big Night For Obama Yet To Come
It's very sad that Tim Russert won't be able to see it, but this will be a big night in American electoral history. Only a little over 40 years ago, many African-Americans had to fight in the courts of America to even vote in some states. This morning, an African-American was not only able to vote, but to vote for himself for president of the United States.And the heart change in America has been so dramatic that in two tiny rural towns in New Hampshire that twice supported George Bush, voted overwhelmingly for Senator Barack Obama for president last night just after midnight. In tiny Dixville Notch, Mr. Obama won 15 votes to just 6 for John McCain. And in tiny Hart's Location, NH, Mr. Obama bested John McCain by 17 votes to 10, with 2 votes going for Ron Paul. While this sample is indeed tiny, the microscopic 32 to 16 vote landslide is a sure sign that the values of Barack Obama have translated to residents of tiny rural towns well enough that Mr. Obama should have great appeal throughout America's larger towns, suburbs and cities this historic day, who will largely yearn for a change of direction for America.
Interestingly, in the January NH primary voting, Barack Obama won 7 of 10 Democratic votes, while John Edwards won 2, and Bill Richardson 1 vote. Hillary Clinton did not get any votes. Among Republican voters, John McCain won 4 votes, Mitt Romney won 2, and Rudy Giuliani won 1 vote, however this tiny NH town has trended Republican in every election since 1968, where Democratic Vice President Hubert Humphrey last won the vote in this tiny NH town. Interesting this tiny town added new voters who voted Democratic, a trend that should be witnessed around the nation tonight as many new young voters, Hispanic voters and African-American voters should join with the expected 122-130 million or so voters nationwide who will vote today.
The vote from the two tiny New Hampshire towns should be a pretty good sign of where this day will end, and that's with a big popular vote victory by Senator Barack Obama by 7 or more points, and an electoral college win in the 338 range or even higher. I only wish that both Tim Russert as well as my parents were alive today to witness this historic day. Sadly, Barack Obama's beloved grandmother won't be able to witness his historic win either, but she made sure to cast her absentee ballot for her favorite grandson before her death in her native Hawaii. While Barack Obama is no doubt deeply sad today, he is also very hopeful for the huge task that tens of millions of American voters will entrust him with. It's a great day in American history.
posted by Paul Hooson @ 6:19 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I am 22 and I'd like to capture my thoughts before America either elects a president who its first 26 presidents could have legally owned, or brazenly subverts the very ideals it was founded upon by manipulating numbers in a final embarrassingly overt goosestep towards corporate totalitarianism.
I am nervous. And not night-before-the-swim-test nervous or even night-you-lose-your-virginity nervous, it's a low rumbling primal panic which I can only liken to Star Wars panic. Disney panic. The edge-of-your-seat-terror that makes you wonder if Skywalker's doomed after he refuses to join Darth Vader and drops down into the abyss, if the wicked octopus or grand vizier or steroid-pumping-village-misogynist is going to wed/kill/skin the dashing prince and then evil people in dark funny costumes are going to take over the world... if it wasn't a movie of course.
And tonight it's not. It's not a movie and yet I feel like Obama might as well be wearing an American flag cape while a decaying McCain, in a high-tech robotic spider wheelchair wearing an eyepatch and stroking an evil cat, gives orders to a sexy scheming Palin who marches back and forth through their sub-terranian campaign lair in four inch thigh-highs and full-body black leather catsuit bossing around the evangelical ants with a loooooong whip... umm... is this just me?
Anyway, the point is that things feel weird folks. I have friends who have peed in waterbottles to keep from interrupting a Halo-playing marathon who got off their asses/couches to volunteer for the Obama campaign not once, but many times. Friends so cheap their body content is at least 1/3 Ramen Noodle who donated a good deal of their hard-earned cash to the campaign. People have registered to vote in record numbers, and yet, something just doesn't feel right. I think we should stop congratulating ourselves for just voting. To vote is a privilege which people have died for, and I think there's a whole lot more to be done for the country than to simply help win an election every 4 years.
Hundreds of millions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of man-hours spent on both sides by good-intentioned people who want to make a difference in an historic election, so many resources and voices and energies devoted to a single day. After tomorrow, half of that is going to have been a waste. And I can't help but wonder what could have happened if all that muscle had been put towards something else, and what will happen to its momentum after the election has come and gone. Shouldn't we be donating our money to good causes whenever we can? Helping people who don't have? Dedicating some of our time to contribute to making the country which provides for us a better place? Of course a power shift is a hugely significant step on the path to great reform, but worrying about this election has been a wakeup call for me:
Even if Obama wins, we have not "won." This isn't a movie and we can't toss every greedy lobbyist oil fatcat bigot down a reactor shaft. I think if we dedicate ourselves to the ongoing welfare of the country as much as we have to the outcome of this election, we'll have a much better shot at coming closer to the overwhelming good the liberals hope Obama will usher in, but which no mere mortal could fully realize alone.
Which brings me to the other side. I've heard a lot of people claim that if McCain wins, they're leaving. I heard the same thing about Bush's reelection, and his unelection before that, and nobody seems to be leaving. And that's fine. Because as much as I complain about certain political happenings, atrocities, etc., I really do like it here and I suspect most other people do too. We have New York and Hollywood, purple mountain's majesty and sea to shining sea, we created jazz and country music and baseball and cars and lightbulbs and computers and that movie with hundreds of animated singing Chihuahuas! I mean who among the shivering Plymouth pilgrims ever imagined ordering hundreds of animated singing chihuahuas onto a magical box from an invisible information superweb?
The point being, if things don't turn out the way I want tomorrow, I feel compelled, as a college-graduated adultish-type-person, to take a stand. And if I'm going to leave I'm going to leave. But if I'm going to stay I'm not going to sit around whining like I have for the past 8 years. It's like when I don't clean my room because it's dirty and then I blame the dirt. So in my very indecisive way, before you and your screen, I'm declaring my intention to make some kind of stand in the event of -(Ican'tevensayit)-, and encouraging you to consider making one too...
Jump the ship or grab a bucket?
-Sigh-
Wasn't everything so much easier back when the worst possible affront to your values was a PB&J sandwich cut diagonally with crust?
Anyways, I guess what I'm saying is that if we're going to stay on board, we should probably be generous with our time and resources when times are tough even more than when the hero saves the day. Because what if he doesn't? And what if he can't? If we're serious about real change, election day should only be the beginning of "Yes we can," not the end.
Best,
Hannah Friedman
www.writinghannah.blogspot.com
Hello Hannah. You're a very intelligent person who has expressed some real thinking here. I loved some of the funny images you wrote as well. You're certainly more than welcome to comment here anytime. Your thoughts are great. The very best to you.
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