WAY TO GO, MARY JO!!!!

Democratic Franklin County (OH) Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy, after a second long wait, has been officially declared the winner in the hotly contested Ohio 15th Congressional District. Staying steadfast, she insisted that all provisional ballots be counted and when the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that they must be counted, came from a 500+ deficit to win by over 2300 votes!

Way to go, Mary Jo! All of your supporters and those of us that have worked for you in various campaigns in the past, wish you the best of success in your new role in US Congress.

MISSION ACTUALLY ACCOMPLISHED

With a Democratically controlled House and Senate, true change is coming. Missions will actually be accomplished. Agendas will be set and goals will me made.

These are just a few of the agenda items that I foresee being priorities:

1.) Swift removal of troops from Iraq and capture of Osama Bin-Laden and his Al-Quada allies.

2.) Repeal of the un-American "Patriot" Act.

3.) Aggressive funding of stem-cell research and uses for that research.

4.) A REAL economic plan for American growth and manufacturing.

5.) When necessary, appointments to the Supreme Court with liberal interpretation of the Constitution.

On another note, I was just watching Nightline on ABC and saw John McCain driving himself home. Funny that during the election when asked what kind of cars he drove, he said a Cadillac Seville and some kind of Chrysler. When he was leaving the hotel in Phoenix, he drove home in a Toyota 4Runner. Hmmm. Wonder how some of those working class southerners who've lost their auto factory jobs because of imports would have viewed this?

Joy Cometh in the Morning

Scripture tells us that ". . .joy cometh in the morning."

And with the breaking of a new dawn on this morn, Americans have spoken loudly, soundly, and with voices spilling joy.

The Democrats have increased our majority in the House and the Senate and recaptured the White House. The government is back in the hands of the people and not oil and special interests.

John McCain's defeat by Barack Obama was not as much a defeat of a one-time rebel and former man of honor, but a referendum on the debacle that has been George W. Bush. I can't imagine any historian looking back at his presidency and having many kind or inspiring things to say. A time of complacency and doldrums, topped with the icing that is a bad economy, an illegitimate war, and no hope, desire or inspiration. He never set an agenda to accomplish. He never spoke of change or goals. And his tragedy of a presidency stolen will ruin the party he represents.

It will be interesting once Bush is out of office to see how many Republicans admit that his 8 years tore their party apart.

President-elect Barack Obama and Vice-President-elect Joe Biden will bring integrity and inspiration back to the White House and they will have an agenda to accomplish where once their 8 years are over, we'll be able to look back with pride at all the things they were able to do for our country.

Indeed, joy does come in the morning.

OH-15 Congressional District Retraction

Another close race. . .

Looks like I may have made a premature call based on what I saw on several networks. . .but

at 1:03AM EST the Ohio Congressional District 15 is this with 96% Reporting

Steve Stivers 120,067

Mary Jo Kilroy 119,103

There will be an automatic recall if margin of victory is 1%. Two years ago, when I worked aggressively on her campaign to unseat Deborah Pryce, who retired this year, we had the exact same thing. We didn't have a result until mid-December. Mary Jo lost that one by a little over one hundred votes.

So while I would love for Mary Jo to win and know she's much more qualified than this banking industry lobbyist Stivers, my apologies to Steve Stivers for calling this too early and my best wishes to Mary Jo. And I blame those two bozos, the "Independent" (just what the hell did he think he'd ever accomplish without party backing?) and this Libertarian. They each garnered over 11,000 votes! Most of those people would have probably voted Democrat.

California's Prop 8

Looks like the California Prop 8 remains tight at this point.

I found an exit poll article from Andrew Sullivan pertaining to African-American voters and the gay marriage issue. I found it interesting that Sullivan said something along the lines of voting against the right for gay couples to marry, a right once barred for them.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/11/prop-8-exit-pol.html

President-elect Barack Obama's Election Night Speech

PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA

Chicago, IL, Grant Park

President-elect Barack Obama and his family are taking the stage in Grant Park in Chicago.

This is a proud day for America and surely will change how we're viewed in the eyes of the world.

If you think things aren't possible in this country, President-elect Obama said: "Tonight is your answer!"

He is so presidential, especially after the last eight years. He is our real-life President Josiah Bartlet.

"It's been a long time coming. . .change has come to America!"

He said he got an "extraordinarily gracious call from Senator McCain. . .we are better off because of this brave and courageous leader."

(Did I just see Josh Garrison, a friend of mine, there in Chicago?)

Hey, there's Jesse Jackson. Wonder if he wants to cut Obama's nuts off now?

Oprah.

He's giving props to his grandmother.

Thanking his campaign manager. . .the unsung hero of this campaign. Who built the best campaign in the history of America. To David Axelrod, chief strategist.

He's giving Lincoln his props now too, as an American, a freedom lover, and a fellow Illini.

He's reaching out to all Americans saying his is their president too.

(I also received a letter (bulk) from him, as a financial supporter and campaign worker, via email right before he walked on stage. I'll include it at the end.)

Jesse Jackson needs to get that evil looking "It should be me" smirk off his face. I've quickly lost a lot of respect for Jackson.

He's really got a great cadence in his speech. I wonder who his speechwriter is?

"YES WE CAN!"

Ann Nixon-Cooper. 106 years-old. Couldn't vote when she was young because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin. And today, she touched a screen and cast her vote for a black man for president.

"YES WE CAN!!"

Think Barack's gonna get some pussy tonight?

What an incredible night for America!

Here comes Vice-President-elect Joe Biden! He looks so happy. What a duo. The Dynamic Duo. Batman and Robin.

Oprah's crying. Wonder if she's gonna be Secretary of State?

Michelle Obama walked out holding Jill Biden's hand. They're all kissing now.

Jesse Jackson's managed to drum up some tears. Probably paid some guy in the crowd to punch him in the "nuts" real hard. Or cut them off! PBS announcers just said the most effective cutaway was Jesse Jackson crying.

The crowd looks so hopeful and jubilant!

America has passed the precipice pf hope and change.

Joe Biden's mother, who came over on the Mayflower, I think, with McCain's mom, just came out.

The entire families are there. I wish Beau Biden could be there, but he's serving in Iraq. I hope they can get him back to take his father's seat, which he easily won tonight.

Obama's oldest daughter is very pretty. I hadn't noticed that before. She's gorgeous now. I can only imagine what she will look like as she grows older.

Here's the email from President-elect Obama:

"Nicholas -- I'm about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first. We just made history. And I don't want you to forget how we did it. You made history every single day during this campaign -- every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it's time for change. I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign. We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about what comes next. But I want to be very clear about one thing... All of this happened because of you. Thank you, Barack "

And I'm seeing a statement from Senator Clinton on Politicalwire.com also:

"Tonight, we are celebrating an historic victory for the American people. This was a long and hard fought campaign but the result was well worth the wait. Together, under the leadership of President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and a Democratic Congress, we will chart a better course to build a new economy and rebuild our leadership in the world. And I look forward to doing all that I can to support President Obama and Vice President Biden in the difficult work that lies ahead. For too long, middle class families in this country have felt invisible, struggling alone as wages stagnate, jobs disappear, and the costs of daily life climb upward. In quiet, solitary acts of citizenship, American voters gave voice to their hopes and their values, voted for change, and refused to be invisible any longer."

Now I'm wondering who will make-up the cabinet.

You know something else, the polls were so dead-on accurate this time. And I think I was pretty damned right too. I thought Georgia might go blue but it didn't. But I did predict North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, and Virginia. Not too bad.

The West Wing- Life Imitates Art Imitates Life

The West Wing is my favorite television show of all time. Surprise, huh?

And I was noticing the parallels between it and all aspects of this election cycle long before I started reading about it in places like The New York Times, example being yesterday.

This is something I will write about later but just had to mention that fictional President Matthew Santos is directly based on Barack Obama according to the writers, apparently they too were enamored with him after his speech at the DNC in 2004.

McCain's "Goodbye to You"

Senator McCain is giving his concession speech. He said he called Senat. . .President-elect Barack Obama and conceded.

I think Obama is starting his speech too, at the same time as McCain. No, I think NBC just thought it was.

He just gave props to President-elect Obama's grandmother who died yesterday, the day before the election.

McCain looks like he's going to cry.

Wish I could feel bad for him. But I don't. He deserves his loss AND its a gain for America. He stooped where he once would have never gone. I no longer have ANY respect for him.

Did Palin really think she was going to be vice-president? C'mon. I mean, she's totally hot and I'd love to have a threeway with her and Cindy McCain, and hell, through Todd Palin in there too. But really?

I can't believe McCain's mother is still alive. I think she knew Pocahontas.

VICTORY!

ABC NEWS:

BARACK OBAMA IS THE 44th PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!!!!!!!!!!!!

Current Electoral Votes & Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH-15)

ABC News 10:51PM Eastern

OBAMA 207
MCCAIN 141

If you Add California presumptive 55

You get
262.

Let's Add Hawaii's 4 and its 266!

Four away!

And I smell Washington and Oregon (18 combined!!!!)

I don't like to be too confident because I lived through the last eight years of two stolen presidential terms!

I hope that Joy Behar, Whoopi, and Sherry Shepard all wear John McCain masks and pajamas while walking with canes on "The View" tomorrow!!!! Elizabitch is so uninformed! A regular "talking point" politician. Not unlike this idiot from Alaska that Senator McCain chose!

More polls closing soon. Democrats picking up more congressional seats!

Including my client and friend and former Ohio School Board Association fellow board member, Ohio's 715th congressional district's new representative!
CHEERS TO CONGRESSWOMAN MARY JO KILROY!!! Way to go Mary Jo!

Nicktrodamus???

While the night is still young and final results are not in, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on a prediction that I made EXACTLY FOUR YEARS TO THIS DAY AGO!!

Hmm. I guess that I am a little more in-tune than I thought.

Here is what I wrote and I'm including the link to prove its date:

"Lastly, congratulations are in order for a fine legislator and surely successful-to-be Senator-elect Barack Obama from Illinois. As strange as some may see it, I think he is the hope and future of the survival of the Democratic party and wouldn't be surprised if he someday is elected the first black president of the United States. Please, feel free to mark my words on that."

http://the-voice.blogspot.com/2004/11/democracy-in-question.html

While I'm Thinking About It. . .$$$

Before prices go back up, I wanted to weigh in on something that I said last year. A month before the November elections last year, the price of a gallon of gasoline dropped. Five weeks ago, I paid $4.09 for a gallon of gas. Yesterday I filled up my pickup truck (yes, a liberal Democrat drives a 1985 GMC S15 pickup) and paid $1.98 a gallon.

I filled up and got three gallons for my lawn mowers. Because no matter what the turnout tonight (how does President Obama sound?) I GUAR-AN-DAMN-TEE the price of gasoline will go back up within two weeks!
On another note, they just showed the Arizona Biltmore Hotel, where McCain's supporters are, and what a somber site. It looks like a comedy club headlined by Joe "Sellout" Lieberman. Or Joe-Joe Go Away!

Grant Park, however, in Chicago, where the debacle of the 1968 Democratic Convention arrests occurred, hundreds of thousands of energetic people are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Senator Barack Obama!

A Little Midwestern Story on a Gigantic American Night!

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland just told a story about a man who works in his office. Apparently, the desk that sits in the Ohio governor's office was the desk that Abraham Lincoln sat at when he signed the Emancipation Proclamation. The man called Strickland's secretary last week and asked if anyone was in the governor's office. She said no and the man asked if he could come and sit at the desk for a minute. The secretary asked why. The man said he had just completed his absentee ballot and wanted to come and sign his ballot voting for a black man at the same desk that was used to free the slaves. What a great story!

144 years later and during the first opportunity, America may actually push back the horrible yoke of our slavery past, and move past racial lines and do the logical thing and choose the best party and the best person representing that party to represent our nation around the world.

As Goes OHIO So Goes The Nation

OHIO CHOOSES OBAMA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Virginia

At 9:15PM, McCain leads Obama by 30,000. But Norfolk, Newport News, Virginia Beach, and Fairfax (which is itself 14% of total Virginia vote) haven't posted at all. Fairfax is DC area and Democrat country.

Funny enough, Lynchburg, a solid-solid Republican area, Obama is carrying it. Amazing, especially since until 15 years ago or so, the local high school used "Dixie" as the school song!

Where oh where are OHIO and FLORIDA????

9:05PM

ABC News Projections

OBAMA- 174

MCCAIN- 76

Also, it looks like 4 Democratic pickups in the Senate-

North Carolina
New Mexico
New Hampshire
Virginia

Methinks its time to tell Joe "The Benedict Arnold of the 21st Century" Lieberman to take a kosher hike and get the fuck out of the Democratic caucus. Turncoat sonofabitch!

Late news here on this- looks like Senator Mitch McConnell will keep his seat in Kentucky. Shit!

Hmm!

So it looks like I am wrong about Georgia. McCain seems to be handily winning there. But I wonder if Atlanta has come in.

Ohio currently has Obama ahead by 200,000, which is a large number for McCain to overcome.

Richard Cordray, my old friend from my younger office-seeking days, easily won Ohio Attorney General. Congratulations Mr. Attorney-General-elect.

But what surprises me most in the results tonight are that Obama is currently only behind McCain by 100,000 with 3 million counted so far in Texas!

And the Democrats have picked up New Hampshire with Jean Shaheen defeating incumbent John Sununu.

But so far the biggest upset, which I think I predicted, is Kay Hagan defeats Senator Elizabeth Dole. I once was a great fan of Liddy, but when her husband ran against President Clinton and she turned into a nasty politiker, I totally turned on her.

Its nearly 9:00PM eastern and they're about to call another whole slew of races.

My current electoral count is

Obama- 103

McCain- 54.

Ohio Polls Just Closed

The polls in Ohio, Georgia, South Carolina, and West Virginia just closed.
The first round of results came in and I hate to see them. The first less than one percent showing was McCain 53% and Obama 46%, or 411,000 to 368,000. Its been my general experience that once a candidate gets a lead, its a runaway.

A lady on CBS just said that CBS was calling Kentucky and West Virginia for McCain and the McCain camp said that its good news because it shows that he IS connecting with white working-class voters. Of course he is. Especially in those two states that bought into those false smear chain emails.

An Historic Event

In less than one hour, the historic 2008 US presidential race could easily be called. According to nearly all major and minor polls and projections, Senator Barack Obama commands a 7-11% lead over once honorable Senator John McCain. I've been writing quite a bit about the election but haven't posted them here yet. I think that at this point, at 6:46PM eastern time, before the polls anywhere close, I think that Senator McCain HAS to win Virginia, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, and North Carolina (where I think that Senator Elizabeth Dole will NOT keep her seat--a major shocker, really) in order to stay alive. If he loses ANY of those states, he can go to bed. Unless, of course, we have the Bradley effect.

But for now, I just want to say a couple of things. First, Max and I went to an Obama rally this past Sunday at the Ohio Statehouse lawn. It was a record breaking event, with over 60,000 people in attendance. I think its one of those times that Max will carry with him for a lifetime.

Second, I am incredibly proud of Senator Obama, Chairman Howard Dean, and the entire Democratic party for the substantive, issue-oriented, and CLEAN campaign they ran. Hopefully they've pushed back dirty politics, but I have my doubts.

Finally, I was prompted to donate even more money last Friday to the Obama campaign. Max and I were coming home on Thursday night and here in the country there are only McCain signs. Max made a comment that he was tired of seeing all these signs. So I had to go down to Democratic Party headquarters anyway so I picked up 20 signs. When he came home, we put up ten of the signs along with one other. The following is what I wrote as a comment when I donated another sum of money. A lesson learned the hard, ugly way.

"I am a single-father trying to raise my 9 year-old adopted biracial son as best I can, teaching him about equality and character and treating others as well as you would want treated. Yesterday I drove 25 miles to Columbus to pick up some yard signs supporting the Democratic ticket to place at the front of our home and along our long driveway. He had commented how on our entire 4 mile road he only saw McCain signs and was "tired of it." We put them out and he was so proud. It truly looked dynamic and very patriotic. He proceeded to drive to my sister's house and go "trick-or-treating" with her and her family. A couple of hours later we returned home and all of our Obama/Biden signs had been taken. However, there was one sign in support of Ohio attorney general Richard Cordray that was left in tact, an appropriate white sign left alone in our yard (we had placed 10 Obama/Biden signs and one Cordray sign). More wise than I thought and far wiser than his age, my son said so heart-breakingly serious and somber, "They took Obama's signs because he's part black like me, didn't they?" If it was a habit for me to lie to my son, this would have been an appropriate time. Instead, I had to shake my head in agreement as I truthfully saw no other explanation. I did my best to squelch the anger that rose in my throat like bad food. I know my face was red. My heart-raced and sank to my stomach at the same time. They even came back and took the last two signs in the middle of the night. I didn't want to have to explain racism and bigotry and ignorance to a 9 year-old. Unfortunately, I don't have to. These narrow-minded products of a Republican party bent on divisiveness did that for me. Together my son and I went back to Ohio Democratic headquarters, picked up 100 signs, and will continue to put them out no matter how many times they remove them. We decided to donate as much as we could today to Obama/Biden '08 as a result of this incident, rightfully paying for this unwanted "life lesson" taught to us by McCain's Republican pals."

I also wanted to say what states I think Obama should win:

Washington
Oregon
California
New Mexico
Nevada
Iowa
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Illinois
Michigan
Virginia
Pennsylvania
New York
All of New England
North Carolina
Florida (iffy)
Ohio (iffy-a lot of bigots still here)
And I am going to go out on a limb and say maybe even Georgia!
And I don't know, but I have a feeling he might win the District of Columbia! (wink-wink)

Gotta post this since the first set of polls just closed and CBS is already calling Kentucky (surprise) for McCain and Vermont for Obama.

Senator Clinton for Democratic Primary Nominee 2008

As I sit here at my desk to write this, I realize this is the most challenging narrative that I have ever written. I've put off writing this for about four months now; had I written it back when I started to think about thoughts of this, I would have revised and amended my opinions as reality began to sink in. Yet still, I write it now with heavy hand and a tinge of betrayal to my initial belief.

Senator Hillary Clinton is the overall best candidate to represent the Democratic party against presumptive Republican nominee Senator John McCain.
Four years ago I sat in my living room with my four year old son and my girlfriend at the time and watched all four nights of the televised Democratic National Convention in Boston. I was unimpressed with most of the convention, save for the speech delivered by the Reverend Al Sharpton, until I heard an Illinois state senator with a funny name speak. I'd only heard a little of him, that he was running against Jack Ryan who had dropped out because his smoking hot actress estranged wife, Jeri Ryan, had accused him of taking her to swingers clubs and swapping sexual partners, and was now assured a victory over carpetbagger Alan Keyes, who had established residency in Illinois to run for Senate. He possessed a hopeful tone and seemingly good ideas. He was fresh and youthful and obviously intelligent. I told my girlfriend then that he would be president someday and I became a follower of his career. And in a perfect world, where the playing field were level and race or gender played no part, I would still be enthusiastically supporting his candidacy.

Three months ago I still supported his candidacy. But recently, I've thought long and hard and here is my sad conclusion.

He has a lot of momentum in the Democratic primary. But what I look at is the big picture. Democrats will nominate a woman or a minority; we are the party of inclusion and always have been in the last one hundred years. And the hoopla and momentum of Republicans, conservatives rather, not supporting John McCain is fleeting; when it comes down to voting for a liberal Republican or a liberal Democrat, even Rush Limbaugh will vote for John McCain. The Republicans aren't that stupid.
But what I think is important are the minds of people when they have a more “traditional” choice in the general election. Democrats are going to vote for the Democratic candidate, no matter who that is. Most Republicans will vote for their candidate. But the so-called independent voters are what needs to be the focus. This is what I have come up with.
In the primaries, Democratic men are voting for Obama because he is a man. They'd vote for Senator Clinton if say another woman Democrat were running because they associate her with President Clinton. But let's take some of the southern Democratic men and pit a general election of Obama vs. McCain. Those same men who voted for Obama in the primary because they wouldn't or didn't want to vote for a woman, are probably not going to vote for Obama because he is black. I know, it doesn't make sense. However, I think they would vote for Senator Clinton as a Democrat against John McCain. Its hard to get rid of old habits, even ones as ignorant as prejudice. But since you vote without anyone knowing who you really voted for, you could always lie and say you voted for Obama, to avoid the appearance to friends as being a racist, but in reality would have voted for McCain.

I know this entry is not well-thought out. Actually, its very well thought. But my own conflicting personal views are being skewed by reality and its very troublesome to me. I will reserve the right to amend this to add more thought at a future date. But with us Ohioans, and the Texans, Vermonters, and Rhode Islanders voting tomorrow, I wanted to get this out.

I admire and respect all three major candidates. I think Senator McCain is a good man, a fair and decent legislator, and a moderate with whom Democrats on the Hill could work. That is what scares me most. He's so likable that people will feel guilty to vote against him. Senator Obama is a bright spot in an otherwise dark world of American politics. His vigor and charisma are admirable qualities, but I am not certain they are a sign of leadership.

Senator Clinton has the experience that is backed with results. She has articulation that we have not seen in the White House since her husband left office. She has ideas and plans to implement those ideas. And probably most importantly, she'll go to bed every night (well, I know, maybe not EVERY night) with a man who has been there and can offer an unlimited wealth of knowledge and experience.

If Democrats wish to see a Democrat back in the White House, a Democrat who will end a wrong and messy war, a Democrat who will put the economy back on the right track, and a Democrat who will restore America as the number one nation in the eyes of the world, then we have no choice but to vote for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as our nominee, and support her all the way to the White House.