Some follow-ups now that the 2008 elections have passed. - Mending fences
- Palin Had to be Chosen
- Thanks to the Careful Reader
- A Question of Race
- Will Sarah Palin's Daughter Still Get Married?
- OJ Simpson, Rodney King and Morgan Freeman???
- A Nod to Odd Named Candidates
- What now, White and Black America?
- Lastly, two personal notes
Enjoy!
Mending FencesNow that the elections are over and the numbers are in, let me share that I don't consider 53/47 a decisive victory. A decisive victory to me is anything over 70/30. Yes, in some states the numbers were over 70/30 and that wasn't the case nationwide.
Too much of a researcher, me.
I have been asked more than once since my post yesterday and the election results came in last night what I thought President-elect Obama's first move should be. My immediate response was "He should offer Senator McCain a cabinet level position." Do I think it will happen? No.
But I do think President-elect Obama could make no more eloquent and meaningful a gesture to unite this country than offering Senator McCain some very high level, very public facing position in his administration.
That said, I also believe that Senator McCain should thoughtfully decline such an offer. I'm choosing my words carefully. He shouldn't refuse it, he should decline it. He should decline President-elect Obama's offer by saying that he feels his best role is to be a senior Republican in the Senate, doing what he can to lead a loyal opposition away from partisan politics and towards good governance.
And Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy all agree with me.
I've heard elsewhere and agree with the belief that the only Republican who could have made a serious run for the White House in this election cycle was Senator McCain. This is based on his being a) already recognized in the public consciousness and b) his "Maverick" status. I don't normally follow politics (unless I'm paid to) and from what little I know (very little, in fact) no other Republican fit those two parts together as well.
That said, he couldn't choose a running mate that was well known or recognized as having ties to the current Bush administration. Governor Palin -- regardless of how many people claim she hurt his chances -- fit the bill. Just as Nixon had to go to China, McCain had to choose Palin.
A reader called me yesterday after reading T'was the day before elections (Slew of emails #6, Adam Zand's Big Shoe, Population Dynamics, ..., specifically about this graphic.
They said they did the math based on the numbers I was basing things on in the Clarifying section of that post. That math indicated the Obama-Biden ticket would win by a minimum 2.5+%.
Okay. I'll accept that. Also that Senator McCain did better with the 65+ year olds. Yeah, got that, too. I have no idea if he carried the 35-44 year olds. I'm happy to have someone comment with that information.
I neither deny nor dispute the historicity of this election. Often I've been asked if I thought race was an issue and shared in my Big Shoe interview (left) and in How OJ Simpson Won Barack Obama the 2008 Presidential Election that the question of whether race is an issue is over. More exactingly, the issue of race as it applies to white-black relations is coming to a rapid close.
There is more than one racial group in the United States and many thanks to the people who contacted me about that.
I will offer without proof (email, call or comment if you'd like me to go into details) that Native Americans won't be US Presidents until more people of Asian descent are voting in US Presidential elections. Again without proof and at the risk of raising hackles, Europeans brought Africans to North America, true, and Europeans destroyed the Native American cultures that were already present.
This represents a much deeper racial history than most people appreciate or understand, and the difference between transport and destruction -- both unwanted -- is a very great divide. Racism still exists in many ways and forms, most of America is still unaware of it.
Will Sarah Palin's Daughter Still Get Married?
This fascinating question came in from another frequent reader, this one female. It will be as telling a statement as the US$150k NeimanMarcus spending spree should this marriage opportunity quietly fade away as the months go on.
OJ Simpson, Rodney King and Morgan Freeman???
Another female reader called me regarding my How OJ Simpson Won Barack Obama the 2008 Presidential Election and asked if I thought Morgan Freeman's portrayal as a calming, reserved and thoughtful US President in Deep Impact played a role in burying the race issue in America.
Good thought, that. I don't know the answer and my guess is that it certainly didn't hurt Senator Obama's campaign and yes, if anything, it helped.
I was once asked if I thought Mario Cuomo had a chance at becoming US President. This was back in 1992 and I think I was asked because of my Italian ancestry.
I offered at the time that no, he wouldn't. "How come?" Because his name is Mario Cuomo, I explained and America wasn't ready for a President with so ethnic a name. Senators, Congressians, Governors, Supreme Court Justices sure, but not a President.
Thank you, Senator Obama, for breaking another quiet prejudice in the American mind.
What now, White and Black America?
For reasons of group, tribal, etc., identity, different peoples and cultures project themselves to other groups, tribes, etc., who are not of their own in certain ways and via certain methods. This most often takes the form in modern society by the local (meaning "within an individual's physical frame of reference") versions of this phenomenon involve food, dress, music, speech and so on. The non-local versions usually involve methods that transmit/transfer food, dress, music, speech and so on.
For example, Nashua, NH, has some ethnic restaurants. These are "local" because I can physically interact with them. My watching a movie in which someone enters an ethnic restaurant is "non-local".
The United States now has a President-elect who self-identifies as an "African-American", meaning he's not white, meaning there is now a new pressure on both White and Black America regarding their respective projections of their group, tribal, etc., identities into the world and definitely towards each other.
President-elect Obama was told by everyone (so the story goes) that he was attempting the impossible. He persevered and succeeded.
I can't tell you how many people I've encountered in NextStage's and my personal eight year journey, all (so the story goes) of whom told me Evolution Technology was impossible, the math was impossible, what I was doing was impossible (remind me to tell you about the MBA class that suggested (in writing) that I seek professional help, get medication and enter an asylum), ...
You and me, Barack, all the way.
Finally, my very deep thanks to Bill, Bruce, Calum, Charles, Karen, Ruth, Susan, Todd, Tom and all the other NextStagers who helped me with this research, did some on my behalf and otherwise contributed their time and wisdom to this project.
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