. . . and gets it right:
Although polls going into the final weeks of October showed Sen. Obama in the lead, it remained unclear whether the failing economy, dilapidated housing market, crumbling national infrastructure, health care crisis, energy crisis, and five-year-long disastrous war in Iraq had made the nation crappy enough to rise above 300 years of racial prejudice and make lasting change.
“Today the American people have made their voices heard, and they have said, ‘Things are finally as terrible as we’re willing to tolerate,” said Obama . . .
According to a CNN exit poll, 42 percent of voters said that the nation’s financial woes had finally become frightening enough to eclipse such concerns as gay marriage, while 30 percent said that the relentless body count in Iraq was at last harrowing enough to outweigh long ideological debates over abortion. In addition, 28 percent of voters were reportedly too busy paying off medical bills, desperately trying not to lose their homes, or watching their futures disappear to dismiss Obama any longer. . . .
“Obama had the foresight to run for president at a time when being an African-American was not as important to Americans as, say, the ability to clothe and feed their children,” Pung continued.
Which raises a question: how crappy will things have to get in Israel before we see an Arab PM?
buried in the statistics I mulled over was this one that made me happy: 77 percent of first time voters voted for Obama.
oops, almost forgot to include this link. Nobody can watch this video and not smile. It has nothing to do with Obama but much to do with the common humanity we share.
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080722.html
What William said.