For those voting in the US...

Post by **lurch** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 4:16 am

AP is reporting that McCain has called Obama and conceded...History has been created here,,In the year that Obama was born,,his parents would have been arrested in 16 states for inter-racial marriage. Yep..a corner has been turned..

Post by **Cagliostro** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 4:16 am

C'mon, McCain...give the concession speech so I can go to bed.

I'm sure it is coming soon.

Nighty-night everyone!

Congrats Obama!

And now we see if the world will end or improve. Or stay about the same.

Post by **Cameraman Jenn** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 4:19 am

I'm not gonna rest until the votes are counted. I just can't. It doesn't seem real. I keep feeling like the rug is gonna get tugged out from under me at the last minute.

YouTube · Post by **Menolly** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 4:22 am

*nodding*

I know I'll be asleep before the last vote is counted. Alaska's polls don't close until 1:00 AM EST. And although everyone is projecting California for Obama, the current numbers I am seeing reported for California shows McCain in the lead.

I'm with you Jenn.
I fear the media might almost be pulling another Dewey on us and I will wake up to the networks all eating humble pie...

Post by **JazFusion** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 4:27 am

Mmmm, not really. McCain's conceded, so the electoral votes are all a moot point now.

Post by **matrixman** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 4:59 am

It may not have been a "landslide" win for Obama, but it was still a fairly emphatic one.

Classy concession speech from Mr. McCain.

Post by **MsMary** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 5:33 am

matrixman wrote:Classy concession speech from Mr. McCain.

I agree. McCain was very generous in his remarks.

Obama's speech was the most inspiring speech from a President-elect that I have heard in 40 years.

Post by **variol son** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 6:58 am

Is it sad that as a New Zealander I spent all day watching CNN?

I agree about McCain's concession speech - very classy. He handled the booing really well.

Now we have our general election on Saturday here in NZ. Gods I wish that it was going to be even half as interesting as today.

Post by **CovenantJr** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 9:16 am

MsMary wrote:
matrixman wrote:Classy concession speech from Mr. McCain.
I agree. McCain was very generous in his remarks.

Also agreed. It was a dignified and gracious defeat, so all credit to him for that. Would have been nice if his booing supporters could have followed his lead.

I have to say, I've done nothing whatsoever to follow this whole presidential thing, and the 'victory speech' was the first time I've actually seen Obama in motion or heard his voice, but he immediately impressed me.

Post by **Cameraman Jenn** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 5:29 pm

I missed the phone call but caught McCain's speech and he was gracious and yes, his followers should have acted with even half the class that McCain showed and it would have been much more impressive. Obama's speech was moving and eloquent. People were driving by and honking and yelling Obama until the wee hours of the morning last night.

Post by **aliantha** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 5:50 pm

I guess downtown DC was pretty rowdy but my neck of the woods was calm. I kept switching back and forth between CNN.com, washingtonpost.com and wtopnews.com; finally ended up at npr.org to hear Obama's victory speech (I have *got* to get a faster computer so I can watch streaming video for more than a couple of minutes, urgh). Magickmaker was on a bus coming back from seeing a play at another college during the early part of the evening; we were texting madly back and forth throughout.

I ended up staying up (like a lunatic!) past the end of Obama's speech. <yawn>

Anyway, it's over. Two of my three people won, and I was on the fence about that third one anyhow. Virginia went blue for the first time since 1964. And in two and a half months, we'll be rid of Dubya for good. I am pleased.

Post by **Cameraman Jenn** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 6:10 pm

I heard the concession speech but I can't find any audio about the phone call McCain made to Obama.

Post by **Damelon** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 7:42 pm

I doubt you would, that I'm sure, was a cell phone call.

Post by **Cameraman Jenn** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 8:07 pm

Hrmmm... must have been the concession speech that people were talking about then.

Post by **dlbpharmd** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 11:48 pm

I had a very interesting and profound conversation with a man who was close to 90 years old. I met him because I was consulted to see his wife for palliative care. After our initial discussion about his wife's care, it became obvious to me that he was a very lonely fellow (his wife had been in a nursing home for the last several years.) He started to talk about how he met his wife over 67 years ago and what a wonderful wife she had been to him. He then talked about his service in World War II and being a huge fan of military history I asked him about his service.

He was in the (IIRC) 83rd Army Infantry Division Signal Corps, and he landed with his division in Normandy on D-Day. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for bravery (PM me for that story if you're interested; I'll save space here.)

He then talked about a small battalion in the division, made up of "coloreds" (his term; he was not being racist, read on.) He talked about how these black men were not allowed to fight with the rest of the division; instead, they did manual labor, cooking, cleaning, etc. He told me that it was said of these men that they couldn't fight because they couldn't be trusted; at the sound of the first shell, they'd run like cowards. Then he said "Of course, that wasn't true."

He looked away from me and I followed his eyes to the television in the hospital room, where some excerpt of Obama's victory speech was being replayed by one of the news networks, and he looked back at me, smiled and said "Now, look where we are today."

YouTube · Post by **Menolly** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 12:44 am

*soft smile*

Thank you for sharing that, dlb.

While we have a long way yet to go, it is amazing to think how far we have come in both 143 years and 43 years...

Post by **lurch** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 1:11 am

Interesting comments on the " booing"..Listening to excerpts from various " Talk Radio" shows from today's broadcasts..just about made me embarrassed to be in the general group called " Americans". Rush 'Bo the drug addict, was just a breath away from inciting people to hate crimes. Sour grapes from the rest of " Fair and Balanced" people definitely came off as vintage whine. Hey, whats new, they have stated pretty clearly all along their hatred for McCain because he and his followers didn't " Think" the way they were told to .

Abe Lincoln looms large in the background of Obama's win. And to think,,Lincoln's Party,, was the birth of the GOP, The Republican Party.

Post by **AjK** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 2:12 pm

Great story, dlb.

I have two comments in particular. First, I agree that his use of the term "Coloreds" was not racist by my definition. It is a nice thing to use race classification terms that are socially respectful and in general accepted by the race in question. However, true respect and love comes from the person's intent more than from their outward expression of it. Second, it is great to see a person who lived through (and was inescapably influenced by) a time of intense racial injustice and animosity but was not shaped by it. Very inspiring.

Lastly ... Purple Heart and Bronze Star? Holy cow! I have tremendous admiration for veterans of all generations (including current service people.) I know some Purple Heart & Bronze Star recipients up here and they tend to be pretty special people. I would love to hear his story if you could copy me on a PM, too. Thanks...

Andy

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For those voting in the US...