The Morning After

[emmagrant01]

First, thanks to all the supportive folks who commented on my play-by-play last night, and who invited me to come chat with them. It was a good way to cope with the stress of the evening.

The Good News from where I Live:
♥ Democratic sheriff elected -- the first African-American sheriff in our county's history!
♥ Commuter light rail approved, finally. Can't wait to start taking the train to work!
♥ The Democratic candidate for state rep for my district won, ousting the asshatty Rep. incumbent. (I campaigned for this guy personally, so I'm thrilled!) He won by 500 votes. Yes, only 500 votes. Amazing, huh?
♥ The county I live in, and apparently the larger area, went to Kerry, depsite the fact that I live in a very red state. Mwahahaha!
♥ Every local race I voted in that had a Democratic candidate in it was won by the Democrat. This makes me want to go hug my town.


The Bad News, pretty much everywhere:

× Looks like Bush is going to win re-election. I have to say I expected it. And a small part of me thinks it's for the best: I don't think anyone could dig this country out of this hole Bush has got us in. I'd almost rather see him flounder and make things worse for four more years than to see the Democrats try and fail to fix the shitty mess he's created. I don't think anyone could fix this mess easily, and maybe it's better in the long run if the Republicans get the blame. If Kerry had failed, it would have set the Democrats back even further.
ETA: Kerry has conceded. So yeah, over. :-(
× Anti-gay "defining marriage" proposals passed everywhere they were up. I don't know what to say about this, honestly. I'm physically sick to my stomach to think that so many people in my country would deny marriage and all the wonderful things it brings to a single minority group. It refuels my conviction to keeping fighting the fight, though. When I'm sitting in a nursing home in 60 years, I hope I can look back on these days as the dark ones before my country truly embraced everyone.
× I fear that Bush will think he has a mandate and will continue as if half the country didn't hate him. The man has shown time and again that he doesn't listen, doesn't learn from his mistakes (nor even admit that he made them), and sees the world through his own narrow (conservative Christian) point of view. Why should that change? After all, it looks like he actually won legitimately this time! Fucker.
× DeLay's redistricting in central Texas worked, despite the sacrifice and hard work of the Democrats in the Texas legislature. The only truly Democratic area in Texas was carved into three gerrymandered districts, stretching just far enough away from my Democratic city to ensure a Republican majority in each. And those districts now have Republican representatives, just like DeLay wanted. At least Morrison gave DeLay a run for his money.
× The House and Senate are slightly more Republican than they were before. This depresses me in a way I can't begin to describe. I have seen the US take a huge step to the right during my short lifetime, and I'm genuinely afraid for the future.


But I'm not going to leave, like I'm hearing many people jokingly proclaim. Hell, I probably won't even leave Texas, because then the other side will have won. There's nothing the conservatives in my state would like better than for ivory tower liberals like me to get back to northern California where we belong. Fuck 'em.

I'm here. I'm a Texan. And I'm a liberal Democrat. Deal with it.

Okay, I feel a little better. But I want more GOOD news, Democrats, Libertarians, Independents, and Greens out there! Comment here and tell me what good things happened in your local area. Restore my faith in my fellow Americans. Please.

ETA: I'm already thinking ahead:

Comments

[thalia]

Obama!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Yes!!! Yay for Obama!

[mizbean.livejournal.com]

We elected Barak Obama and Illinois went overwhelmingly to Kerry. There was a clear a sense of mourning on the train-ride in this morning. I think everyone here is stunned.

Also, Melissa Been defeated long-time Republican Rep. Philip Crane, his constituents finally kicking his drunken ass to the curb.

[helens78]

* WA went for Kerry, to no one's shock.
* WA also retained its incumbent Senate Democrat and all six of its incumbent House Democrats. The rest of the seats are pretty much too close to call, except for one (maybe two) incumbent Republicans. (Which means WA didn't cause Congress to lose ground, at least.)

Unfortunately, only two of the initiatives I was voting for went the way I wanted them to go. >_< So not much good news other than that.

[thalia]

Also, Melissa Been defeated long-time Republican Rep. Philip Crane, his constituents finally kicking his drunken ass to the curb.

Ooh, wasn't that great? As depressed as I was about the national numbers, I was cheering every time the Bean/Crane thing popped up. Maybe Hyde will be next.... </wishful thinking>

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Oh, to live in a blue state! It is good to hear about Democrats winning local elections.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Was there a "marriage" initiative on the ballot in WA?

[helens78]

Nope, thankfully. *beats head on desk* And it's a good thing, too, because WA voters probably would have passed it. *cries*

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Colorado replaced a retiring Republican senator with a Democrat!

And it looks as though both the state house and senate will be Dem majority for the first time in 30 years...final numbers aren't in yet.

So why the hell did Bush take our state???

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I think that's the one thing that's breaking my heart about this election. Everything else I can handle, but this overwhelming show of homophobia... *sobs*

[mizbean.livejournal.com]

One could only hope.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Wow! Good for Colorado! So I take it that initiative to award electoral college votes proportionally didn't pass?

[jedirita.livejournal.com]

On the gay marriage thing, a couple of weeks ago I heard Mitchell Kattine speak, the lawyer who argued the case before the Supreme Court that struck down the sodomy laws. He said that the Court very deliberately and intentionally wrote their decision so that it would have broad implications. They intended for it to be precedent setting for issues of gay rights, and Kattine said that these anti-gay marriage amendments will in all likelihood be struck down by the supreme court. They've already struck down at least one (I think it was in Colorado, and it may have actually been before the sodomy law ruling.)

The way I look at it is, these amendments are the last gasp of homophobia. It's like that Southern governor declaring, "Segregation now, segregation forever." And look how well that worked out for him. I'm not saying that everything is going to be roses in a few years, and certainly there are still lots of homophobes out there, but I do see it as an ironic sign that progress is being made.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

The way I look at it is, these amendments are the last gasp of homophobia. It's like that Southern governor declaring, "Segregation now, segregation forever." And look how well that worked out for him.

*hugs* Thank you, Rita! I really needed to hear that!

[marryoh.livejournal.com]

It's sad because Minnesota didn't have too many democratic wins, if I remember right. All of the incumbents were reelected. Four Republicans and four Democrats. But we did go for Kerry. So at least we have that... :/

[littleroo27.livejournal.com]

My biggest concern is for Roe vs. Wade. Bush will be placing 2 or 3 supreme court justices in the next 4 years and he could actually pull it off... That goes way beyond fucking with the nation's economy.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that lost by a 2 to 1 margin. The more progressive "Democratic" issues also passed - we raised our taxes for mass transit, on cigarettes, for schools, for renewable energy.

God, I'm so tired of being disgusted by the presidential elections. For me it started with Reagan. (My first vote ever was for Carter, and he turned out to be a disappointment).

What's worse (sorry) is now we should expect a raft of Supreme Court retirements, beginning of course with Rehnquist.

[lauramcewan.livejournal.com]

but we bloody passed it in Oregon. Argh!!!!

[lauramcewan.livejournal.com]

ohhh...thank you. That sounds good. Lets hope it works out this way - if judges aren't replaced *wrongly* as they retire, you know?

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

At least! :-)

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

That is a big fear of mine too.

Oh, and love your icon! I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said, "The only Bush I trust is my own." *grins*

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Okay, so that's something. At least we'll have some promising stem cell research in hell. :-P

[batagur.livejournal.com]

Yay Obama!!!

[marksykins.livejournal.com]

Mmm, good news... okay! In New Jersey, despite our governor scandal, and despite the fact that they'd been calling our state as too close to call for the week before the election, we were an easy win for Kerry, with a 53/46 ticket. I live in a Blue State, so huzzah for that.

In my county, I voted straight Dem ticket and every last person I voted for won in my area. New Jersey had no loss or gain in the House of Reps, which isn't necessarily a good thing, but nor is it bad. Every person who won was incumbant, retaining 7 Democratic seats, and 6 Republican ones. I believe Frank Pallone will continue doing good work for District 6. Go Jersey.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Yes, go Jersey!