Jottings on the Election Results

I love this quote this morning in the Times from a woman in Levittown, NJ on her fellow voters: “They had to ask themselves if they wanted a really smart young black guy, or a stodgy old white guy from the same crowd who put us in this hole."

In thinking back on the election and the longer arc of what happened, Obama grew and broadened during the campaign while McCain shrunk and narrowed.

Obama got better at debating and by the time of his final debate performances, the public became "comfortable" with him and more confidant that "yes he can". He continued to draw huge crowds and kept building a vast ground organization. He never had to change his team of advisers and organizers; they just kept getting more experienced and confident. He kept the dialog at a higher level. He ran some negative ads, but only to the issues, not to the opponents personally. He avoided responding angrily and emotionally to unfair and distorted attacks. He gained the endorsements of Powell and other moderate Republicans. Always better and broader as the too long campaign ground on. And, he was always true to his core message best captured in his great line, "We are the ones we are waiting for."

McCain retreated further and further to the fear mongering and racially charged attack mode of the far right. In fact, by the last day, he blanketed the cable channels with a Reverend Wright ad, too late to have to account for it given that he said he wouldn't do it. The Palin choice was designed to appeal primarily to the narrow Republican base, which by the end, is all who supported her sorry persona. His behavior during the debates was distinctly non-presidential with the eye-rolling, lack of eye contact, and seething, hot responses with the phony grimacing smile. He turned on the buddies he had cultivated in the press and assumed the classical Republican position of attacking the "liberal" press, which is demonstrably untrue these days. He in the end seemed mostly a small, angry, old man, certainly not the bearer of a positive, forward-leaning, inclusive vision for the future. Good riddance.