Ruben Bolling has this wonderful take on Bill O’Reilly’s fear that “traditional” American is dying.
Politics
The benefits of Massachusetts wind farms
I’m hoping that with the election over we can get back to talking about energy independence in a way that includes alternate kinds of energy. This chart which as in the Boston Globe the other day caught my eye. As you can see, they do create jobs and tax revenue for the local government.
Are the Obamas the real life Huxtables?
The Cosby show Huxtable family was never the “typical” African American family or really a typical American. For one thing, they lived in a New York brownstone had a doctor father and lawyer mother (who were happily married to each other), and they had, with five kids, a larger family than most. The Cosby Show which premiered in 1984 was revolutionary in depicting through a sit-com format, a happy and successful black family. Yes, it told America, black people are successful and have the same goals and the same problems as other families. Whether we were like a sit-com family or not, all of us of a certain age secretly wanted to be like the Nelsons or grow up like the Beaver. Then we had the Huxtables.
I ran across this story in the Guardian this morning wondering if the Obama family were not somehow the real life Huxtables.
Americans have always been fascinated by the lives of first families, much as Brits are with the royal family. The people who live in the White House however, unlike the occupants of Buckingham Palace, are meant to reflect ordinary lives and hopes and dreams. It rarely happens, of course. Nobody would say the Kennedys, the Reagans, the Clintons and the Bushes were normal folks. But many Americans do recognise themselves in the Obamas.
“From the kids with braces and basketball games to the Portuguese water dog and the date nights, the Obamas are right out of central casting as an upper-middle class American family with, of course, the very big exception that they live in the White House,” says Isabel Wilkerson, the first black woman to win a Pulitzer prize for journalism and the author of The Warmth of Other Suns, a book that documents the migration of black Americans across their own country.
“I think they’ve exposed the country and the world to a slice of African-American family life that is larger than many people realise – college-educated people with high ideals for their children. They’re like The Cosby Show come to life. They have endured an intense amount of attention and scrutiny and come out about as normal and quintessentially American as anyone might hope to see.”
I think the Obamas have worked hard to make life in the White House as normal as possible.
…Michelle Obama is the “mom-in-chief” but she expects the president to do his share.
When the children were younger, she has said she would rise early to go to the gym and her husband would feed and dress the girls. The family sits down to dinner at 6.30 most days when he is in Washington, and on Sunday afternoons the president has a standing date to play basketball with his daughters. They try to make their White House quarters as much like a normal home as possible. The girls have to clean their rooms and make their beds, and Malia does her own laundry. There is no TV until homework is finished.
With four more years in the White House, the Obamas are aware that their daughters will spend their formative teenage years in the spotlight. The press corps in Washington has agreed not to routinely write about the girls unless they are with their parents at formal events. Both girls are regularly spotted around town with their friends and they have been allowed rite-of-passage experiences such as attending summer camp – though with secret service agents in tow.
I know the President has joked about the moment his daughters start to date saying he won’t be too worried because they have men with guns with them.
“I think they are the first kids in the White House growing up where everybody’s got a cell phone and everybody’s watching,” Michelle Obama told the women’s website iVillage last month. She has warned her daughters not to be “bratty”. “You may be having a moment but somebody could use that moment and try to define you for ever,” she told them.
So far, it seems the girls are making their parents proud. There was a touching moment on stage last week when 11-year-old Sasha nudged her father several times as he celebrated his win. “Turn around, Daddy!” she said, urging him not to forget the people on the other side of the stage. He duly heeded her advice and the crowd roared its approval.
We Americans should be proud that we have a real family in the White House. Whether the Obamas are the Huxtables or not, the girls are fun to watch grow up.
The Obama family on November 7. Photography by Jason Reed/REUTERS
What do you mean the election is over?!
It is mostly over. There are some Congressional races (most leaning Democratic right now) and Florida, but it is pretty much over. The question to ask now is are you suffering from Post-Election Stress? Brian McFadden has helpfully given us a list of the symptoms to watch out for.
To this I would add: Still compulsively checking Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight.
If you are a sufferer, you are not alone. I’m planning on taking a long walk this weekend and resisting the compulsion I have right now to go turn on UP with Chris Hayes. (sorry Chris)
The Asian-American vote
It is easy to find stories about the Latino and African American vote which was critical to Democratic success but the Asian American vote was also something the Republican Party may want to consider.
Beyond the election of Japanese American Mazie Hirono (a little ethnic pride here), the first Asian American woman Senator, the Asian American (the Obama campaign called us AAPI for Asian American Pacific Islanders) went overwhelming for the President.
While Asians only constituted 2 percent of the national electorate, in some states they made up a considerably higher proportion. In California, for example, they represented 11 percent of the vote.
“With 73 percent of AAPIs [Asian-American and Pacific Islanders] voting for Obama, we are clearly an undeniable and unshakable political power,” said California Democratic Rep. Mike Honda, chairman emeritus of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, in an email. “As the fastest growing ethnic community in the country, we are the margin of victory.”
President Obama carried 73 percent of the Asian vote on Tuesday, continuing a two-decade-long march of Asian-Americans toward the Democratic Party in presidential politics.
Obama improved his performance among Asian-Americans more than among any other ethnic group between 2008 and 2012, according to exit polling. His support in the community jumped 11 percentage points, from 62 percent in 2008.
The 73 percent support that Obama garnered was the highest since national exit polls began tallying the Asian vote, and it marked the fifth straight presidential election in which the Democratic nominee attracted a greater share of the Asian-American vote.
President Clinton won only 31 percent of the Asian-American vote in 1992. His vice president, Al Gore, was the first Democrat to capture a majority of the community, with 54 percent support when Gore ran for president in 2000.
The Boston Globe had a longer story with some very interesting observations.
State Representative Tackey Chan, a Quincy Democrat, said Obama’s personal biography also appeals to many Asian-American voters.
“He knows what it’s like to have an immigrant parent, to struggle a little,” Chan said. “He spent some time in Indonesia growing up. I think they feel like he’s more likable and more sensitive to issues affecting Asian-Americans.”
In Massachusetts the Asian American vote was helped by Elizabeth Warren’s campaign outreach.
Nam Pham, executive director of the Vietnamese American Initiative for Development in Dorchester, said simple outreach can win votes.
“In our culture, we respect people who show us respect,” Pham said. “If you show people that you care, they will listen.”
Pham’s group helped to register about 300 Vietnamese-Americans for the election on a nonpartisan basis, but Pham said most of them probably voted for Democrats.
“In the Senate race, the [Elizabeth] Warren campaign did an excellent job of visiting and telling people here who they are and why they should vote for her,” Pham said. “[Scott] Brown was almost invisible in the Asian community.”
Scott Brown’s implication that Elizabeth Warren’s success was because she “checked the box” was also offensive.
Brown implied that Warren had advanced in her career as a law professor because she at one point claimed to have Native American ancestry. His suggestion was that she had taken undeserved advantage of affirmative action programs.
The strategy has been blamed for alienating women voters, by insinuating that Warren hadn’t earned her career accomplishments. Chan said the tactic also offended minorities, by diminishing theirs.
“Are you saying minorities only get ahead because they’re minorities?” he said. “It’s saying if you’re a minority, you automatically get a step up.”
But the two big reasons nationally appear to be health care and a shared immigrant experience. As Lisa Hasegawa (no relation, but I have met her) pointed out
The final result aligned closely with a survey taken on the eve of Election Day by the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, which also showed 60 percent support for government-guaranteed access to health insurance, much higher than the overall electorate.
“A lot of Asian-Americans come from places with subsidized health care, where that’s an expectation, and it’s an important issue for them,” said Lisa Hasegawa, the coalition’s executive director.
If you want to know why this all matters nationally, think Virginia. Specifically, think Northern Virginia where the Asian American population is only growing. Think margin of victory in a divided country.
What do Lincoln and Obama have in common?
We all know that both are from Illinois, but did you know that both were elected on November 6?
Abraham Lincoln was first elected on November 6, 1860. Barack Obama was elected to his second term yesterday, November 6, 1012.
When my husband mentioned this yesterday, I thought this was another good omen and it, like the 7/Eleven, Nickelodeon, and Scholastic polls was correct.
From This Day in History
Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th president of the United States over a deeply divided Democratic Party, becoming the first Republican to win the presidency. Lincoln received only 40 percent of the popular vote but handily defeated the three other candidates: Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge, Constitutional Union candidate John Bell, and Northern Democrat Stephen Douglas, a U.S. senator for Illinois.
A huge win
The re-election of Barack Obama last night was a huge win in many ways. I went to bed after the confetti dropped in Chicago and woke up too early with my head still spinning. I figure I can sleep later. So who won besides the President? Here are a few of my thoughts.
Last night was a win for everyone who has been supporting a tax increase for the wealthiest Americans. Politico summarizes the exit polling this way
Six in 10 voters nationwide say they think taxes should be increased, a welcome statistic for President Barack Obama and a sign that the president’s attacks on Mitt Romney’s proposed tax cuts for the wealthy may have been effective.
Almost half of voters said taxes should be boosted on Americans making more than $250,000 per year, and one in seven voters said taxes should be increased on all Americans.
I think the Democratic wins in the Senate as well as the President’s re-election reflect this. It is a loss for Grover Nordquist perhaps Republicans in Congress can now forget that silly pledge and negotiate all the fiscal and budget issues hanging over us.
This was a big win for the ground game over big money. The Adelsons, Roves and Kochs of the world can’t buy an election. The Senate wins by Tim Kaine and Sherrod Brown showed that if you turn out voters, all the negative spending on advertising can’t buy the election. I watched and worked the ground game here in Massachusetts using the same database that was used by Democrats all over the country. All the information added this election should only help Democrats in the future. This email sent last night under the President’s name tells the story
I’m about to go speak to the crowd here in Chicago, but I wanted to thank you first.
I want you to know that this wasn’t fate, and it wasn’t an accident. You made this happen.
You organized yourselves block by block. You took ownership of this campaign five and ten dollars at a time. And when it wasn’t easy, you pressed forward.
I will spend the rest of my presidency honoring your support, and doing what I can to finish what we started.
But I want you to take real pride, as I do, in how we got the chance in the first place.
Today is the clearest proof yet that, against the odds, ordinary Americans can overcome powerful interests.
There’s a lot more work to do.
But for right now: Thank you.
The election was a huge win for people of color, for marriage equality (Maine and Maryland, and probably Minnesota) and for an American that is changing. From the Washington Post
The electorate was less white (from 74 percent in 2008 to 72 percent this year), more Latino (9 percent to 10 percent), just as African-American (13 percent to 13 percent), more female (53 percent to 54 percent), more low-income (38 percent making less than $50,000 in 2008 to 41 percent Tuesday) and — perhaps most remarkably, younger (18 percent to 19 percent).
It all suggests that Obama’s laser-like focus on turning out each of his key constituencies — minorities, women and young people — paid dividends.
And in many cases, these groups backed him as much or more as in 2008.
Women gave Obama 55 percent of the vote and low-income voters gave him 60 percent, about the same as four years ago.
Latinos gave Obama 67 percent of their vote four years ago, and 71 percent on Tuesday.
I think the racially tinged and anti-immigrant Republican campaign made people angry and they were angry enough to come out to vote. Until the Republican party learns to deal with the changing demographics in this country, they will become more and more powerless.
And my final thought for right now – this was a huge win for Nate Silver. For those of us who put our trust in him, this was vindication. His final map looks suspiciously like the final map but if Florida continues today as it is trending, I think he underestimated the Electoral College vote. Nate predicted 313 electoral votes but with Florida it will be 332.
[Photograph: Doug Mills/The New York Times]
Report from my precinct
People are still in line to vote here in the City of Boston, but my Roxbury precinct voted in record numbers. 617 ballots out of about 900 or so registered voter. Obama/Biden got 583 to Romney/Ryan’s 20. Elizabeth Warren got 576 votes to Scott Brown’s 35.
No winners called yet in Massachusetts, but in my neighborhood we have winners. It was worth the work.
More reports to come.
Early, early signs on election day
It is very early on election day and I leave to get some volunteers started at our polling place. It is going to be a long day. But there are some signs:
Dixville Notch has voted: It is a tie: 5 to 5. In 2008 they voted for Obama 15 to 6. The population is down, but this is still New Hampshire and which is very close. Read this any way you want to.
Electoral College – Obama 314.6 Romney 223.4
Change of winning – Obama 91.6 Romney 8.4
Popular vote – Obama 50.9 Romney 48.3
Mother Jones managed to catch up with 5 of the 11 people who asked questions at the town hall debate. (Remember they are in the Hurricane Sandy zone.)
At the second presidential debate, a town hall forum held at Hofstra University, 11 undecided voters from Long Island asked President Obama and Mitt Romney questions on a range of issues, including unemployment, gun control, and equal pay for women. Mother Jones caught up with five of them, all of whom are still dealing with the aftermath of Sandy, and asked if they finally have decided. Results? Four of the five say they’re voting for Obama.
The one who isn’t for Obama is “Leaning Romney”. The reasons are interesting.
What does this all mean? We will know late tonight. In the meanwhile I’ll leave the last word to Nate Silver
But Mr. Romney’s chances of winning the Electoral College have slipped, and are now only about 8 percent according to the forecast model — down from about 30 percent 10 days ago.
The most notable recent case of a candidate substantially beating his polls on Election Day came in 1980, when national surveys had Ronald Reagan only two or three points ahead of Jimmy Carter, and he won in a landslide instead. That year is not comparable to this one in many respects: the economy is much better now, there is not a major third-party candidate in the race, and Mr. Obama’s approval ratings are about 50 percent rather than 35 percent for Mr. Carter. And in 1980, Mr. Reagan had late momentum following the presidential debate that year, whereas this year the momentum seems to favor Mr. Obama.
All of this leaves Mr. Romney drawing to an inside straight. I hope you’ll excuse the cliche, but it’s appropriate here: in poker, making an inside straight requires you to catch one of 4 cards out of 48 remaining in the deck, the chances of which are about 8 percent. Those are now about Mr. Romney’s chances of winning the Electoral College, according to the FiveThirtyEight forecast
As any poker player knows, those 8 percent chances do come up once in a while. If it happens this year, then a lot of polling firms will have to re-examine their assumptions — and we will have to re-examine ours about how trustworthy the polls are. But the odds are that Mr. Obama will win another term.
Voters wait in lines for absentee ballots in Doral, Fla. on Sunday. (AP)
Why voting for Obama is important in blue states
If you are like me and live in a state that has already an insurmountable lead for President Obama’s re-election you might be tempted to vote third party, but it is still important for you to vote for Obama. Why? The popular vote total. The pundits and headlines will continue to say the race is tied. Forget the electoral college which in most estimates have Obama now over the 279 mark with some headed to 300. No it is the popular vote where there is potential trouble.
Willard Mitt is too close for comfort. This morning Nate Silver puts it at 50.6 to 48.3 or a 2.3% margin for the President. The margin of error is 2.1. Much of the Romney vote comes from Red States and that is what is making it look close. Unless Obama wins both the popular vote and the electoral college, the Republicans can complain about the results. You know they will. They are already beginning to blame Hurricane Sandy for the loss.
Of course, we won’t know until the votes are counted how things will turn out. Polls can be wrong and folks like Nate depend on aggregating polls, but as an Obama supporter, I do feel hopeful.
Also it looks as if Elizabeth Warren will beat Senator Scott Brown. Let’s hope that’s the last time I have to call him that! And better yet, it is beginning to look like my old friend, Tim Kaine, will win in Virginia.
This shows President Clinton, President Obama and Tim Kaine. This is an important sign: The Democratic Senate candidate is not running from the President. In a purple state.
So if you live in a blue state, don’t be thinking your vote for Obama doesn’t matter because it does.
FortLeft 