The Deal

My husband doesn't like flying the American flag. He says it's a symbol of imperialism. But I'm a patriot, and for me, flying the flag is a symbol of my pride in this country and the principles upon which it was founded, in spite of the fact that they've sometimes been shabbily implemented or ignored. I believe in them. When I lived in Maryland, I flew the flag on national holidays, but when I moved to Virginia, since my husband's feelings were stronger than mine, I put the flag away. So, during the election, I made a deal with him. If Barack won the election, we'd fly the flag because it would represent the realization of something truly great in America. A potential fulfilled. So, here I am with our flag. This is one of the best deals I've made in a long time.

They elected Barack Obama and all I got was this crappy T-shirt

Seriously, though. How cute is this? Via Getty Images.

Richmond, Virginia last night

Shortly after 11pm, after CNN had called the election and announced that Virginia was going for Barack, I got phone calls from my two sons. The first called from Clemson, South Carolina to let me know that "we'd won." We talked a bit about South Carolina and how eventually, they'd get there too.

My other son called from Richmond, where he's a student at Virginia Commonwealth University, and he told me that the students there were flooding the streets, singing, yelling, beeping car horns, setting off fireworks, etc. A half hour later he called me to let me know that he was in the middle of an impromptu parade, that they'd shut down six lanes of traffic on Broad Street, and were marching together toward the Capitol. When they got there, the crowd stopped and sang The Star Spangled Banner.

The significance of this celebration, in Richmond, in the state of Virginia, where our nation was founded, in a city that was built on the slave trade and slave labor in the tobacco plantations of the Old Dominion, was almost overwhelming. Nick said, "We've come full circle."

First to vote in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn

My friend Jo Ann, the very first to vote in her precinct at PS #29 in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, New York. She was there before the school fireman (that's what they call the main superintendent) and the poll workers. She had a fellow voter behind her take her picture at the voting booth so that she could always remember this historic day.

Discouraging student voters at Virginia Tech

From Politico's The Arena:

"More than 5,600 people, mainly Virginia Tech students, are registered to vote at precinct E1 in Blacksburg of Montgomery County in Virginia. That number is nearly double what the state law allows for polling stations and the lack of an additional polling station is causing substantial delays. In addition, the polling place is 6.5 miles away from campus at a tiny church located off the main road. There is no street sign marking the turn off to the one lane road. There are 30 parking spots for the thousands of voters expected to turn up at precinct E1.

A few months ago in Montgomery County, the registrar of elections issued a statement warning college students that if they registered to vote at school, they could forfeit scholarships, lose health and carinsurance and negatively effect their parents' tax status. The registrar retracted the statement when it was disproved by the Internal Revenue Service, major media outlets, legal and voting rights experts and health insurance companies."

My wife made me canvass for Obama; here's what I learned

First person story about canvassing from, of all places, the Christian Science Monitor.

The gist:

"I learned in just those three hours that this election is not about what we think of as the "big things."

It's not about taxes. I'm pretty sure mine are going to go up no matter who is elected.

It's not about foreign policy. I think we'll figure out a way to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan no matter which party controls the White House, mostly because the people who live there don't want us there anymore.

I don't see either of the candidates as having all the answers.

I've learned that this election is about the heart of America. It's about the young people who are losing hope and the old people who have been forgotten. It's about those who have worked all their lives and never fully realized the promise of America, but see that promise for their grandchildren in Barack Obama. The poor see a chance, when they often have few. I saw hope in the eyes and faces in those doorways. "

What a difference two years makes . . .

Exactly two years ago, SurveyUSA completed interviews with 600 voters in every state (30,000 total interviews), asking them how they would vote in a 2008 Presidential Election between John McCain and Barack Obama