Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Election Night!

I am so excited for this day. I haven't been this excited since the election in 1992. I was in college and I remember cheering with joy when it became clear that Clinton won. Hoping for a similar outcome this year. I have already voted and I hope you all have as well. Here in MA the presidential election is not that exciting. Anyone remember the last time MA voted for a Republican candidate? I think maybe Reagan. VERY little money is spent on political ads for either party on our airwaves- why waste your money when the outcome is a forgone conclusion? I was shocked 4 years ago when visiting a friend in PA to see all of the ads and their voracity.

Pardon me while I get a little political. In addition to the presidential election, here in Massachusetts, we have 3 questions on the ballot as well. The first one is about slashing income tax here in MA. The "pro" side believes there is a lot of waste in government so cut their money and they will have to learn to budget better. Here is my take, my family probably is not so great with our money either, but don't cut our pay to teach us a lesson. And let's be honest, that is not a solution. They will get their money from somewhere and I would rather know where it is coming from. Anyway- get out and vote.

For Brownies Jessica needs to write letters to 2 different people that voted to thank them. She wants to write them to Marc and I, but I would rather she branch out a little. Let me know in the comments section or by email if you voted and I will let Jessica choose who she wants to send her letters (no hurty feelings, ok?).

Happy Election night everyone- let's hope when we wake up tomorrow we will know the name of our next president!

10 comments:

Bec Odell said...

Oooooo, Jess, pick me, pick me! :)

Bec Odell said...

How come you didn't talk about the pot and dog racing questions?

Deb Hanna said...

well I don't feel as strongly on those. but don't worry Becky I voted your way.

Mrs. Cook said...

I was at the polls at 6:45 this morning. Jess can count me in! I LOVED seeing the crowds and even sitting in traffic. It should be this way EVERY time!! Get out and VOTE people!!! (Not sure what Bec's way was on the pot question..I have zero tolerance for that crap...)

meg said...

i was all hyped up for this day. i knew it would be big but was a little surprised that i didn't start to hear anything as far as each state projections until the first polls closed at 7pm. seriously, i had the day planned out as far as having the tv on in the background waiting for updates. it would be like watching football. first quarter a little slow, then a break away, the half time pep talk, a new spark, come on! but in the end, it really only matters what the score is... yeah! ... yeah! ... YEAH!!! whoo hooo! and yes i voted... actually advance voted. does that give me an advantage over the other average voters? :)

Anonymous said...

I voted - via the mail-in vote. Is Jessica only allowed to write to people living within the United States? If not, I'd loooove to hear from her!

Kathy Stewart said...

Lots to say here...I voted early. Can't imagine why anyone with the opportunity to vote early wouldn't do so. In Florida, my vote for Barack Obama was really important. Unlike Massachusetts, a democrat hasn't carried this state in a loooong time. We got TONS of ads, phone calls, door to door canvassers, political rallies, you name it.

We had two ammendments to vote on in Florida that I cared deeply about. The first was a proposal to raise the property tax to raise funds for education. In Florida, our school budgets have been axed severely, and we are looking at more cuts. If this ammendment hadn't passed, we would have lost all the school nurses in April 2009, and next year would have lost our music and arts programs at the elementary level, and secondary level, and would have also lost most elective and vocational programs in the secondary level. Happily, this ammendment passed.

The other ammendment I cared about did not pass. I'm saddened to report that Florida now has an ammendment to the constitution defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman, and that all other types of unions that resemble a marriage shall no longer be recognized. (Thereby outlawing civil unions and domestic partnerships as well.) Blue Cross Blue Shield announced a few weeks ago that if this ammendment passed, that hundreds of thousands of Floridians would lose their healthcare coverage, and that over 95% of them are heterosexual couples, mostly seniors. I could go on and on about how much I oppose this ammendment, and I did my best to talk to other people and urge them to vote no, but...it wasn't enough.

Deb Hanna said...

Kathy, that is so sad. I have to say that I take pride in the fact that MA was the first state to legalize gay marriage. In addition when ammendments went out to override that decision it was decisively defeated. And for the record, heterosexual marriages have not suffered with the legality of same sex marriages.

Anonymous said...

I stayed up way to late last night! It was all very exciting...things turned out exactly as I hoped (& voted!).
I was at the voting booth by 8:00AM so that makes me Jessica eligible!

Kathy Stewart said...

Just realized I had a typo there. the ammendment to define marriage as one man and one woman DID pass, and I opposed it and voted NO, but it passed anyway. Sigh.