November 2008 | ||||||
Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
1 | ||||||
2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
30 | ||||||
Oct Dec |
Blog-Parents
Blog-Brothers
Callimachus
(Done with Mirrors)
Gelmo
(Statistical blah blah blah)
Other Blogs I Read
Regularly Often
Andrew Sullivan
(Daily Dish)
Kevin Drum
(Political Animal)
Hilzoy
(Obsidian Wings)
Megan McArdle on election night:
A more thorough metaphor would explain that it's the fifth game of the series, and the team that is leading the series 3-1 got off to an early lead, gradually expanded that lead throughout the game, and then tacked on three more runs in the top of the ninth, so that going into the bottom of the ninth the score was 13-2. True, it ain't over till it's over, but it's not exactly a breathtaking finish.
As with the lack of suspense, so with my reaction to the result. I do, in fact, share the joy that so many are expressing about Obama's election — for many of the usual reasons (mixed race, not Bush, calm demeanor, etc) plus a few offbeat ones of my own (which I hope to discuss in later posts) — but for me that joy has been amortized over the past six months, rather than pent up this whole time only to be released in one giant spiritual obamagasm on Nov 4.
The polar opposite of emotional amortization was on display at Andrew Sullivan's blog. Sullivan's political emotions run like a large and energetic puppy, rushing this way and that, bounding off the path in excitement at every little thing. He devoted the day to printing emails from readers describing their own personal obamagasms. Some people were so delirious with joy, I had to wonder: Am I missing something?
But that's just selection bias. If your reaction is "Oh good, I'm glad Obama won ... now what's for dinner?" you're not going to send an email to Andrew Sullivan. And even if you did, he wouldn't print it. It's the same idea as the long lines. The news media were overflowing with stories about long lines at polling places. One-hour wait here. Two-hour wait there. Six-hour wait in some little town in Missouri. Nobody I know had to wait in line. True, I voted at about 11:15 am, which is possibly the least busy time of day, but for good measure I drove by my polling place on the way home after work, and there was no line then either. But if there's no line, there's no story, so you aren't going to heard about any of them.
Among the reader emails were several tales of parents' joy in involving their young children in the voting process, pulling the lever or pushing the button or whatnot. Some observed with fascination how even kids as young as 6 or 7 are talking about this election and taking an interest in the outcome. That sentiment, at least, was indeed echoed by someone I know. My sister called me yesterday afternoon and told me how my seven-year-old niece said, "So-and-so's mommy is voting for Obama. Who are you voting for?"
But unlike Sullivan's readers, rather than greeting this as a sign of the upcoming progressive Rapture, she was about as excited about it as if the kid had come home asking questions about sex. Of course she took the opportunity to give the nice little speech on democracy and civic duty and all that, but her comment to me afterward was, "She's only seven. Why do they have to push this politics stuff at them so young? Why can't kids just be kids?"
I have to agree. Childhood has enough petty peer pressures already, do we really need to add one more? One Sullivan post mentions an elementary school straw poll that elected Obama, 20-1. Twenty to one! What happens to the poor kid in Seattle who says "My mommy is voting for McCain," or the kid in Tulsa who says "My mommy is voting for Obama"? Do the other little tykes then hound him until he submits and then goes home and tells his parents how wrong they are? That creeps me out. It's bad enough when environmental lobbies use kids to pressure their parents into recycling. I really don't want to see the same thing for partisan elections.
10:48:42 PM [permalink] comment []