timepiececlock | Entries tagged with 2008 election

Going forward, Obama said, "any time the American people want to know something that I or a former president wants to withhold, we will have to consult with the attorney general and the White House counsel, whose business it is to ensure compliance with the rule of law. Information will not be withheld just because I say so. It will be ... withheld because a separate authority believes my request is well grounded in the Constitution."

I've become so jaded over the last decade that I'm having a hard time actually believing this stuff is really happening.

From this article:

Mr. Obama said that yesterday at his inauguration that he was "inspired by the sight of Americans as far as the eye could see. They were there because they believe this is a moment of great change in America, a time for reinvigorating our democracy and remaking our country. They've entrusted all of us with a great responsibility. And so today I'd like to talk with you about our responsibility to keep that trust."

ETA: I have the url for the video I want to embed in this post, but just typing < lj-embed > doesn't seem to be enough and I need some kind of code. Help?

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=6700409

Current Music: Arcade Fire - rebellion [lies]

I didn't tear up until the Navy chorus sang the national anthem, and they were only Clinton-in-the-media tears that never left the twinkle of my eye, but it was a moving ceremony all around. Great speech with plenty of romantic prose.

At first I thought Obama blanked on the oath because he was momentarily overwhelmed (who wouldn't be?) but the news anchors at ABC said it was because the Chief Justice switched the traditional word order of that clause. Even so, Obama jumped a little early on the first line. I can't begin to imagine how nervous, excited, or unreal he must have felt at that moment. It was certainly amazing from my end.

I was listening to the innaugural poem (pretty!), and the one persistent thought in my head was the memory of a poem I wrote for a class using the inclusive royal "we", and how thoroughly my grad student Intro to Poetry Writing instructor chewed me out for using it, as a device that's pompous and distant. Well, this lady did it! For Obama! So take that, stupid man I can't remember from college.

As

arafel said, thanks for the part about restoring science to its rightful place (THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for that sentiment) and also for the shout-out to nonbelievers. Atheism represent!

If I heard the news folks right, they said the distance the crowd covered between the monuments was two miles. Two miles of people.

"They put their hands on the arc of history and bent it towards a better day."
- President-Elect Barack Obama

1. Since I decided this morning to belatedly try the National Novel Writer's Month challenge, I have of course been doing everything possible to procrastinate and avoid it. These things include political stuff, looking at cute stuff, random Avatar stuff, fandom stuff, watching movie trailers, and listening to a music mix CD a boy made for me yesterday.

2. Sometimes people comment on my journal, and I look at their names, and I think, "Who are you?" because I have no freaking idea what prairie hole they popped out of, good or bad or alien. I usually don't say anythig, though, and I pretend I totally know who they are and why they're here commenting on my journal.

3. My finances are scaring me so I have been avoiding grocery shopping. But I do get some money tomorrow, at least. And I should get a lot in about a two weeks. It's the in-between that bothers me. Not that I'm in any real danger of not being able to purchase food or anything like that--just that I am eating a lot of pasta and canned soup and leftovers. Also, online banking gives me anxiety. To see all my funds or lack-of laid out in such clear, cold digital type.

4. The person cited in italics up there? I've never typed those words before. And...now I have. The reality of all this keeps hitting me late. This intense upwelling of emotion? Should have happened three days ago, when I was standing in a campaign office watching the map change colors and knowing that the state where I've been working, my own county, was going to be blue. But I didn't cry then. I cried randomly yesterday, in my car, listening to this old guy on NPR. And I almost cried just now, and holy crap, usually I only cry for patriotic stuff when I'm on my period. (I cried for the dramatic cavalry charge in The Two Towers, and I cry for old historical videos where people do things like stand in front of tanks. Shit. I'm crying now.) But it's definitely not hormones this week; it's pure sentiment scratching and clawing past my defenses.

5. It could be that I'm obsessively listening to Common Rotation's "Rock Me Obama", which despite the title is surprisingly emotional and acoustic-guitar-y. Seriously, this is the MOST ADDICTIVE and LEAST ANNOYING Obama-related song I've heard since the campaign began. In fact...I should email the band and tell them so.

Current Music: Common Rotation - Rock Me Obama

So. The election.

We won our Yorktown with 364, we lost the Waterloo by 506,414. I wish I had voted in California to make that number 506,413.

Colorado, my own private Gettysburg, was won for Obama by 170,934. That's 71,434 greater than the 99,500 George Bush won by in 2004. Arapahoe County, one of the main counties I campaigned in, was won 55% to 43%. As goes Arapahoe, so goes Colorado. Denver, 75% to 23%. Jeff-co, 54% to 45%. Prop 48 was trounced, but sadly so was 58.

Yesterday, today, tomorrow...this is my America.

IF YOU DON'T VOTE TOMORROW ROBOTS WILL TAKE OVER THE EARTH.

P.S. SARAH CONNOR VOTED OBAMA. JOHN CONNOR, OBVIOUSLY, IS TOO YOUNG.

First, have some political candy floss~

Multi-colored map of current electoral polls: http://www.pollster.com/polls/2008president/

Scatterplot of poll averages from 2007-today: http://www.pollster.com/polls/us/08-us-pres-ge-mvo.php

Update from Voter Registration in Colorado

Average # of voters I personally register: 3.7 voters per hour, in a 2 to 5 hour shift
Average # of hours I work per day: 13.5
# of times I go to Fed Ex: at least 4 trips in a 7-day a week
# of miles driven so far in the cause: 440+

I had a really hard day today. My hardest day yet, actually. I had to drive people around a lot, and we got kicked off or had to leave four sites, so in 5 and a half hours of being in the field, I only got in two hours of actual voter reg canvassing. We were hoping to have at least 3 people at this festival but it was very small, and the one canvasser I sent in was asked to leave after only and hour and a half or so. So we tried a few other backup places, and for various reasons those were unavailable as well. It was incredibly frustrating. I took out two people, one of whom did fairly well and one of whom did poorly, and I don't know how to motivate him to be more assertive and hustle more. A very similar chain of events happened yesterday (at one point my first-day-in-training canvasser was threatened to be arrested for registering people on private property that we believed was a public bus stop, and two hours later someone stole her lunch bag.) It's been a hard week. Productive in pure numbers, but difficult from an administrative perspective. I'm one of two directors in what should be a three-director office, so there's always more we need to do than we have resources to get done.

But there were some good things. Of the seven people I registered today (in two hours), I think at least five of them were brand new voters: a couple young people, an ex-convict, and a very old man who'd never voted in his life. I like helping those people get registered.

I got into a brief "why does it matter" discussion with this idiotic kid (he looked about 20) and came very close to getting him to register, but he was at his work so eventually I gave up and let him be. It's annoying, though, the people who say it doesn't matter. Especially considering what I've already put into this job in just a month.

I'm constantly imagining that I hear my phone ringing.

-Peace

Current Music: Citizen Cope - "Son's Gonna Rise"

I never understood before why people become workaholics, but now that I'm working 7 days a week and 12-14 hour days, it's kind of setting in. You just...do it. And keep on doing it. You don't think about anything else and this consumes your entire day and you know you've got another 50ish days left of constant work.

How much is my life consumed by campaign work these days? Let me tell you: today, while test-canvassing a new site, I kept myself entertained between people-stops by imagining How I Met Your Mother fanfic.

The theme or plot was something like "Everyone throws Robin a party because she got her American citizenship and gets to lose her Election Cherry."

Yep. Instead of fandom infiltrating my work, work is infiltrating fandom.

Today I agreed to rent an apartment, and likewise I registered to vote in Colorado.

::deep breath::

OMG. I've never registered to vote anywhere not in California before. It's a good thing my favorite Senator, Boxer, isn't up for re-election because otherwise I'd have to vote absentee. But, side note, I think Boxer and Feinstein are going to still be the two California Senators when I'M a grandmother. I don't think they age anymore. Or get promoted.

I fist-bumped Daniel Dae Kim.

I just talked to my new employers on the phone and they want to send me to campaign in Denver instead, because Colorado is a crucial swing state and they want to open another new office there between now and the election.

I agreed, because

a) I'd rather be at the beginning of a new project and have a hand in its opening

b) it's closer to California and I know more people in Colorado

c) OMG the Democratic National Convention

d) since I'm only guaranteed employment until the election, a project like this sets me up better to ask for a permanent position

Anyway, so, now, I'm not moving to Chicago. I'm a bit sad, but also excited for Denver too. I can't believe I'm going back* though! So bizarre. Even if it's only for three months.

Who lives in Denver these days?

*I was in and out of Denver while doing AmeriCorps*NCCC last year. I left in November 2007, ten months ago. I should be pulled into the city nine or ten days from now. I'll be leaving in seven.

Did McCain just take a pot shot at Schwarzenegger? Really?

My general thoughts and response, posted here.

Current Mood: does this need a spoiler cut?

Saddleback Church, which is the church of the author of The Purpose-Driven Life and also the site of last night's dual interviews with Obama and McCain, is in Orange County, California.

According to google maps, it's 2.6 miles from my house.

I can now officially say that I, as a person, was 2.6 miles from those two bigger-than-Paris celebrities, McCain Obama. They were practically on my doorstep!

Actually, I had no idea that Saddleback was famous or that the one pastor/book-evangelist/whatever was right in our area until about last year. My family's only lived in this house for two years. Before last year, Saddleback was "That community college people use" or, in the case of the church itself, "that place where job networking meet-ups are always happening" and so forth. It's a very community-active church.

I haven't watched the interviews. I plan to go make lunch and watch them now.

Current Mood: bouncy

I'm looking for places in Chicago that I can rent on a monhtly basis, through November. Any advice? I want to move there by the beginning of the month, hopefully.

The office where I'll be working is by the giant pier, in what my mom tells me is a huge downtown business/shopping district. On Wabash St. I'm hoping to find housing that isn't too far away. Craigs list is a little overwhelming, and most people seem to want 6 month leases, not month-to-month.

Anyone lives in Chicago or has advice about living there cheaply, I'd love to hear it.

Also, how soon does the whether turn? I assume it'll be cold by October, but does it start snowing in November?