*Updated* Thoughts on the election

Lord I hate politics. We spent a fortune on this election, and it didn't change much that was already predicted to happen. I've been following Nate Silver's predictions at his NYT blog for weeks and I'm convinced now that he is the smartest, most sane man in America, and he did all his math homework as a kid.

 

You can check out the interactive Slate Article here and roll your cursor over each dart to see who was able to make the most accurate predictions. Nate's the bullseye. What's more interesting to me than his uncanny accuracy is the conservative sound and fury in the weeks leading up to the election saying he was very wrong. Also, I'm perplexed as to how so many of the Republicans got it so wrong, and how blinded they were by their own preconceptions. I'd bet Romney was certain he would win, that God and America were on his side. Lots of reality bubbles got burst in the wee hours this Wednesday.

I'm thrilled Obama got reelected, that the long term view won out over the short term, that hope beat cynicism. I was worried there for a while, especially when the returns started coming in. I took this political affiliation quiz a while ago, and was surprised I was not as Liberal as most people think I am. But it's also striking how less Liberal Obama is than many believe him to be. He's the Democratic President Republicans could love if they would just look at the whole picture, with open eyes.

Also fascinating to me is this graphic, derived from data published by Fox Business and election returns, cross referencing higher education with voting majorities. The article jokes that Nevadans don't like Obama as much as they like playing the odds. What this tells me is that education is crucial, now more than ever. I've been sickened by the misinformation and deception this election cycle, and wonder how facts can get so lost in the noise. I do my best to base my vote on facts, and they're pretty simple: what do the candidates say, and how do they vote. I'm still smarting over the argument I had with my brother where he assured me that our President was an illegal alien, a Muslim, who took more vacations than any other previous Commander in Chief, who gave jobs to illegals and kept him from finding work, etc, etc. He was so wrong, wrong, wrong, and when I told him the facts supported none of that, he said who fact checks your facts? And I thought to myself he may as well think the earth is flat and the sun revolves around the earth, and discourse with him was hopeless. Hopeless. He believes what he wishes to believe and nothing else matters. There are a lot of him out there, and I don't know where they went off the logic rails. The craziest part is he thinks I'm the crazy one. Sad. Anyway, this little chart isn't just about education, it's about poverty and culture and maybe a little about the Mason Dixon Line. 

Did anyone else notice the crowds at the Romney and Obama camps Tuesday night? I was mesmerized by the stark contrast: In Boston, rich white people straight out of the country club demographic, a sea of mostly blonde, perfectly coiffed women and cookie cutter men unable to process what was happening at the Romney party.  In Chicago, sea of Americans, young, old, black, white, asian, latino, straight, gay, and everybody in between waved flags and exuded hope at the Obama party. Any view of the crowd, any frame on my tv showed me something the Romney party couldn't - people who look like America to me, all of America, not just the white upper crust. That was the story of this election for me, done in two pictures. The times, they are a changing. It pissed me off that Bill O'Reilly said that the face of America is changing, to people who want things. He didn't get it. We want things alright, but money can't buy most of them.  He's always been an ass. Most of the loudest mouths are run by the smallest, meanest minds.

I'm still concerned about our mounting debt, our divisive Congress, the minions of haters running amok, especially on the internet (Victoria Jackson and Donald Trump need to be committed!) but I'm hopeful, because a man whose principles I value will be in the White House for  four more years. I'm not saying Romney didn't have principles, I just think he has a narrow view of the country, and lacks empathy for all of America. I've had bosses like him before, intelligent, articulate, and they know they are right, as they slash and burn and leave wreckage in their wake, while they congratulate themselves on stunning short term accomplishments. That's the biased lens I saw Romney through, and I tried, I really tried to be fair in assessing his politics. If only he had a platform that expanded beyond winning at any cost.

So, Obama. Whew. I am relieved, but cautious. And I wish we had those billions of PAC dollars back to donate to disaster relief or education or food banks. That would have been something.

* Update *

Guess I had to throw this in here, once I found it. Again, pictures speak louder to me than words.
There are some amazing correlations between how people vote, what they believe and what they want. O'Reilly's comment was apparently based on some fact, just not the right ones. It seems Romney leaning states are more likely to take Federal money as well as more likely to be religious.
I don't have anything against religion, except it has no place in politics, other than to keep us safe from each other's beliefs. But oh, the irony that the states and politicians most vocal about out of control spending and socialism are right there in line with their hands out, while education and PBS are on their chopping block. Sigh. I guess the liberal educated elite nonbelieving openminded states have their work cut out for them. The last time I checked, over 2 and a half million more people voted for Obama than for Romney, and they live in all these states. That gives me some hope.