The Race to Replace

…Senator Barack Obama (D-IL).

The electoral vote totals appear to be 338 for Obama/Biden and 200 for McCain/Palin, the key states for Obama being Pennsylvania, Ohio (a key swing state that cost John Kerry the election in 2004), Florida, and Virginia. Indiana, North Carolina, and even McCain’s home state of Arizona were up for grabs but stayed in the Republican camp. [Update: A commenter has pointed out that Indiana appears to have barely gone for Obama, and I’m noticing that North Carolina is still probably too close to call. CNN’s electoral calculator has the total at 349 for Obama/Biden and 163 for McCain/Palin, with 26 electoral votes still undecided.]

And there you have it: The United States of America finally has its first African-American president.

Personally, I found John McCain’s concession speech very appropriate; I don’t remembering seeing Gore or Kerry give a speech conceding their losses, but McCain was very civil even in the face of his audience booing practically every time he congratulated Obama and Biden for the victory. There’s going to be a lot of bitterness over this election from conservative camps (and indeed, I’m hearing the buzz about it already), and McCain said exactly what needed to be said to remind people that they will still have to work with Obama, no matter how much they disagree with him.

And so I’ll raise the question: Why should anyone be bitter about their candidate losing? Wasn’t democracy still in force last night? (At least, we’ll assume this happened - I haven’t heard any ACORN-type accusations yet.) If your candidate didn’t win, you were still a part of the process, and you shouldn’t begrudge anyone else their vote of conscience. Last night was a great night, and we should all be pleased that (unlike some other elections in recent years) America spoke loudly and decisively, and that choice was Barack Obama. That’s how democracy is supposed to work, and I think any fair-minded person should be pleased with the process, if not the outcome.

This is a post for those of you (all three of you) who have been in a cave for the past three months.

It’s September, and the primaries are over. This presidential race is unusual for a number of reasons:

1. For the first time ever, a major party has nominated an African-American (Sen. Barack Obama, D-IL) for president.
2. For the second time ever, a major party nominee has selected a female running mate (Vice Presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin, R-AK).
3. Only one of the major party nominees has executive experience (Gov. Palin). All of the others (Sen. Obama; VP nominee Sen. Joseph Biden, D-DE; Presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, R-AZ.) are known for their legislative service.
4. If elected, Sen. McCain will be the oldest first-time nominee to become President at 72, breaking Ronald Reagan’s record (he was 69 when first elected in 1980 and 73 at re-election in 1984).
5. Sen. McCain is also the second oldest first-time nominee (Bob Dole was 73 when he ran unsuccessfully against Bill Clinton in 1996).
6. If elected, Sen. Obama will be one of the youngest Presidents at 47; Teddy Roosevelt (42), John F. Kennedy (43), and Bill Clinton and Ulysses S. Grant (46) all were elected earlier in life than the current rising star of the Democratic party. (Grover Cleveland was also elected for his first term at 47.)

America has experienced some very strange elections in the past few Presidential cycles, from the debacle in 2000 to the current election, which (as the above indicates) is historic and - dare I say - even groundbreaking.

But the election is far from over. We have 40 days before the nation decides.

If you have any thoughts on politics or would like to help us blog through this Presidential election, E-mail us at politics@thedeconline.com.

Is it possible we haven’t seen the last of Al Gore, the failed Democratic Party nominee in 2000? Time Magazine contributor Joe Klein thinks so.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1725678,00.html