2008 Election Results Discussion: President

[flipp525]

Religion is total crock of shit anyway.

[criddic3]

I was under the impression that priests and church officials were prohibited from endorsing candidates. While denying communion to someone who supports the opponent isn't exactly an endorsement, it's clearly designed to be intimidation, which is what I thought the "no endorsement" rule was all about.

And, the pope has long been opposed to war and has stated such many times. So, the Catholic Church IS against war.

This wasn't an endorsement, though. It was a blanket punishment for supporting abortion.

I should correct myself about Harry Reid. It is possible that I was thinking of him but it was someone else who got the earful from the church. We all know about Nancy Pelosi's misstatements about the issue, however.

Giuliani's marriages were another matter that some criticized, but it was his taking of communion that brought on the statement from the church. If you support abortion or the "choice", you are not supposed to take it.

[Penelope]

And, the pope has long been opposed to war and has stated such many times. So, the Catholic Church IS against war.

Since the pope demonizes gays, abortionists and people who advocate condom use any chance he gets, the pope is a hypocrite who is not opposed to war and actively fans the flames of hate and intolerance.

[OscarGuy]

I was under the impression that priests and church officials were prohibited from endorsing candidates. While denying communion to someone who supports the opponent isn't exactly an endorsement, it's clearly designed to be intimidation, which is what I thought the "no endorsement" rule was all about.

And, the pope has long been opposed to war and has stated such many times. So, the Catholic Church IS against war.

[Big Magilla]

This is outrageous. The priest is exceeding his authority and should be removed from his duties immediately.

It may be unusual, but I don't think it exceeds his authority. The church is very serious about the subject of abortion. In this priest's view, supporting someone who supports abortion means you are ultimately supporting abortion, too. While I don't necessarily agree with that line of reasoning, I can understand it.

Earlier this year, Republican Rudy Giuliani was chastised by the church for accepting communion despite his pro-choice views. And both Senate Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi faced similar admonishments when they spoke publicly and revealed their misinterpretations of the church rulings on the subject.

Harry Reid is a Mormon.

I thought the issue with Giuliani was over his three marriages, two of them outside of the Church.

Most Catholics in the U.S., at least since the 1950s, are of the opinion that the Church should keep its nose out of the bedroom. Supporting Obama, or any other political figure, does not mean you have to agree with all their views. Support of a woman's right to choose does not mean you favor abortion, merely the right for a woman to decide for herself in her own unique situation.

This provincial priest clearly overstepped his bounds. Had he been acting on orders from the Church the Church would be to blame, but acting on his own, he should be punished by his Bishop.

[Damien]

My Mom drives to Mass with an Obama sticker on her car.

[criddic3]

This is outrageous. The priest is exceeding his authority and should be removed from his duties immediately.

It may be unusual, but I don't think it exceeds his authority. The church is very serious about the subject of abortion. In this priest's view, supporting someone who supports abortion means you are ultimately supporting abortion, too. While I don't necessarily agree with that line of reasoning, I can understand it.

Earlier this year, Republican Rudy Giuliani was chastised by the church for accepting communion despite his pro-choice views. And both Senate Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi faced similar admonishments when they spoke publicly and revealed their misinterpretations of the church rulings on the subject.

[Big Magilla]

This is outrageous. The priest is exceeding his authority and should be removed from his duties immediately.

[anonymous1980]

SC Catholic priest denies Communion to Obama voters.

Three things:

01. Religion + politics do not mix. If I heard this coming from my priest (urging me not to vote for a particular candidate or targeting a particular official), I would've walked the fuck out of there. I could barely stomach my priest railing against the Reproductive Health bill.

02. Obama is against the war. That should be first priority. Thousands of people have been killed NEEDLESSLY. I think to truly call yourself pro-life, you have to be against the war as well. Otherwise, you're a fucking hypocrite.

03. I've read that abortion rates are actually LOWER under a Democrat and under Democratic states. Personally, I think to vote Democrat is vote pro-life. (Didn't a prominent pro-life Democrat senator endorse Obama? I guess that guy would have to ban him from Communion too)

[taki15]

I know it's an old joke. We use it here every time an unpopular prime minister is ousted. But it's still funny.

One sunny day in late January, 2009 an old man approached the White House from Across Pennsylvania Avenue, where he'd been sitting on a park bench.

He spoke to the U.S. Marine standing guard and said, "I would like to go in and meet with President Bush."

The Marine looked at the man and said, "Sir, Mr. Bush is no longer president and no longer resides here."

The old man said, "Okay", and walked away.'

The following day, the same man approached the White House and said to the same Marine, "I would like to go in and meet with President Bush."

The Marine again told the man, "Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Bush is no longer president and no longer resides here."

The man thanked him and, again, just walked away.

The third day, the same man approached the White House and spoke to the very same U.S. Marine, saying "I would like to go in and meet with President Bush."

The Marine, understandably agitated at this point, looked at the man and said, "Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to speak to Mr. Bush. I've told you already that Mr. Bush is no longer the president and no longer resides here. Don't you understand?"

The old man looked at the Marine and said, "Oh, I understand. I just love hearing it."

[criddic3]

On a side note, Palin as GOP heir presumptive in 2012 makes me sick.

I'd love to see her as a nominee. Not only is she a joke, she'd be guaranteed to lose. But it's safe to say that it's not going to happen.

Incidentally, this election offered nothing positive for women. First Clinton loses the primary in a rather undignified fashion, and now Palin does everything possible to make female politicians look negative.

I wouldn't be so sure that she would lose in 2012. She can make up a lot of ground in four years. She's a smart woman, ambitious as most politicians are and if nominated she'd be a strong campaigner. That's if she gets the nomination.

There are several possibilities already being mentioned, and I'm sure more will pop up between now and 2011.

I think that we have to keep in mind how quickly the mood of the country can sway one way or another. Four years ago, President Bush was a fairly popular guy who won re-election by 3% more than he got in the previous election and also 3% more than his opponent John Kerry. The Republicans gained a larger majority. Everything looked great for them. Now we have the flipside of that. Two elections in a row where Democrats gained seats and a Democrat winning the White House. It is entirely possible that the mood will change again. Even likely, given recent electoral history.

[The Original BJ]

I've been so swamped with work lately, I've had barely any time to comment on this most momentous of events.

I, too, greatly appreciated Mister Tee's words of wisdom. I happened to be watching the returns while at a rehearsal, and at one point I had to leave the room due to too many worried Democrats. ("Oh my god, we lost South Carolina! This is bad" . . . . and "Obama NEEDS to win Ohio, Florida, AND Virginia. If he loses one of those, it's over.") When Obama won Ohio, and I basically told everyone it was over, my crowd still thought a McCain victory was a definite possibility.

While prepared for an Obama victory, what I wasn't prepared for was how overwhelmingly moving the announcement and his speech were. (Certainly it was a tremendous reversal of my feelings toward the results of my first presidential vote -- the how-could-we??! re-election in '04.) Also, and this may seem like a gigantic "DUH" to everybody -- I was truly reminded how much this election meant to the non-white community. A number of close African-American friends called me, barely able to speak through their tears -- so worried were they that, in the end, the poll numbers would be wrong and the black guy would come up short, that the amount of joy they felt was beyond anything they could have imagined. It was truly a beautiful moment for our country.

On the other hand, liberal California voters experienced exactly the nightmare those worried about the Bradley effect in the presidential race thankfully were spared. I think the September poll showed Prop 8 losing by 17 points; the lead had shrunk by October, but the "no" side was still ahead. Even day-of exit polls showed the proposition losing by 4 points -- the percentages were virtually reversed when the returns came in that evening.

While a horrible result, and a black cloud on election night, the encouragement I can give from California is this: the 48% of us who voted no aren't taking this lightly at all. My age group, in particular, is absolutely outraged: if I had a friend on Facebook whose status on Nov. 5th didn't have something to do with expressing anger about Prop 8, I couldn't find them (keep in mind there was some other pretty big news that had just been announced as well). I haven't been able to drive anywhere in Southern California without running into a protest -- some small street-corner protests, others completely shutting down MAJOR streets. And the types of people involved should give everyone heart as well: macho-acting guys that wouldn't have even considered voting for gay rights four years ago are now taking an active role in expressing outrage over this result. So while the voting, to put it bluntly, totally sucks, plenty of us in the Golden State aren't going to let this go away any time soon.

YES WE CAN!

[Mister Tee]

Now apparently official: the Omaha district EV goes to Obama. 365.

[Heksagon]

On a side note, Palin as GOP heir presumptive in 2012 makes me sick.

I'd love to see her as a nominee. Not only is she a joke, she'd be guaranteed to lose. But it's safe to say that it's not going to happen.

Incidentally, this election offered nothing positive for women. First Clinton loses the primary in a rather undignified fashion, and now Palin does everything possible to make female politicians look negative.

[OscarGuy]

If he does, it will be the first time in Nebraska or Maine (the other state that does it that way) history that an electoral vote split has occurred.