I can't believe that Obama won, but as it is sinkng in, I find myself wanting so badly for him to be audacious! To actually fix! Something. I am totally ready to pay more taxes if it means everyone gets healthcare or something.

Except the conservatives disagree.

I know, which I find fascinating/terrifying. Conservatives are highly organized though. They have already had cross-issue strategy meetings NOT involving politicians, these are issue mavens who are not so much in the public eye and they are building coalitions that had fallen apart when they were already "winning".

I take the occasional turn through Redstate.com because I like to know what the opposition is talking about between themselves. They believe that they lost because McCain wasn't tough enough on socially conservative issues like abortion and gay marriage and that their girl Sarah is the hope of the future. Newly victorious progressives can snicker and dismiss them, but that popular vote was too close for my comfort, and we dismiss those millions to our peril.

God, I wish we could get a decent gague of the opinion of the people who didn't/couldn't vote.

I'm more than a little confused about the long lines, but total turnout numbers NOT being that much higher.

I'm more than a little confused about the long lines, but total turnout numbers NOT being that much higher.

My impression of Brooklyn, at least, is that lines were really long in the morning because everyone was anticipating long lines and voted early. People who went after work said they didn't have to wait at all.

In GA, early voting had long lines; election day voting, not.

The shots of Biden and Obama alone together look so casual and friendly--they genuinely like each other.

I had the same thought with the shot of them sharing a pretzel from the big Philadelphia day -- they have the body language of real friends, not "we have to do appearances together" friends.

I am totally ready to pay more taxes if it means everyone gets healthcare or something.

The quote I had running around in my head through the whole socialism phase of the election was, I think, Brandeis: "I love paying taxes. I use them to buy civilization."

oh, and I just re-read and totlat number of voters was up between 4-6 million (so yea, that could affect lines). It is % that did not go up much. So get OUT the vote is probably much more important.

Oliver Wendell Holmes: "Taxes are what we pay for civilized society."

Ah, thanks, Ginger -- I must've remembered someone else's rephrasing of Holmes. No idea where I got Brandeis in the mix, in that case. The sentiment stands.