Prayerful Politics

The time has come: I'm finally going to name that which I have actively been avoiding: It's election season.

I'm so tired of the back-and-forth, the anger, the accusations, the lies... the politics, I suppose.

Which is why I have actively avoided as much to do with the upcoming elections as I can. The irony of that is I am finding it was much, much easier when I lived in Washington, DC than now that I live in South Dakota. Who knew!?
    (Disclaimer: I say that, but I do my reading, I research what the candidates have to say about issues I care most about, I still watch the news, etc: and I have certainly made my informed decision on who I'll vote for.)

Who I choose to vote for aside, I did tune into the opening night of the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night. Not to watch the politics, oddly enough, but because my friend Jena Nardella was invited to give the benediction/closing prayer. I tuned in to watch her and to listen to her words.

And what I found and heard was a non-partisan prayer we all need. If you didn't hear it and you haven't read it, please do so: you'll be glad you did. She posted the full transcript on her blog.

Thanks for your words, Jena. I have returned to them many times this week already, and surely will as we go forward. May this prayer be prayed again and again until it finds its way from our lips into our reality.

The Work is Yet to Come

I am as excited, have been as numb-struck with emotion, have celebrated and prayed with my fellow citizens of the world. I am proud to be an American. I am proud to be a part of the generation that has made it possible for us to now give the title President-Elect to Barack Obama.

I also know that while I never have been before and perhaps never will again be so supportive of a candidate, this candidate will also let me down from time to time. There are a lot of reasons I voted for Mr. Obama, a lot of reasons to support him. Yet there are also some policies I am sure he will implement that I do not like. I suppose the only way for that to cease to be true, is to run for office myself (and even then I am not sure).

One thing we MUST do is continue to be active. To call attention to things that are important to us, to continue letting him know what really matters to us. We did this by the millions during the election, and we need to continue this activism well into his term.

President-Elect Obama has spoken out against injustice. One of the greatest injustices of the world is to strip someone of their humanity. In the US, we are guilty of doing this. We implement the death penalty, we refuse to give persons a fair trial, we use torture tactics on our enemies. The list is endless.

One way to help assure President-Elect Obama will take proper steps in continuing our fight for justice is to support Amnesty International. Their website is full of rich resources and information if you are looking to learn more about a given topic or to find out the most recent proceedings in an area of interest. They are also a great organization that helps us to pool our resources and work together for a greater good. Right now, they are calling on Obama to make human rights central to his new administration's work. They are looking for your support in calling him to take action during his first 100 days in office.

To read more, visit Amnesty International USA's website. To read and sign the 100 Days Petition, you may follow this link.

A Historic Victory

Tonight will go down as one of the most memorable nights of my life. One of the most memorable nights of my generation. It will go down as a historic day to be remembered and memorized for generations to come.

Barack Obama has been elected the President of The United States of America. Immediately following John McCain's concession, Obama gave a brilliant acceptance speech in Grant Park - in downtown Chicago. I was one of 70,000 granted a ticket to this event, and still cannot believe I was there and got to be there to see and hear (LIVE!) this historic event.

I have to say I was *really* impressed with the work of the Chicago Police and the CTA. Everything ran smoothly, and I don't think it could have been organized better. Well done. I wonder if this will help them with the bid for the Olympics, now that they've proven they can handle such a large-scale event?

Barack Obama will be sworn into office on January 20, 2009. I can't wait for the change that is yet to come. The long process of change ahead begins tomorrow, when two new people are granted full access to files in the White House so they may begin preparing for their terms and "hit the ground running."

A few other thoughts:
I am VERY pleased that this election went as I wish it always did: the winning ticket claims the majorit in BOTH the Electoral AND the Popular vote. Incredible.

John McCain gave a decent concession speech, but he was really hard on himself. He clearly took this loss very personally, and although I'm glad he didn't win, it was hard to listen to and my heart ached for him.

When I got home, I turned on the news, and they were just turning to show Obama's acceptance speech once again. I watched and listened, and must say it felt a LOT longer when we were watching it live/in person. Perhaps because I was so caught up in the moment, savoring the moment and trying to take it all in. I still can't believe it. Seriously - Barack Obama is going to be our President!!!

Obama's speech was INCREDIBLE. INCREDIBLE. please, Please, PLEASE go listen to it!

As excited as I am about the events, my heart goes out to McCain supporters. I hope my family handles it ok, and selfishly I hope they do so without attacking me/my sister for supporting Obama... I know they shed lots of tears tonight...

I am very tired. I got up at 4:30am to vote EARLY before work, and its getting really late (but I'm running on adrenaline and fortunately can sleep in tomorrow).

In other election news tonight, I havne't had a chance to look up much, but this is what I do know:
In California, Prop 8 passed. This was an ammendment to the state constitution, and it overturns the Supreme Court of California's decision to legalize gay marriage. :( I mourn this loss. (but remain hopeful for this change, too... as Obama even included equal rights for gay and lesbians in his acceptance speech!)

On a better note, South Dakota attempted to pass amendments tonight that would give them the most strict abortion laws in the country. While I wish abortion never had to happen, I am pro-choice, and I am thankful this did not pass.

Lots and lots and lots of other elections... but I need to sleep and leave some creative space for you to look them up. Maybe I'll post some pictures later (for sure look for them on facebook!).

Democratic Ticket Decided

The choice we've all been waiting for has finally been made: Barak Obama Chose Senator Joe Biden as his Vice Presidential running mate.

A few thoughts: 1- I am not surprised. 2- I think they'll make a good pair. 3- That solidifies (as if it wasn't before?) which ticket I'll be voting for.

Surely there will be more to come on politics in the future (for better or worse!).

Big Primary Night

I haven't talked about the presidential primaries here in a long time. This is partly because I have not been following them as closely, and partly because its been such a roller-coaster that I knew wouldn't end for quite some time. I was hoping tonight would end it... but alas, the vote seems split again.

No matter which Democratic candidate you like and why, for me, it all comes down to this: I really do not think Clinton can win a general election. Too many people hate her! Obama, on the other hand, is a uniter, and I have heard MANY Republicans say they would vote for him over McCain. People on both sides like him... and I'm convinced that if he gets the bid, the Democrats will take office in January of 2009. Praise God!

There has never been - and probably never will be - a candidate I could fully stand behind in every issue. I'm not sure there is such a thing as a perfect candidate, and so I acknowledge that there are plenty of things about Obama I do not like right along side all of the things I do like. Regardless, I am pleased he took North Carolina - the biggest primary state that remains - tonight. It looks like Clinton took Indiana (it was really close!)... which means the race is not yet over. (If Obama had been able to win both, there was a good chance she'd drop out). This "race" seems to be going on and on... but in no time, it will be November. 6 months from now, elections will be over, and hopefully we'll have a new (historic, not just a white male!!!!) president elected. I look forward to this greatly.

Iowa Caucus Results are In!

Ahh, caucusing. Politicians began their campaigns well over a year ago, and we’re now down to the final moments (read: months) of battles from within each party…

As I don’t have TV to watch from home and decided to stay home and attempt to keep working (read: attempt- I was far too distracted by the caucuses to actually get any work done), I found myself constantly refreshing internet pages to see the results as they poured in of the first night of primaries: The Iowa Caucus.

The Democrats at least had it together for persons like myself who were anxiously awaiting results from the internet. iowacaucusresults.com offered results as they came in, automatically updating every 30 seconds. I was surprised to find Edwards in a strong lead in the beginning, with Hillary in an (almost) close second and Obama in a far third. This didn’t last long, though, as gaps were quickly closed and by 8:00 Clinton was pushed back into third place where I predicted she’d be, with Edwards slowly falling further behind Obama. By the time all results were in by 10pm, the results were as follows:
Obama 38%
Edwards 30%
Clinton 29%

The Republicans did not have such a friendly site... I eventually found a neutral site, but their statistics were slow and not as up-to-date. It did have Huckabee in a decent lead from the beginning, though, just as I expected. He maintained this lead throughout the night, and by 8:20 they were calling it a win for him. While Huckabee had a similar % vote to the Democratic ‘winner’ Obama, the rest of the Republican vote was much more split. The results as such:
Huckabee 34%
Romney 26%
Thompson 13%
McCain 13%
Paul 10%

No big surprises here... I did expect Edwards to do a little better, but as you can see below, this is pretty much what I predicted. Nothing like a kick-off to a new year with early elections!

This is so beautiful, truly even though this is only the first of many primaries, this is a huge step for our nation. "Stand for Change" is Obama's slogan, and indeed change has begun. For the first time since 1988 (Jesse Jackson), a primary has been won by an African American. Hillary Clinton- a woman- is still in the top running, practically tied for second place in the Democratic race. Of the top 3, only ONE is our typical "white male" - how beautiful is that?!?!

Obama began his Victory speech with this:

“They said this day would never come. They said our sights were set to high. They said this country was too divided, too disillusioned to ever come together under a common person…On this night, you have done what the cynics said we couldn't do..."

Well friends, "they" were wrong. Praise God for the big wins and the united front with record highs in turn-outs to the [Democratic] primaries. Republicans, Democrats, Independents alike all came together- I have never before seen such a united front for any candidate on either side. This gives me hope.

If you wish to see all the final results (better than the "neutral site" I used above), I thought this local news broadcaster did a great job updating all night as well. (and of course... within hours, every national news station will have the results listed as well).

Peace be with you as we move forth and anxiously move forward to more nights like this one as we continue to seek the change our nation needs.