I don't feel particularly bad or good about the elections. I live in a country that twice elected George W. Bush and where a lot of people in Louisiana blame Barack Obama for the slow response to Hurricane Katrina. Things just are not going to go my way all the time. I am happy that they sometimes do and guardedly optimistic that the rest will follow shortly.
I never buy these essays that say, "This is the best thing that could happen to the losing party." That's because if the election had gone the other way, the authors of those pieces would never have written, "This is the worst thing that could happen to the winning party."
One thing that has bothered me about politics the last decade or so is that I don't sense that anyone particularly likes the people for whom they're voting. They're largely voting party, not person. And what's changing is that you can be a bigger jerk than before…you can even have multiple indictments and scandals…and you'll still get most of your party's votes.
I'd be curious to know, if such a thing can ever be calculated, how many "Independents" really are and how many of them register as that but vote straight Democratic or straight Republican tickets. I have a friend who's officially an Independent but votes like a Democrat. He favors that agenda but is embarrassed by the way the leaders of that party talk and act. Lately, with so many Dems running from Obama's pretty good economic record and other achievements, there is much to be embarrassed by. Being able to say, "I'm an Independent" allows him to vote with the party but distance himself from its spear-carriers.
There are times I almost envy him. Tonight, for instance.