We voted. Pandemic be damned, we voted! And in record numbers.
And here we are, the day that we have been waiting what seems like 4000 years for. A day to look forward, in hope.
What a rollercoaster ride! Tons of feelz over the last few days.
And then, finally, on Saturday evening this happened.
WE DID IT!!
A decent, good man is to be our 46th President.
I was most moved seeing Kamala on that stage dressed in suffragette white. The first woman! First Black person! First Black woman! First Asian American person! First Asian American woman! to be elected to be Vice President. I felt elated and relieved at the victory for Biden, but I was deeply moved for Kamala, similar to my emotions when Obama was elected. Wow. Wow. Wow.
What a journey.
Election Day began with hope and calm, knowing that the polling numbers were favorable for Joe and Kamala. As the polls closed and walk-in vote tallies began, 2016 PTSD washed over with a vengeance and doom and hopelessness set in. By Wednesday morning, counts from drop-off and mail-in votes were more favorable for Biden. Rollercoaster headed back up.
By mid-day Wednesday, it really felt like Biden's victory was cemented. The TV talking heads began talking about what a Biden presidency will feel like. I remember that same moment in 2016, when the election wasn't called, but the pundits were giving us the reality. It felt like a hard punch in the gut. This time, it was a wonderful wave of relief. Once Wisconsin and Michigan were called for Biden, I became confident. So did Biden and his team. They launched his transition website.
On Thursday morning, it was becoming apparent that Biden could take Georgia and Pennsylvania, but the margin was shrinking in Arizona. Roller. Coaster.
Friday morning news graphics showed four battleground states with outstanding votes – Georgia, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Arizona – were all in the blue. And they stayed there.
I was a TV junkie all week. I heard many secretaries of state from battleground states talk about their election process. All of them were proud of their state's efforts, and all were very affirming: the election was performed carefully, transparently, fairly, with integrity, and every single vote was being counted by dedicated poll workers. Our democracy works.
This is an important point to make. The elections are run not by the Federal government, but by states and local officials. Local election commissions run elections. County clerks run elections. Some of the officials are elected; some are appointed. Every state – indeed every county in the nation – does things differently. But for all of their differences, they do their job steadfastly and ethically. Our system is completely decentralized, and that's what makes it both frustrating and absolutely wonderful.
Late Thursday we endured 20 minutes of lies and some very disturbing attacks on our democracy from the finger-lickin' puckerface. As expected, he attacked our processes and spun wild conspiracy theories, of course without a shred of evidence. He hadn't grasped that the voters are in charge. There is no evidence of fraud anywhere. Please, someone send a memo to the Whitewash House? In a style he understands: THERE IS NO CONSPIRACY TO STEAL THE FREAKING ELECTION. THIS IS OUR DEMOCRACY SPEAKING. THE VOTERS DECIDE. WE THE PEOPLE VOTED YOU OUT.
It was disappointing that more Repugs didn't rebuke the orange anus's Thursday statement. A few did issue comment defending democracy the next morning, but others, particularly the odious Lindsey Graham, and Ted Cruz, supported the festering boil. But a bright spot: one of the best voices was former New Jersey governor Chirs Christie, close TЯUMP advisor and ABC News commentator, who said immediately and forcefully: "We heard nothing today about any evidence. This kind of thing, all it does is inflame without informing. And we cannot permit inflammation without information."
And the count went on.
It. Took. For. Ever. We are in a historic time. It would have been unwise to call the election before it was crispy around the edges. Due to the pandemic, states and counties were implementing brand-new election methods. Pennsylvania, for example, had never had a state-wide mail-in ballot. Oregon and Washington? They've been doing only mail-in voting for decades. Add to Pennsylvania's woes: the state GOP actually muddied the waters by not allowing pre-canvassing. If county clerks had been allowed to start processing mail-in and drop-off ballots as they came in, the actual counting wouldn't have taken all freaking week.
But the fact that it happened this way: Americans and the world can be confident in the integrity of our process.
Some election notes:
This election turned out a record-setting projected 66.4% voter turnout, giving Joe Biden over 74.5 million votes, the most votes received by a presidential candidate ever. Yay Joe!
The networks were very careful in calling states' electoral votes.to characterize states as "too early to call" (vs. "too close to call") during the first couple days, and did not call states such as Arizona and Nevada even though the math was pretty clear that Biden would take those states. The Associated Press and Fox News (!!) called Arizona for Biden really early, while most other outlets held off until [....still loading].
There were some deep disappointments. It is quite dismaying that so many Americans just don't seem to have been paying attention over the last four years and still chose to support the fascist, misogynistic, racist toddler. It makes one wonder. Are they really truly that uninformed? Or are they misinformed? Did 45's propaganda work? Did Russia's propaganda work? Why have millions of Americans stopped thinking? Books shall be written about that.
And the Senate seats we expected to flip, didn't. But! Both of Georgia's Senate seats will be up for run-offs in January. It's possible that Dems will control the Senate if they win both of Georgia's Senate seats. Get ready to donate and write postcards again! Otherwise, we'll have to wait until 2022 to get the Senate.
That the blue wave didn't crash over us, was surprising and saddening. I must say, the Dems who rigged the election and stole it from the Mango Mussolini really should've planned better and held on to House seats, got rid of Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell, and flipped the United States Senate. And how 'bout more states and a bigger margin next time, huh?
One of the best story of the election: Georgia! I'm so happy for the results in Georgia. Though there is a razor-thin margin of less than 10,000 votes as I write this, Georgia flipped blue! They haven't voted for a Democrat since 1992. Georgia is the poster child of voter suppression and the fight for voter rights. What a success story! Thank you, Stacey Abrams, for being the consummate community organizer and getting out the vote for Georgia and across the country! Let's have more from Ms. Abrams! She's a national hero!
Indeed, Black people from coast to coast mobilized and voted. We owe a debt of gratitude to black people for making this election happen.
It was quite a journey this week, but in the end... We the people prevailed. We did it. Go, Team U.S.A!
Congratulations, Resisters! We did it!!
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