Last thoughts about the election

I was on the BBC’s Newhour with Claire Bolderson very, very early in the morning to talk about the election, so my head’s still a bit groggy. Still, a few assorted odds & ends this morning: I said that the concession speech was going to be my favorite part of the evening, and John McCain ...

By Daniel W. Drezner, a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

November 5, 2008, 4:54 PM

I was on the BBC's Newhour with Claire Bolderson very, very early in the morning to talk about the election, so my head's still a bit groggy. Still, a few assorted odds & ends this morning: I said that the concession speech was going to be my favorite part of the evening, and John McCain did not disappoint. He turned his audience's boos at the mention of Barack Obama to relatively warm applause (though click here as well). UPDATE: I agree with Jonathan Martin that President Bush hit the right grace notes in his morning address as well. Obama's acceptance speech was equally gracious. Mickey Kaus notes the things that weren't mentioned. What I found interesting was the fact that he explicitly addressed non-Americans. Stepping back, the election night does not appear to have been as strong for the Democrats as some had hoped. They're not going to get to 60 seats in the Senate -- though that was always an outside shot at best. The House gains also appear to be smaller than expected. Given the gains they had two years ago, this is not terribly surprising, but it is worthy of note. So much for the Bradley Effect. Now comes the fun part for the policy wonks -- who gets what job, and who gets snubbed!! Based on Obama's organization to date, I expect the transition to be pretty quick. I'm hopeful that after this week, the names Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, and Tony Rezko will never be uttered on news shows ever again. 45 years ago, in his "I have a Dream" speech, Martin Luther King Jr. said that, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Obama was two years old when King said that. It's a testament to King's vision that, in 2008, Obama ran a campaign that asked Americans to do just that. I'm sensing from my readers that they would like to see some more Salma Hayek posts. While not involving the lovely and charming Ms. Hayek, I hereby link to the World's Most Awesome Commercial Ever. That is all.

I was on the BBC’s Newhour with Claire Bolderson very, very early in the morning to talk about the election, so my head’s still a bit groggy. Still, a few assorted odds & ends this morning:

I said that the concession speech was going to be my favorite part of the evening, and John McCain did not disappoint. He turned his audience’s boos at the mention of Barack Obama to relatively warm applause (though click here as well). UPDATE: I agree with Jonathan Martin that President Bush hit the right grace notes in his morning address as well.
Obama’s acceptance speech was equally gracious. Mickey Kaus notes the things that weren’t mentioned. What I found interesting was the fact that he explicitly addressed non-Americans.
Stepping back, the election night does not appear to have been as strong for the Democrats as some had hoped. They’re not going to get to 60 seats in the Senate — though that was always an outside shot at best. The House gains also appear to be smaller than expected. Given the gains they had two years ago, this is not terribly surprising, but it is worthy of note.
So much for the Bradley Effect.
Now comes the fun part for the policy wonks — who gets what job, and who gets snubbed!! Based on Obama’s organization to date, I expect the transition to be pretty quick.
I’m hopeful that after this week, the names Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, and Tony Rezko will never be uttered on news shows ever again.
45 years ago, in his “I have a Dream” speech, Martin Luther King Jr. said that, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Obama was two years old when King said that. It’s a testament to King’s vision that, in 2008, Obama ran a campaign that asked Americans to do just that.
I’m sensing from my readers that they would like to see some more Salma Hayek posts. While not involving the lovely and charming Ms. Hayek, I hereby link to the World’s Most Awesome Commercial Ever.

That is all.

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner