Jack Walter’s Twitter page Feb 19th.

 

11:30 PM

Roomm4t3 thr3w m3 out of t3h dorms. Said I had to “get a life” and that I “shouldn’t waste valentines day playing wii sports in my underwear.” Bar3ly got out with my bl4ckb3rry. I’ve posted a poll on my Facebook and Myspace pages to see if you agree with him.

11:32

Going to go to the local Frats d4nce. At least they have fr33 b33r. L33t

11:40

Stupid GPS lied about where the Frat was, but I found it. Turns out it was right in front of our dorm whoops lol :S.

11:50

Oh my god this party sux!!! It’s too dark, the music is terrible, the b33r is cheap though it is b33r, and… holy crap, girls kissing! XD

11:59

Dropped my bl4ckb3rry, :S but it’s fine. I paid the extra $200 for the indestructible L33t version . What was I talking about? Let me recheck the posts.

12:01

Yeah, the party sux. I’m going to stuff a few b33rs in my pocket and head to mc… cute girl alert!!!! :3 She’s just dancing by herself towards the corner. Should I go over th3r3? 3v3ry time I talk to girls that act m3g4 3vil, but she’s sooo cute XD. Post on my page and I’ll follow the advice of the fifth poster.

12:13

Chickwilliams2321 says “Ball up man, and get yo ass over there.” alrighty then here I go.

12:15 okay NOW here I go.

12:20 we danced :D:D:D:D! Not very w3ll, and only for a few minutes b4 she told me to stop, but we danced! She has a bl4ckb3rry too and friended me on facebook. I’m going to send her a superpoke.

12:23 okay, I’m totally not sure what to use here. Is the kiss too forward? What about a bitchslap? For irony? Hug? Is that too wishy-washy? I’ve put a poll on my myspace account with a list of options. I’ll go dance with her some more, and in about 15 minutes I’ll check the poll and do whichever one wins.

12:45 I sp3nt the l4st 20 mins texting her, she is 4we5ome:D. I just checked the facebook poll and you guys voted on a bitchslap superpoke.

12:46 just sent it.

12:47 she’s checking her facebook… now she’s typing something.

12:48 got an e-mail. facebook says she sent me a superpoke.

12:49. Wow, I didn’t know they made a superpoke for that .

12:50 okay how hot is she? Seriously, how hot is she? I t00k a pic and am uploading it on my profile. Tell me how hot you think she is in my “how hawt is she?” poll.

12:53 5he’s coming up to m3, and she looks frisky

12:55 she saw the “how hawt is she?” poll and kcked m3 in t3h nutz. …lsinmg consioudsness. cant tipe. p4in…

 

election 2008 losers

Losers

Northern Republicans:

While republican Susan Collins held her senate seat in Maine, New Hampshire republican senator john Sununu lost his senate seat. Chris shays lost in Connecticut, and with that, there aren’t any more house republicans in New England. An area that was once a haven to moderate republicans has become toxic to all but the most popular and moderate republicans. Look for democrats to target Judd Greg in 2010, and a possible cabinet position or party change for Olympia Snowe (R-ME). Republicans in New York lost three house seats, and are now left with the same number in the state. They also lost the New York senate, depriving them of any power within Albany. Republicans failed to win any house seats in Pennsylvania, losing one in the process, along with losses in New Jersey, Maryland, and the loss of electoral votes in Indiana. Of the four house seats the republicans gained, three came from the south. Being a regional party (especially one primarily in the south) is never an advantageous place to be.

Bill Clinton:

Bill’s legacy will take a beating over the next four to eight years. Aside from Hillary losing the primary, despite all of his efforts, there’s the inevitable comparisons between Obama’s win and Clinton’s wins. While Clinton won more electoral votes than Obama, Obama has the mandate that Clinton never did. Obama won a majority of the vote, turned three states blue that Clinton never did, and unlike Clinton, Obama had gains in the house and senate when elected. If Obama governs better than Clinton, then people may start to forget the good times during the Clinton years and focus more on the scandals and impeachment. One good piece note for Clinton is he no longer holds the record for worst performance in the south for a winning democrat. Obama only won three southern states to Clinton’s four.

Missouri

As this is being written, McCain holds a 6,000 vote lead in Missouri. Should this hold, it would mean that Missouri’s record of always voting for the winner of the presidential election since 1956 would be over. This may not bold well for Missouri democrats, but considering they took the governor’s seat, they probably don’t have to worry about that.

Wave prognosticators

Almost every media outlet predicted a wave election with +30 democratic gains in the house and 7-9 senate seats gained. While the senate is still up in the air, it is unlikely that democrats could get more than seven seats. It appears the democrats will be victorious in a net total of 17-20 seats. It was a good night for dems, but not a wave. The media was way off on this.

Gay rights activists.

Gay marriage bans passed all over the country and one such ban is likely to pass in California. Arizona, which in 2006 voted against such a ban, reversed course, voting to ban gay marriage. While democrats won big in the election, they’d be wise to avoid issue of gay marriage, or at least tread cautiously, lest they incur the publics wrath.

Clean government fans

Convicted felon Ted Stevens appears likely to win re-election in Alaska, along with Alaska house rep Don Young who’s being investigated by the FBI. William Jefferson, the democratic Congressman who was caught with thousands of dollars in his fridge is likely to return to congress. Seriously? A CONVICTED FELON??!!??!! What the hell Alaska, what the hell?

Turnout.

While results are still coming in, it doesn’t look like turnout was that much higher than it was in 2004. It might increase by one million votes or so, but at the moment, the number votes in 08 look the same as in 04.

Dubya

There are so many reasons why he lost, but here’s a big one. Bush lost the distinction of having the votes for president, and unless McCain gets a lot of votes, he will keep the distinction of having being elected, but still have more people voting against him than any other person elected president.

election 2008 winners

The media are going be stating and restating over the few months who won tonight, but they’re going to make the most obvious choices. What about the not so obvious winners and losers. There are those who won big silently, or lost big and are in hiding. It’s time to bring these winners and losers into the light to get the full picture of what election night means for the next four to eight years. 

 

Winners:

Historians:

Between the historic nature of the primaries, and the election, not to mention the thrills of the campaign, this will talked about by historians for years. First African American president, first potential female nominee, republican vice presidential nominee, first potential Italian nominee, there were a lot of firsts. Looking beyond labels, the election was the most exciting in years. While 2007 will likely be glossed over, everything from Iowa on will be meticulously examined and debated in political science classes, and will provide easy work for plenty of political advisors, analysts and professors.

Howard Dean and the 50 state strategy:

Dean argued in 2004 that democrats needed to expand beyond Ohio Pennsylvania and Florida. Dean lost, then Kerry lost in 2004, but Obama learned from their mistakes. Obama adopted the 50 state strategy, and reconfigured the electoral map. Obama won States that haven’t gone democratic since 1964, like Indiana and Virginia. Republicans also lost North Carolina for the first time since 1976. Margins in strong republican states diminished greatly, nearly costing McCain Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, and possibly Missouri (the results are still out). Democrats gained house and senate seats in Virginia, possibly Maryland, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, Alabama, Arizona, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida Nevada, New York and others. Democrats won democratic and republican districts, in democratic and republican states. Republicans retook three very republican districts and one seat from a scandal plagued incumbent. The fifty state strategy worked.

Rasmussen Reports

This polling firm correctly pegged the final result at 52-46 for Obama. Unlike zogby, Gallup, and all the others that gave Obama a larger lead, Rasmussen was dead on.

Southwestern democrats.

Democrats made major gains in the southwest, McCain’s region of the country. New Mexico democrats gained two house seats, and now have an all democrat congressional congregation. Democrats in Nevada, Colorado, and Arizona all gained a house seat, along with a senate seat in Colorado and New Mexico. Starting with making Nevada an early primary state, and choosing Denver as the convention location, to election night, Democrats are laying down roots in the south west.

Oprah

Her endorsement helped Obama in Iowa, gave him some much needed extra star power in the beginning, and the sudden camera shot to her in the crowd during the speech was hilarious. Oprah in 2016?

Saturday night live.

Rather than explain it, just go here 

 

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/episodes/

Election night almanac

Here’s a link to a great election night alamanac written Xiao Xi Zhang and myself (Taylor Poro).  it’s provided on the college democrats web blog, feel free to comment.  The whole thing should be up soon (it’s big).  It should provide a lot of useful information for tonight, and don’t forget to check out my liveblog starting at 5:30 on the volante website.

 

http://blogs.usd.edu/usddems/entry/the_election_guide