Paris newspaper
5 November 2008There can be only one
after nearly two years of a seemingly endless campaign, voters go to the polls today to choose the next president of the united states. it has been a long, strange trip. neither aspirant was blessed to be their party’s assignee at the start of this political saga. john mccain, innumerable will-power memorialize, nearly dropped out of the race before it had started. barack obama was up against one of the most awesome factious machines in history, or so it seemed. but both candidates made it through the grueling primary spice (more so for the democrats) and the choice america was left with seemed like a unimpressive one to us. we called it “america at it’s best”.
It was not. We had hoped for a proper debate about policies, but instead watched a fight over image, associations, and who could be more populist. After breaking his pledge to accept public financing, Mr Obama spent more money than any presidential candidate in history. Mr McCain surprised everyone by picking an underqualified governor from Alaska as his running mate. The electoral college moved this way and that way. All predictions went out the window.
But for all the shortcomings of the campaign, both candidates offer hope of national redemption. And so we are seeing record voter turnout around the country today. The first polls close at 7pm (EST) and then we will be inundated with exit polls and results. Our correspondents from around the country will be watching the results and commenting here. We hope you will too.
12:20: Well, now it’s time to obsess over who is going to be in the cabinet and how large our next stimulus cheques should be. That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks as always to our excellent commenters. Next liveblog: the State of the Union.
12:16: That’s statesmanship. Good night, y’all.
12:14: Mr Obama nails the closing. A good speech. Now, Mr Obama, it’s time to govern.
12:12: Mr Obama invokes the New Deal. That’ll make some people nervous.
12:11: Mr Obama is spending a lot of time on foreign policy in this speech, certainly more than he has in his speeches over the last few weeks.
12:06: The road America needs to travel is steep, Mr Obama says. We might not get there “in one year or even one term”, he says. He simultaneously tries to lower expectations about his presidency and kicks off his reelection bid.
12:03: David Plouffe gets a shoutout before David Axelrod. Careful, Mr Obama, or Mr Axelrod might keep pretending that he’s not going to follow you to Washington.
11:58: Mr Obama needs to be wary of triumphalism. So far his speech seems to be: America did something great today by electing me. A nice acknowledgment of Mr McCain’s service, though.
11:51: And, now, the awkward time between the candidates’ speeches.
11:39: Eight years ago George Bush said in his inaugural speech what I still think is the most beautiful thing that can be said about America. He said that America is not a perfect country, but it is a country that can fix its mistakes, that can right the worst of its wrongs. I believe that’s true. I believe we can slowly step back from our worst; I think it’s good enough, and I think that’s as good as a system gets.
11:39: The woman is singing and I’m out of snark.
11:35: The New York Times home page looks like Man Walks on Moon.
11:31: McCain’s speech reminded me of the patriot that he is, or was. It was a fine concession speech.
11:30: “Whether they supported me or Senator Obama, I wish godspeed to the man who was my opponent, and will be my president.” A nice speech from Senator McCain. disconcerting that the crowd booed several mentions of Obama, but a nice speech from Mr McCain.
11:26: I always feel most sympathetic to politicians when they concede. They always do it with such class. Also, I am embarrassed to report that I know for a fact that John McCain’s exit music comes from the movie “Crimson Tide,” in w …
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on December 10th, 2008 at 11:08 am
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