Wednesday, November 05, 2008

I wouldn't be a hoosier if I actually Mattered

I know that most people are probably more than over the election by this point. Enough with the debates, the nasty commercials, the he hangs out with so and so, but he's gonna raise my taxes. It's finally done! Some people are thrilled, some terrified, some indifferent. For me, it's kind of bitter sweet...

Living in Indiana it's always been a little hard to get excited about the Presidential election. Since 1964 Indiana has voted red EVERYTIME! Now, I don't consider myself a republican or a democrat. In my opinion both parties are way to screwed up for me to associate myself with them. None the less, Indiana has always been completely ignored in the Presidential race. Republicans don't visit here, because they know they have our vote so why waste the money. Democrats don't visit here because they know they can't get our vote so why waste the money. Basically every campaign just assumes we are a red state and always will be. Heck, Bush beat Kerry by 20 points in Indiana in 2004!

I'd like to thank Hillary Clinton for changing that. While most people think that Senator Clinton should have dropped out of the primaries loooooong before she did, by staying in, she forced Barack Obama to come to the Hoosier state. Once he got here he must have realized that hey, there are people here who care. There are people here who want to see change. There are people here who more than likely have voted Republican their whole life because that is what their parents did and no candidate ever made the effort to come here and say... "Hey, How 'bout me."

Typically, the polls close at 6pm and Indiana is called at 6:01pm (even though the polls in some counties don't actually close till 7pm because they are on central time). Last night was different though. We weren't the first state called, or the second. It looked like Indiana mattered. CNN, FoxNews, MSNBC.. they were all talking about us. It seemed as though our vote might actually matter. It was AWESOME!!!! Then we hit a snag....

It was soooo close, that they refused to call our state!!!! Sometime around 11pm MSNBC declared that Barack Obama would be the President Elect. While I was excited, I still wanted to know about Indiana. I finally came to terms with the fact that once again, our little state didn't really matter much and went to bed. The Boyfriend informed me that around 2am they FINALLY called Indiana. BLUE!!! IT WENT BLUE!!! That's historical for us! So... in the long run I guess we still didn't matter (not that votes don't matter - but we didn't truely affect the outcome) but for a little while at least, we had the nation watching. And because of what Obama was able to do, I suspect future candidates will stop writing us off. AWESOME!

One more thing... favorite quotes of the political seasion... First, I guess this isn't really a quote because I can't remember what was said exactly, but Hillary Clinton at a rally in Kokomo said "incentivizing." I had to come home and look it up to make sure it was a real word. I was a little disappointed when I discovered that it was. I like it when people make up words and use them like they are real. Ok... #2... From my dear Lizzie Jane with whom I always have fascinating conversations (we seem to agree on very little, yet get along wonderfully.. it's awesome!) "I lived in Florida for the last one [Presidential Election], so my vote counted twice." HAHAHA!!! Score one for Lizzie Jane and her endless wit. And finally, my own quote, and the title of this post... "I wouldn't be a Hoosier if I actually mattered."

Happy end of election season!!! (Indiana counts!!! ... well... sort of.)

posted at 11:37 AM   ::   0 comments