Morning-after election reactions

I enjoyed participating in our democracy yesterday and will try to do it more so between elections as well (letters to our leaders pleading for instant run-off voting, anyone?).

I voted for Barack Obama and am at peace with my decision. I didn't agree with anyone completely on issues, and probably couldn't even quantity with whom I agreed "most." Issues tend to matter more to me when it comes to electing the people who cast the votes anyway. I want a president I trust and who I think will try to pull Americans together, and more than anything who I think will consider every decision carefully and perhaps have a sick feeling when considering matters of war. I reviewed all of the candidates on my ballot and decided Mr. Obama was the one that fit this best.

Ralph Nader has some very good ideas, but I think he's lost his usefulness as a candidate. I don't want him as president at this point and any fantasies I may have had about giving support to a third party were dashed by his decision to remain independent once again. Maybe David Brooks will start a party in 2012.

As I said, I'm just happy to have participated. I wanted to give my voice to the mass decision yesterday, while also never forgetting that our true salvation comes from the one man Who was begotten, not elected.

This morning I'm enjoying the fact that the Al Franken/Norm Coleman race is still undecided, partially because of the Independence Party's Dean Barkley pulling 15% (up into the 20s in some counties!). I'm very proud of Minnesota's independent voting spirit, even if I no longer have anything to do with it. Minnesota: Where no state election is ever a given.

One more note about my own voting yesterday. We had only three items on our ballots in Pembroke, VA, unfortunately: President, U.S. Senator, and U.S. Representative. If I remember correctly, there were about 6 choices for President, 4 for Senator, and just 1 for Representative. This last was so disappointing to me that I decided to vote for a write-in: "SOMEONE NEW."