Breathe out

For months, every time I would share with Steve some bit of news implying Romney was doing well, he would say "Obama will win.  There's no way he can lose the electoral college."  I would say "You can't say that!  It's not over till it's over.  Remember 2000?"  And then we would carry on until the next such conversation.  

I am more Irish than anything else, and I was petrified.  If I thought just one positive thing, it would all go to pieces and Obama would lose.  When Ohio was called for Obama and Facebook and the convention hall went wild, I just sat in angst.  Steve said "See?"  And my mom texted "I am afraid to believe in the call for obama.  I am doing a tiny fist pump in the closet in the dark with the door shut.  Shhh, don't tell."

I come by it honestly, my friends.  

In fact, I'm pretty sure the Huskies won the 2001 Rose Bowl because of the "positive power of negative thinking."  On every play, my uncle would say "he's going to miss" or some such appropriate thing and would not allow us to get excited.  

I had to stay up through Romney's concession speech and Obama's acceptance speech to be sure the "decision desks" at the networks wouldn't take away the victory.  And of course, Wednesday morning I had to check again first thing to be sure Obama really had won.  I'm finally feeling pretty settled that no one's going to find a way to take this to the Supreme Court.  Though I sure wish the Times would finally call Florida.

Prop 30 passed, which is good for California, although I'm sorry to see we're still imposing the barbaric death penalty.  I wish Prop 37 had passed so we could know about genetically modified foods.  But with Elizabeth Warren (read her book The Two Income Trap) replacing Scott Brown in the senate (and she'll soon be ours back in MA) and the big wins for marriage equality, it was a good night.  And, I think we are safe to say that for the first time in US history, health care will be accessible by all starting in 2014!  Obama ain't perfect, but that's a helluva legacy.  Here's a good read on what we might dare hope for in the next 4 years. 

The biggest win, though?  Marriage equality.  I am quite proud that, excepting California, every state I've ever lived in has it - Washington!  Maryland!  Massachusetts!  Time to get this one sorted out, Cali.  

I'm re-posting this from Finslippy because it's a worth a watch:

Here's to progress!  And to both my babies being born with a black man in the white house!