Illustration photo courtesy of sandiegopreviews.com
No point in stating the obvious: we know who won and who lost elections last night--in most cases, anyway. But this election also shaped trends likely to create winners and losers that impact campaigns for years to come.
Winners
1. Young voters. Right up through election day, pundits were wagging fingers, warning that "young people don't turn out." CNN exit polls show 18% of the electorate was under 30 and 66% of them went for Obama. Most of the young people who were first-time voters signed up to vote for Obama, did what they set out to do and should not be confused with the voting patterns of other young people in other elections. I'd like to see more detailed analysis on the first-timers.
2. Science. Sarah Palin's last minute attack on legit science came at a Pittsburgh rally, where she ridiculed federal funding of fruit fly research, "in Paris, France--I kid you not." Nevermind that fruit fly research won a Nobel Prize for demonstrating how genes are passed on through chromosomes, the basis for significant medical advances (including many that impace special needs children, the group Palin promised to make a priority). A McCain-Palin administration would have posed a bigger setback for medical research and the environment than that of George W. Bush, the prez who "doesn't believe in science."
3. Women. No, we didn't elect the first female president--or, vice president. But voters did protect a woman's right to choose, now that Barack Obama fills the next vacant seat(s) on the U.S. Supreme Court. Five justices will be over 70 by the time Obama is sworn in; Justice John Paul Stevens is nearly 90. There's some talk the first slot will go to Hillary Clinton, in an act of poetic, political justice.
OK, maybe that's enough for now. I"ll be back in a bit with the losers list.
Related Elections 2008 info: Obama elected president
Slideshow: Obama sweeps election
Examiner nationwide straw poll
Political issues in 2008
Examiner Coverage: Elections 2008
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