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YOUNG Republicans? Twenty years old and already conservative? I had people like this in my office, only older. Kept chatting with each other, reassuring each other very happily several times over the summer that Obama had finally done something, made some crucial mistake, that would condemn him to John Kerrylike marginalism, and now he was done. Honestly, I think they were so deluded they were utterly blindsided until maybe about a month out, when they finally realized that moment hadn't really happened, and that on the contrary, with the financial crisis and every dumb word out of Sarah Palin's mouth, Obama's popularity was just getting stronger. Now they have to swallow their frustration and cope.
Some of my favorite quotes:
Many of my friends who worked for McCain had hoped to find jobs in his administration -- but now they're merely lawyers, bankers and consultants again, and in some cases have gone back to companies that no longer have room for them and industries that have been decimated by the economic crisis.
Aww. And whose fault is that?? Do your friends ever wonder why their law firms, banks, consulting firms and companies don't need them anymore? Couldn't be your party's greed that put them in financial peril and convinced them the way to solve it is by shedding workers? Hah. And don't tell me--their trust funds got decimated in the stock market. Oh dear.
(Walking into Fox is like slipping into a warm bath.)
Oh, but I thought they were "fair and balanced," not right-leaners. Really???? Well, I guess we got the truth straight from your mouth!
Margaret is pep incarnate. And she's recently engaged, so it was impossible for her take to be anything but blindingly sunny. And it was -- in fact, she offered the first exclamation point. "We are all Americans, and should be proud the whole world is watching!" she wrote in a cheerful e-mail. "Regardless of who you voted for, next week will be an incredible moment in American history, marked by a peaceful transition of power to the first black president."
Wow. Your friend Margaret sounds like a smart woman. In other words, give her a few years under Obama and she'll switch parties. There's hope for her.
But as bad as we have it in New York, my conservative friends in Washington have it worse, and many are planning their escapes. Lobbyist John Goodwin is spending four days with 10 pals in a cabin in Maryland, skiing and playing board games. J.P. Freire, the managing editor of the American Spectator, hopes to rent a lake or beach house with some buddies. "You can't get away from this" in town, he wrote. "It'll be in the bars till 4 a.m. every night when you're trying to sleep, and it'll flood the streets with traffic when you need to get groceries."
Aww. Why am I reminded of the Grinch, and how the thing he could stand the least on Christmas was having to listen to the happy Whos and their celebration racket? And why? Because his heart was two sizes too small. Hmm...perhaps these fellows should be grateful they can still "escape" the Obama inauguration hoopla by taking lovely vacations at the beach or a ski resort. For many people suffering under the past eight years of Bush, the concept of a vacation of any kind is a remote dream. For some of them, it's because they don't HAVE a job to take a vacation FROM.
As for me, I'll have to watch my fair share of coverage for my job. But maybe at some point I'll wander downtown to Wall Street, where George Washington was inaugurated, and try to imagine what it was like for New Yorkers to throw the first president of the United States his first inaugural ball. As much as I hate admitting it, I bet that like that first one, this year's inauguration will be a pretty good time. Just wish I could get in a partying mood.
Try it, Mr. Cupp. Just give it a try. Listen to your friend Margaret, who realizes that this isn't just a matter of another guy's sports team winning and yours losing and now you have to listen to the other guys party and rub it in. It's the life or death of your country here. This man is going to be responsible for dragging us ALL up out of the mud...you too. Try to wish him the best. I did when Bush was picked...as little as I wanted to. It was only after it became blatantly obvious that he had his head up his ass that my heart began to turn.
Who knows? If Obama does a good enough job, you might just see the light, too.
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