Wednesday, November 5, 2008

It's Finally Over!!!

The US Presidential election is finally over! Woohoo! It's been in the news since we moved to Texas in 2006. Yes, campaigning starts about two years before the election date...much too long if you ask me, but it lets candidates start fundraising earlier and we all know how expensive it is to run for president. Both Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney had to dig into their own pockets to support their own prospective campaigns.

Will I miss the endless political ads on television? No, not really, although they didn't bother me as much as the ads for the multitude of Propositions that were on the California ballot. It was estimated that it would take the average resident here about 30 minutes to vote considering everything that he/she had to vote for. I even kept a 'cheat sheet' that the San Francisco Chronicle published to keep track of all the propositions. It came in handy each time a prop ad appeared on television. In addition to state-wide props there were also municipal props...Must check to see if the prop allowing a new 49ers stadium off Great America Pkwy was passed and if the BART extension prop was passed.

The main thing I am hoping and praying for is that the president-elect does NOT raise taxes!! Let's just say there was a noticeable difference in the tax-rate moving from Texas to California...guess that's the price you pay for living with this gorgeous weather.

Oh, and for everyone amazed that the California Electoral College went Democratic during the presidential election and yet voted in Prop 8: this is a state that contains Hollywood and San Francisco and yet produced Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Remember that the 'Governator' Arnold Schwarzenegger is Republican. California is a land of dichotomy in so many ways: socially, politically, and geographically. Yet, with all these differences people view the state the same way: a land of opportunity -- with the best weather.

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