The Good and The Bad

While I’m overjoyed with many of the election results: Obama won by a landslide, and NH has sent Shaheen to the house and re-elected its Democratic House members and Governor Lynch, there are a lot of interesting results to report on:

• Washington (state) voted almost 60-40 to allow physician-assisted suicide for the terminally-ill.
• By an even greater majority (63-37%), Michigan voted to allow medicinal marijuana. And apparently, Massachusetts also decriminalized the possession of under an ounce of marijuana. (Note that there’s an important distinction, though: marijuana is still illegal, but possession of under an ounce will get you a fine, not handcuffs.)
• Nebraska voted to end affirmative action, almost 60-40. Colorado has a similar vote, which is extremely close right now.
• In a close (53-47%) vote, Michican voted to allow stem-cell research.
• In the highest disparity of the nationally-reported ballot initiatives, 70% of Massachusetts voters saw that Question 1, eliminating the state income tax, would have disastrous consequences and voted it down.
• Homosexuals lost out big, with Florida, Arizona, and California voting to ban gay marriage in their state constitutions, and with Arkansas voting to ban homosexuals from adopting children. Curiously, 52% of California voters thought homosexuals had to be stopped, while only 48% thought minors having abortions had to be stopped; 56% of Arizona voters thought homosexuals had to be stopped, while only 41% thought that the hiring of illegal immigrants had to be stopped.

Oh, and the big surprise of the night? It looks as if Ted Stevens, the disgraced Alaskan senator, was re-elected by a hair. Most analysts predict that, when he returns to the Senate, he will pretty much be kicked out immediately, and then a special election will occur, in which Sarah Palin will likely win.

In Minnesota, Al Franken appears to have been defeated by 690 votes, out of 2.86 million votes, an 0.025% margin. Oregon is very close, too, but the votes are still being tallied. Thus Democrats didn’t get the 60 seats in the house Republicans were terrified of, so they’ll have to rely on having good ideas.

And ABC reports that Kenya has declared Thursday a national holiday in their country to celebrate Obama’s victory. The article on international perspectives also managed to interview the most stereotypical Italian ever. Described as “Drinking their coffees and cappuccinos” when interviewd, one Italian commented, “This is change. Not like that Bush. … Oh mamma mia.”