After Meghan donated money and sent in her absentee ballot, there wasn't much else for us to do about the US elections besides obsessively following the twists and turns of the campaign. On November 5th (late night 4th in the US), we all watched with an overwhelming sense of relief as the results came in. Here's Oliver congratulating President-Elect Obama as he gives his victory speech!
Throughout the election campaign, the news coverage was dominated by trivia like flag pins, tire gauges, and wardrobes, but did you know that the candidates had actual positions on policy issues such as disability? As
this post on the blog Crooked Timber says,
Disability policy never swings an election. And why should it? Unless you yourself have a disability, or unless you know someone with a disability, or unless you’re concerned about things like employment or health care, or unless you might get sick or injured someday, or unless you’re planning on aging, disability policy is irrelevant to you.
Well, it turns out that Senator Obama had some really comprehensive and smart disability policies. On the other hand, Senator McCain merely wanted to cut costs, so his policy could be summarized, more or less, as "Don't become disabled." (Again, if you're interested,
this post is worth reading.) I guess we'll see how
President Obama's plans survive the ongoing economic crisis.
