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Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Post-Election Relaxation

America has breathed a long sigh of relief that it's all over, and has settled back into its comfort zone once more. The elected officials will again be left to their own devices.

Although we get all fired up for the elections, only 40% of us actually vote during non-presidential elections, and we are the ones that determine the direction of the country. The 60% who don't bother to vote, sit about on their keisters happily talking smack about the latest policy issues. And, sadly, perhaps 35% of that 40% also return to doing nothing.

Our elected officials know that. Once they're in office, they are much less influenced by the reasons we voted for them. But, it's our own fault. They aren't mind readers! So, they're left to their own interpretations and we can hardly cry "foul" unless we change what we are doing.

Now that you know this, let's see who gets to determine our policies in Florida going forward:

And the Winners Are...

Florida Governor: Charlie Crist (R)
Florida Attorney General: Bill McCollum (R)
Florida CFO: Alex Sink (D)
Florida Agriculture Commissioner: Charles Bronson (R)
Florida U.S. Senate: Bill Nelson (D)
Florida U.S. House: Gus Bilirakis (R), Bill Young (R) etc., etc., ad nauseum

I'm really not surprised or very disappointed by the results.

Gov. Charlie Crist: Although I voted differently, I've met Crist and he's a very personable man who's carefully positioned himself as a moderate. Let's just hope that he doesn't forget what he's recently claimed to be, because when I met him 10 years ago, he was pandering to the ultra-right wingers.

Charles Bronson: I also voted against Charles Bronson (Agriculture Commissioner) because he's in the pocket of Big Sugar and the cattle industry. We can be guaranteed that he will not be particularly interested in any environmental concerns. And if it comes to consumer vs. Big Business, I think we know who will win.

Overall, we did great, Florida! I'm delighted to see that the heavy rains didn't hold back the Democrats, as they usually do.

On the national front, the Democrats won the House of Representatives, which is probably very healthy for our country right now. We're still waiting to find out if the Senate remains red (R) or has turned blue (D). Interestingly, Bush is calling for everyone to work together. Er... just as they always have... Right? Right?

Bush may quickly discover that "paybacks are hell."

17 comments:

Ed said...

I guess I was kind of hoping (still am) that the Senate would stay red just so that we don't spend the next two years in "payback" mode. Kind of a check for the now blue house. But if it does go blue, I hope that some useful legislation can be passed in-between all the payback stuff.

I was really surprised this morning when Iowa added to the Democrat House sweep. Evidently we voted out 30 year Republican incumbent Jim Leach. That wasn't even on the radar map of all the analysts as being a possibility.

exMI said...

I rather fear that the next two years will be nothing but "pay back" Little will be accomplished figure that most of the Republicans that lost were the moderates and the hardliners are mostly still there and there will be very little bi-partisan acation. It is just going to be ugly.

mal said...

I am a bit disappointed in the governors race here, but I did vote my mind *S* maybe the narrow margin will give some pause in his thinking?

Minnesota typically has one of the highest turn outs in the nation. I have not heard yestedays tally yet, but in 04 it exceeded 70%

Anonymous said...

Work together??
The only thing either side works on is getting re-elected for the priveledge of spending our tax dollars unwisely. How in the name of Darwin (it tickles me when I say that) can these people spend 87 catyrillion dollars to hold a job paying $200k or less in most cases?
Idiocy I tell you.
lol@jef
jsull

Anonymous said...

I can't imagine how Bush is going to spin this! Let's hope for the best.

Ellen said...

I'm inclined to agree with JSULL on this issue.... nevertheless, I did vote. It's still the greatest privilege we have as Americans.

Our state is Republican, and stayed that way for the most part in this election. Me... I'm still waiting in line with Slopmaster to see if anything ever comes of the Libertarian Party.

The Lazy Iguana said...

The thing about ole Charlie - he was the Attorney General under the Jebster. So what exactly did he do while in that office about anything? Why was it that under his and Jeb's watch, property insurance rates were allowed to go up by 50 - 70% a year?

And NOW he is going to do something about it? Uhhhh....Ill believe it when I see it.

Bronson STOLE MY LIME TREE! My lime tree was not sick. It did not have canker. The State was supposed to inform me where the sick tree was, but they just never did. The infected tree was supposed to be within 250 yards (or something like that) of my tree.

But no! They just sent in the tree gestapo with their saws and trucks. The tools they used were not disinfected from house to house. Trees were chipped and hauled off in OPEN containers. The tree gestapo was paid by the State per tree, so the more they cut down the more they were paid. Hardly a fair process.

If there was any canker, all they did was spread it. Failing to disinfect tools was just like using the same needle to give 100 people a flu shot.

Needless to say, I really wanted him to go away.

The Attorney General....I do not know if I care about that just yet. I would have liked to see that position go blue, and even more so since Charlie won. Having a Republican gooberner and a Democrat Attorney General would be fun! How would that work? But oh well.

The CFO is something new. I do not even know what that guy will do. So I do not really seem to care too much right now.

AQ said...

"The CFO is something new. I do not even know what that guy will do."
The new CFO is a female. Alex Sink is the wife of former Gubernatorial candidate, Bill McBride. Not really making a point here, just tossing some trivia into the conversation.

The Lazy Iguana said...

I still have no idea what the new CFO will do. But hey! What a cool sounding title! She can say "I am the CFO of Floirda!". Sounds impressive.

When someone asks her what she does, she can say "you know....CFO stuff!".

Hey - I think I just made my first (bad) CFO joke! This is a good sign.

AQ said...

Lazy, I'm sorry about your lime tree.

High Power Rocketry said...

I am pretty happy.

The Lazy Iguana said...

I am too! Organic limes man! No DDT! The only fertlizer the tree got was doggy poop. Kind of gross, but when you think about it nature is kind of gross in general.

LONG before you could buy Coca-Cola with lime, I was making my own. They totally ripped off my idea!

And tea with lime! There is nothing better.

Charlie Bronson - YOU OWE ME A LIME TREE! One that bears fruit! So fork it over already!

Jenn said...

I voted and somehow I feel like it didn't count.

Who is this Chad guy anyway?

Jenn said...

PS We Washingtonian Webfeet out here mail our ballots.

exMI said...

ok, I have to ask, What did they do to the Lime tree??????

The Lazy Iguana said...

Chopped it down, pulled the stump, dragged it out to the truck, and fed it to the chipper.

exMI said...

Leading to the next obvious question, Why?