Election 08

[tealin]

I know that almost everyone reading this watched the election coverage on one of the major news networks, or else the Stewart/Colbert special. Nothing wrong with that, I would have liked to see the Stewart/Colbert special myself, but I am fantastically glad that I stayed at work and watched the webcast of BBC World because wow, that was surprisingly fun.



I tried to caricature everyone they talked to after about 6:30 pm PST (complete guess at the time). In the image above are both candidates, a commentator with a crazy face who kept turning out like Richard Nixon, Nancy Pelosi, Dennis Kucinich(sp?), a New Yorker by the last name of Rubin who appeared to be drunk when they cut to him, and the poor map jockey who was SO TIRED by about 1am EST that he was just sort of flapping at the graphics and rambling. Who was the host? He was fantastic. DAVID DIMBLEBY! I want to give Mr Dimbleby a cookie. Most of his humour was in the delivery, but I tried to jot down some of my favourite quips of his regardless:

HOST: While you're talking, this is television, and we've got the Phoenix Boy's Choir, trying to cheer up the Republicans ... [long pause with barely audible choir] ... Well, there we are.
GUEST: I don't know if that'll do it.
HOST: People can be cheered by all sorts of things.

We go now to Nancy Pelosi, where is she, Washington or New York ... [footage of a crowd applauding Harry Reid] Doesn't look like the Nancy Pelosi I know...

And Republicans, not looking so cheerful, as we shall see in a moment ... [waiting for video link-up] if we can find ... non-cheerful Republicans ...?

We can go by the magic of television, which is indeed entirely magical, to Kenya!

[upon showing a still photo of Bush this evening, trying to relate what he said in his phone call to Obama, trails off into:] And an awesome night, as he called it ... and the president ... well, it's a photograph.

Here, you can see him in action!

But my favourite part was when Simon Schama and John Bolton were on the panel together. Mr Schama was just so happy to be there, and Mr Bolton was getting progressively grumpier as Obama started taking the lead and the folks in the studio and on assignment began to talk like he had it in the bag. We cut back to the studio from one remote correspondent, and:

BOLTON: [Something about it being 'interesting to see the'] joy in the hearts of the BBC to announce the defeat of the Republican party.
SCHAMA: [cracks up]
HOST: Steady on, steady on!

Comments

[pandoras-chaos.livejournal.com]

i love that you've managed to capture mccain's muppet-like looks even on a post it note.

bravo.

[ardys-the-ghoul.livejournal.com]

Wow, he does look kind of like a muppet, doesn't he? That had never occurred to me before you said that.

[(Anonymous)]

(giggles) And I thought that was just something my friends and I picked up on! We even began to call him Kermit because at one point my friend Jonathan was watching CNN on the T.V. in our cafeteria, and he said that he looks like Kermit the frog. Something to do with the cheeks, I suppose... anyway, I'm just glad we weren't the only ones to have noticed! :)

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

You know, watching his speech, I knew I was reminded of something, and while the thought of Muppet did cross my mind there was something particularly about the eyebrows that was setting it off, and Muppets (generally) don't have moveable eyebrows, so it had to be something else.

Today I realized what it was.



Just that one shot. I may have watched this too many times.

Excellent speech, though. I feel sorry for Mr McCain, he seems like a very nice and decent guy, and might have made a good president if it weren't for his choice of running mate and miguided campaign. It would have been great if he'd been elected four years ago.

[pandoras-chaos.livejournal.com]

i agree. i think he would have made a good president, but i like obama better. mainly because i disagree with almost all of john mccain's views.

however, i think it's nifty that this time around, i would have actually been ok with either president. granted i am really really glad obama won, but if mccain could ensure that horrible woman wouldn't go near the actual presidential seat, i wouldn't have minded him either.

hooray obama!

[ardys-the-ghoul.livejournal.com]

I'm kind of in the same mindset you are. Considering that McCain is getting up there age-wise, and that he's already had cancer once, and that if something happened to him Sarah Palin would be the one to take over...yeah.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

'S funny, because all the pundits on the radio who've been asked if Palin was influential in the vote keep saying 'People don't vote for the VP, they vote for the top of the ticket. I think her effect was negligible.' But so many ordinary people cite her as the reason they couldn't vote for McCain. Sometimes on the same radio program. ~Some~ people are evidently not listening.

[(Anonymous)]

oh yeah, both NPH and mccain have super prominent browbones. it's kinda freaky sometimes, haha...

ps yeah totally, mccain is a super swell guy, because joking about rape on the campaign trail is awesome and nice and decent:

"John McCain told the following "joke" on the campaign trail in 1986: "Did you hear the one about the woman who is attacked on the street by a gorilla, beaten senseless, raped repeatedly and left to die? When she finally regains consciousness and tries to speak, her doctor leans over to hear her sigh contently and to feebly ask, ‘Where is that marvelous ape?’"" (courtesy of http://www.jedreport.com/2008/07/john-mccains-ra.html)

oh, but if there's one thing he's good at, it's taking a stand on issues that matter to him. why did the guy, a former POW, turn around and vote "no" on banning US employment of torture last january? oh, uh, I guess he just moved on!

john mccain: a totally nice and decent man. totally.

[fani.livejournal.com]

*is jealous bcause I dont have BBC World atm *
:P

OBAMA BABY!

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I watched it online! BOOyeah!

[thearchduchess.livejournal.com]

We were watching BBC World in the college JCR. There were proper New Year's Eve style countdowns for when California etc. closed and much cheering/hugging. The downside of watching a US election in England is of course that I stayed up til 6 so I could see Obama's speech and I had a 9:45 seminar this morning. Ouch.

That Republican with the Nixon face was miserable to the extreme. I love him. And did you see the woman who had 'static in her ear'? She was pretty rad too.

I love how we don't get anywhere near as excited about our own elections...

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I love your icon. :D

Yeah, last night made me love the BBC all the more. Poor John Bolton clearly had no idea about its ways; he was so offended when one of the reporters actually challenged an interviewee rather than letting him walk all over him like most American interviewers do, and was aghast at how they were treating it all like theatre.

The BBC. It's what they do.

I have to admit I was concentrating so much on his face I didn't even know the Nixon guy was a Republican or that he was miserable. (He didn't look happy, though...) The static lady was great, though. And was she Scottish, that lady in red in New York? And is Eddie Izzard completely losing his accent or was it just for the special occasion?

[thearchduchess.livejournal.com]

Thank you - it was one of the first icons I ever 'snagged' of t'Internet :)

Some of the people they got on were absolutely barmy, but Dimbleby was obviously having a laugh with some of them.

Of course, Auntie Beeb is currently best at lying and offending beloved comedy actors.

He was getting angriest when they started acting as though it was a dead cert Obama would win. His bottom lip unpeeled from his face even more. I'm not sure whether she was Scottish - I was also freaked out by Nancy Pelosi, I'd never seen her before and was amused by her rather plastic-y face.

I nearly fell of the sofa when they trotted out Eddie Izzard. His accent is all over the place at the mo, but is clearly authoritative enough for him to be a valid political commentator!

[uberklutz.livejournal.com]

when it was certain Obama had taken the electorate votes, everyone was still jumping around I was like, "but wait! Gotta find out about California's props!" Sounds like some good, some bad. :-(
I was also very very pleased that McCain had a very respectful concession speech, and reassured by Obama's "yay you voted for me, but hot damn do we have a lot of work to do" speech. Very touching about the 106-year-old woman.

[canisdoofus.livejournal.com]

I'm using your John McCain as an icon.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Icon away! I'm glad I (and he) could be of service.

[ardys-the-ghoul.livejournal.com]

I was really put out, since by a series of unlucky events I was unable to vote. The fact that Obama won really cheered me up, though.

[iseepurplehair.livejournal.com]

I am somewhat alarmed by how spot-on your McCain is.

Also! I thought I should let you know what a girl in my forensics class had this drawing (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v241/twirlynoodle/watson-mary.jpg) on her poster for her book report on The Sign of Four. So, as a result your art will soon be hanging in the library at Grant high school in Portland.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, I's famous. :D

I did try drawing him four times; the first two ended up looking uncannily like Pope John Paul II. Practise, I guess. I'm not really happy with the ones I posted either, there's something I just wasn't getting, but ... meh. None of them are perfect.

(yaaaaay icon!)

[meganphntmgrl.livejournal.com]

Your little Obama drawing just looks so happy.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Well, to be fair, so did he.

[meganphntmgrl.livejournal.com]

I know. And with good reason.

And his happy made me happy.