Clean Sweep for Obama on CloudEight!

The presidential election is upon us! It has been interesting to have such a close race, and with Deanna and I both having a background in politics, we have been interested in finding ways to engage the boys in the goings on.

My first memories of politics are from election night 1976, when my dorky 10-year-old self kept close track of the electoral count on a portable chalkboard (paper apparently hadn't been invented yet). I remember a general air of excitement, not so much at a particular outcome, but just because it was happening, with the news reports and crowds on tv and my parents letting me stay up late. Mostly I remember though how cool it was to hear the results coming in as States were called one way or the other until the race was determined. Since my three guys are very into both math and competition, I decided one way to get them interested and involved was to check out an electoral map. They took to it right away, asking a bunch of questions about why some states have so few votes (yo, Wyoming), how many electoral votes are needed to win, red states and blue states, which ones were undecided, etc. That led to wanting to see maps from previous races, and I found a cool site that had electoral maps with results going all the way back to George Washington's election. We spent awhile flashing through time, watching states get added to the union. Races that qualified as "creams" particularly caught their eye. Reagan wiping the North American tectonic plate with Mondale in 1984 was a particular source of laugh out loud amusement (whoa, that guy only won one State!!!), as was Nixon's trouncing of McGovern (who also managed to eke out victory in just one state).  

We also watched the second presidential debate together as a family (don't be jealous kids, it may sound awesomely fun to be a kid in our house, but it is not all non-stop crazy fun!). Owen in particular paid close attention, astutely summing up on the apparent dislike between the candidates by noting that it seemed like "which ever one of these guys wins would like to put the other guy in jail." He was paying even closer attention than we thought, because when it came time for the mock election at school, Owen informed us that he had persuaded several classmates to vote for Obama by explaining that Romney wants to use up all of our gas and coal before he builds any windmills. When I asked where he had heard that, he told me he had learned that from watching the debate.

While it appears between real voting and the school's mock election that there was a clean sweep for the President in our household this year, I am less concerned about who anyone voted for than building a bit of passion and interest in voting for the future - something I think we were somewhat successful in this year. And I certainly wouldn't view the sweep as a predictor of the election's outcome - my record of voting for winners has not always been stellar, dating back to my very first vote, for the ill-fated Gary Hart in the 1984 Illinois Democratic primary.  At any rate, whoever you support, Democrat, Republican, Green or Libertarian, be passionate in your support, and, assuming you are old enough, get out there and vote!

Times Up, Pencils Down. Please Hand in Your Votes

We here at CloudEight are projecting an Obama victory Tuesday, with Obama getting 51.8% of the popular vote, compared to McCain's 47.3%. We are able to make such a confident projection after Obama trounced McCain in voting by grade schoolers throughout our local school district, besting him by an almost 2 to 1 margin and winning in all three grade schools in town. This result was then fed into a sophisticated computer program developed with the able assistance of a junior-high kid CloudEight keeps on retainer for special projects such as this. The program is able to extrapolate the local grade-school results into nationwide results using census data, other math stuff, and 11 secret herbs and spices. While I am confident the grade school election results have yielded accurate data upon which to make our prediction, I am mildly concerned that the model is projecting that SpongeBob SquarePants, Miley Cyrus and Iron Man will split the remaining 1%. While it appears there may be some minor kinks to work out for 2012, our projection has a margin of error of just +/- 1/2%.

Interestingly, the margin of victory for Obama in Owen's kindergarten class was 20-3; even bigger then the districtwide margin. It was actually 19-4 until Mikey wisely decided he didn't want to throw his lot in with a loser and switched his vote - an insightful peek inside the head of the independent voter perhaps?

The grade school campaigns of the candidates appeared to be based around only three pieces of information - all critical in winning the all-important youth vote. So, while Owen may not be able to detail the finer points of the candidates' economic policies, he can tell you their favorite hobby (Obama = basketball, McCain = hiking), favorite books (Obama = Harry Potter, McCain = "some book about King Arthur") and favorite food (Obama=chili, McCain=tacos). In these answers we can see the reflections of the candidates. Basketball, a youthful, urban sport that emphasizes teamwork but allows the most talented to shine brighter than the rest and to even become superstars. Hiking, trying to be youthful, but a bit obscure and old fashioned seeming; eliciting images of McCain holding a walking stick, dressed in German alpine clothing while he trudges alone through meadows high in the Alps. Chili, a bold and spicy yet substantive food. Tacos, a food that could not seem less "McCain" like, eliciting suspicions of political pandering. Obama digging Harry Potter, perhaps seeing a bit of himself in Harry, the unlikely longshot hero with the funny hair/name, who, thrust from relative obscurity onto a broader stage, suddenly finds himself burdened with the outsized expectations of some and the target of insecure jealousy of others. While picking a book that has sold a gazillion copies may have been designed by Obama to counteract charges that he is "elitist", it was also a risky move that could have backfired if conservatives had been able to make hay out of an argument that Obama identifies himself with the elitist "wizards" and looks down with condescension on the Muggles who are clinging to God and guns in their desperate non-wizarding lives. McCain, King Arthur, again we see the political pandering ("Hey, I'm the next Camelot, not that one over there!") and general out of touchness (assuming that touchness is even a word).

It is too bad the schools did not ask the candidates the really tough questions, like what their favorite color is. Think about it. While Obama might have been tempted to go with red, a youthful and energetic color, it is also the color associated, rightly or wrongly, with Republican states. Would choosing red then result in charges of political pandering? But would choosing blue be playing it too safe, exciting your base while doing little to energize those in the middle. The logical choice then, is purple, the color of the all important independents. How about favorite sport? Would McCain have transparently sucked up to the all important grade school election demographic of males age 5-11 by choosing NASCAR.

While these and many other tough questions remain unanswered, it is time, at last, to go to the polls, cast our votes, and, hope for the best, visions of Quiddich as a demonstration sport at the 2016 Chicago Olympics dancing in our heads. See you on the other side of history.

Mr. Obama Goes to Springfield

Upon graduation from law school I spent a couple of years working as an attorney for the Senate Democrats in the Illinois General Assembly, where I was the lone democratic staffer for the Civil Judiciary Committee. My main job was to analyze the bills that came before the Committee and advise the four Democratic members of the Committee on the bills during Committee meetings. After the bills moved out of Committee to the full Senate, I would be present on the Senate floor to advise any of the Democratic Senators in the event they had questions. We would do other things too, write legislation, meet with lobbiests, etc. but the Committee support and analysis of bills was the main gist of the job. All in all, a pretty cool first job to have after law school.

Six months before I left the job, a newly hatched State Senator by the name of Barack Obama arrived in Springfield and was assigned to the Judiciary Committee. Before his first Judiciary Committee meeting, he summoned me to his office to talk about the bills and my analyses - my first meeting with this extraordinary person. I, like many others in the Statehouse, grasped quickly that this was a person of exceeding intelligence, charisma, talent, and ambition. But, as hard as it is to imagine at this particular moment in history, back in those early days, he was also just a normal person new to the job (well, as normal as a brilliant constitutional law professor from University of Chicago freshly elected to the Illinois Senate can be). I remember standing in a bar one night with him in those early weeks at some function or another, with him pointing to this person or that, asking me who they were, what their story was. Another time in those first months of Barack's legislative career, when Chicago's Mayor Daley was down in Springfield for an annual party that Chicago threw for legislators, I watched as Barack, after waiting in line, introduced himself to the Mayor, shook his hand, and posed to have his picture taken with him. I was aware even then that Barack was destined for bigger things so I paid attention to little moments like that. I have a cool black and white picture of Barack speaking on the floor of the Illinois Senate on a bill he had sponsored, with me standing to his left in the event he had questions or needed additional information. I liked and admired Barack, enjoyed the time I spent with him, and believe he liked me. I got to know Michelle Obama a bit as well, especially when we sat with Barack and Michelle at a friend's wedding not too long after I left the Senate job, and I thought she was fantastic. While I left the job disillusioned in some respects about politics and the legislative process, I continued to hold Barack in high regard. Several years later, Barack was one of my references when I got my current lawyering gig. It is simply amazing to think how far he has come in just these few years, although Deanna and I were predicting great things for him to anyone who would listen long before he became a household name.

The coolest thing to me about the Obama phenomenon is not the man himself, but what he inspires in others. Aside from knowing Barack personally, that is why I feel so strongly about this election. I actually first started this entry the day after Barack’s speech accepting the nomination for President. That day, still riding a wave of emotion from seeing this extraordinary person accept the nomination, I wrote that “No matter who wins this election, I firmly believe that we stand on the brink of a new American epoch. There is no denying the energy, aura, hope and power that hangs thick and heavy in the air today, like the smoke following a fireworks finale in the moment just before everyone exhales, turns their gaze from the sky, and goes back about their business. The culture is changing at a breakneck speed, and, at this moment, for the better. The last decade, defined by its winking cynicism, is slipping away, replaced by a rising tide of hope that will transform all in this nation who care to come along, for the better. The transition to the next epoch is happening now and will be marked in the coming years by turbulence – but, in four years, this world will be completely changed, whether for the good or the worse.” (Apparently my time in politics did not completely beat the optimism out of me!). While I believe some of that remains true, the breakneck speed and turbulence parts seem most true (hello stockmarket!). Only a few weeks have passed and the economy is in shambles, and, it appears to me, the Republicans, in these last desperate days of the campaign, are encouraging, tacitly if not overtly, a cultural war and ugly acts by their supporters. The nation continues to hold its breath but the mood has shifted: things are tense, nerves are frayed, and we are all holding on tight and watching history unfold.

This being, ostensibly, a parenting blog, I will dispense with the politicking at this point but will leave you with one story that is kid-related and always amuses me. The last time I saw either Barack or Michelle Obama in person was at a relatively lightly attended press conference when he announced his long-shot bid for the U.S. Senate seat. I happened to be working at the time in a building across the street from the hotel where the press-conference was taking place and decided to swing by and watch the announcement. Owen had recently been born and Deanna had been corresponding with Michelle Obama via e-mail regarding a daycare facility near our home run by one of Michelle’s friends. After the press-conference, I ran into Michelle in the hallway outside and we took a minute to catch up. While the events in the Obama’s world, I would guess, had been much more eventful even then than the doings in our little corner of the world, Michelle, charming as always, asked, among other things, how breast feeding was going for Deanna. After we parted ways I was making my way through the crowd towards the lobby to leave when I heard my name behind me - Michelle trying to get my attention. I turned around and she called out to me down the crowded hallway with a smile "Tell Deanna to use lanolin on her nipples!" And that, my friends, is a pretty damn cool thing for a (hopefully) future first lady to say.

Unleaded Christmas

I saw a blurb the other day that said 25% of American parents are vowing to only give toys made in America as Christmas gifts this year. And to those parents I say GOOD LUCK. No one, of course, wants their kids playing with (or chewing and swallowing, as the case may be) lead-coated toys, but this made in America thing strikes me as an extreme and unrealistic overreaction, since even a casual survey of the bottom of your child's toy collection will reveal that there aren't actually any toys made in America. So, unless your kids have their hearts set on corncob dolls, sock puppets and action figures made out of pipe cleaners, expect some seriously disappointed faces on Christmas morning. That retired grandpa in Tulsa who spends three hours a day making hay corn checker sets out in the woodshed is going to have a banner year as 15 million American parents descend on the shed, having realized too late that he is the only U.S. toymaker in a 900-mile radius.

And what about Santa?? At least there haven't been any recalls (yet!) of toys manufactured at the North Pole. But, having closed his last American manufacturing facility eight years ago (the Rochester, Minnesota plant, following that bitter labor standoff - who can forget those scenes of striking elves chanting "Santa sucks"), how is Santa supposed to honor these parents wishes? I suppose he could start a third list to go with naughty and nice: "Kids with Parents Who Are Ruining Christmas With Their Unrealistic Knee-jerk Reaction." If managing three lists proves too confusing for the old guy, chaos will reign on Christmas Eve as safety-crazed American parents wielding golf clubs and torches chase the confused octogenarian out of their houses. Meanwhile, their children, having woken from all the noise, will scream in horror in the background - the visions of organic American-grown sugarplums dancing in their heads permanently replaced by the vision of Santa cowering in the bushes with his giant bag full of lead paint-infested goodies as the mob slowly closes in. Merry Christmas.