Noah for Obama!

Inspired by Jeff's desire to impart the significance of the events of Tuesday on Tommy, I tried to explain to Noah what was happening that day. Noah is 11 months younger than Tommy, which is a big deal when you're only 4. So I prepared myself for blank stares and periodic interjections on the awesomeness of Michaelangelo (the preferred Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle) or requests for juice. But I sat him down anyway and we looked at the gigantic pictures of McCain and Obama in the Mpls Star Tribune. I explained that today was the day we pick which of these two guys we want to be the boss of America. (Although I did use the "real" words, given that Noah and I had a 10 minute discussion the other day about what "absolutely" meant, I wanted to keep this as simple as possible). I said we like Obama best, and that's who Daddy and I voted for (and Mema and Bobo, and Grammie and Grandpa, and all the aunts and uncles, friends, etc.). I then played the preschool game of "what's different between these two guys?" He identified only two things: 1) Obama was wearing a tie, McCain wasn't; and 2) Obama's mouth was opened, McCain's was closed. He said that was it, that otherwise they looked the same. I was prepared to try to explain the concept of race, but when he didn't see the difference, I didn't want to point it out to him. I was genuinely moved by this prime example of childhood innocence, and I didn't want to spoil it.

And as an aside, hearing that 4 year-old voice say "Barak Obama" is one of the cutest things ever.

I have to point out the one area of disappointment on election day -- the fact that three states voted to ban gay marriage. As Rachel Maddow pointed out on her show, this is particularly significant in California because the people there voted not just to prohibit something from happening, but to affirmatively take away a right that had already been specifically previously granted. And as Jon Stewart noted, 69% of blacks in California voted in favor of the ban. I guess the concept of equal rights only extends so far. Very disappointing.