Election Day has come and (thankfully) gone

Well, Vermont has a governor.  The voters saw their duty to decide, and not to leave it up to the legislature.  But it was not decided until about 10 this morning, when the Republican candidate conceded.  It was a very, very close race (we're talking only a couple of thousand votes, if that) and apparently it became clear this morning that the towns whose results were not in could not bring in enough votes for the Republican to catch the Democrat candidate.  I dislike them both so much that I will not call them by name.

Thankfully we still have our very small but very effective Vermont congressional delegation.  Bernie Sanders did not have to stand for re-election to the Senate.  Patrick Leahy, our Senate veteran, was declared the winner about 15 minutes after the polls closed at 7 pm, and Peter Welch, our House representative, was declared the winner at about 8pm.  That is a relief.  The results for local legislative races are trickling in.  I've heard nothing about our district, which probably means no substantial changes, and that's OK.  Down in the Royalton area, the race is showing a one-vote difference.  They need a change down there from a long-serving, big-talker-do-nothing representative. The challenger is young and with no prior experience, but she has the issues nailed.  I hope she pulls this off. Edited later: Apparently, she has.  And, true to form, the incumbent is complaining that it's not his fault.

There's no point in me weighing in on the national elections.  You all know whether your congressional representatives will work for you or not (except for the poor DC people who are victims of a system they have no say in).  Politicos in Vermont are convinced that no money will flow from the feds to the states until after the 2012 election , and states with budget trouble (Are there any that aren't? VT has a multi-million dollar budget shortfall in the upcoming year) will continue to be in serious trouble.

Several local politicos and national ones as well are of the opinion that there will be two years of legislative stalemate in Washington, since the Republican's stated agenda is not focussed on the needs of the American people, but on ensuring that Obama is a one-term president.  This implies no new job initiatives, no improvements (and possible retrenching) on healthcare, no financial sector reform (which leaves people with troubled mortgages in real trouble), and so on.  Nothing that would appear to make the current administration look the least bit successful.  And the consequences for anyone else be damned.

There are no winners in this election.

Don't overuse your credit cards and do everything possible not to lose your job. That's the bottom line until another election cycle comes around.  Am I being cynical? No. Just disgusted.