Day of Joy

Okay, now I'm worried. Karl Rove is predicting a 338 to 200 electoral vote victory for Obama. Karl Rove? What's he up to? Sowing overconfidence? A November 4 surprise?

Okay, I'm actually kidding. Rove did say that, but I am not worried, I am preparing for a joyful day and a tears- of- joy night. One of the minor joys of it already is anticipating never needing to say "Karl Rove" again.

I'm not going to run the numbers again. I'm not going to predict margins or states. I doubt that I'll even blog much today, at least not in the way that the sites people will actually be reading will be blogging (and twittering, and whatever the hell else they do.) But who knows?

My plan is: I'll vote. Then I have a couple of options about some modest GOTV. Then here in CA it will soon be time to start checking out returns-- I believe Indiana comes in at 3 pm here, and a bunch of states close their polls at 4.

So I'll be watching: Indiana, and how soon does it comes in? Virginia--very important. Florida. (Which is supposed to be very close.) If these states come in quickly for Obama, it's going to be big. If North Carolina and Georgia do as well, it's going to be very big. If not, then the Obama victory will take longer. I'm going to enjoy the show.

I'm not really worried about Pennsylvania. McCain perceived weakness for Obama based on the primary, but the state Democratic party plus the city of Philadelphia and city of Pittsburgh were all backing Hillary. Now they are all backing Obama. So with confidence in PA--especially after the Monday Night Steelers win in Washington--comes confidence in the final outcome. Ohio will be the icing.

It's not going to be easy for President Obama. As someone said on Charlie Rose Monday night, the question is whether our government can still do big things--because we really need some big things. But with a mandate, and with the way Obama wins--with wide appeal, and on the basis of coming together, on the basis of a grassroots-based victory--he could be in as good a position as is even imaginable.

A conservative columnist quoted Winston Churchill as observing that FDR had a second class intelligence but a first class temperament. Obama, this columnist wrote, has a first class intelligence and a first class temperament. He understands the deep issues. He understands the specific issues. The whole. The parts.

Some pundits insist that he's great with large crowds but not so much one-on-one. They are idiots. You can see Obama literally touching people--he's a guy who relates with his hands. He's head and heart. I won't go all Jungian on you, but he's the most complete person I've ever seen on the public stage. Plus he knows who he is. That's what those first two books are about.

I don't think we're prepared for what we're going to see Tuesday night. Not the results, but the response. Not just across America, but around the world. A lot of people have been holding their breaths. Waiting to exhale. Waiting to sing and shout. We've got another chance. We might save the world yet.