Second home

I’m in Minnesota, renewing acquaintances with the fast-changing sweet B, who now charms as a smiling and gurgling drool machine. A goes back to work tomorrow, after a month’s paternity leave, and H continues her pediatrics sub-internship at the hospital. So B and I will be playmates most weekdays from now until just before Christmas. I’ll be doing all the usual baby care, and fitting in some work during nap times. Mostly, of course, I’m here for the snuggles. Damp though they may be.

Joy

We weep.

We dance.

We breathe again.

Restoration

Dan Froomkin’s always invaluable column today has an interesting roundup of opinions on what Obama’s victory means to the people who voted for him. He says it boils down to “a call for a restoration of American values, pre-Bush.”

The New York Times also has this comment in today’s lead editorial:

His triumph was decisive and sweeping, because he saw what is wrong with this country: the utter failure of government to protect its citizens.

There’s a lot of talk now about how important it is for Obama to act in a bipartisan manner. That would be great. But the Times quote highlights how extreme, how bigoted, how reckless, and how fundamentally corrupt the once-proud Republican party (it’s not called the GOP for nothing) has become. Bipartisanship is a two-way street, and the Republicans are not interested. John McCain’s concession speech was noble, but he was not speaking for the congressional Republican party, let alone its base.

I love Barack’s intelligence, eloquence, commitment, character, and mastery of the issues. But the attributes I think we’ll all come to prize as he begins to get things done have been much less touted: his pragmatism and his toughness. Don’t forget he’s from Chicago, where politics is still a bare-knuckle affair. Keep your ears open. You’ll hear the Republicans squealing by February 1.

Then we can get on with the Restoration.

Dixville Notch

Always the first district in the U.S. to report its vote in Presidential Elections, it’s a beautiful township in Northeastern New Hampshire (with great, uncrowded hiking). Here’s the story (poor Hart’s Location):



This morning, Dixville Notch reported 15 votes for Obama, 6 for McCain, the first time it’s gone Democratic since 1968.

Cool, calm, collected

Quiet competence is so refreshing.

Obama Field Director John Carson:



Spokesman Bill Burton:

Unforgetable

Good politicians, of course, share certain attributes with good salesmen. The one that impresses me most, because I absolutely don’t have it, is a particular kind of memory. They remember your name, your spouse’s name, your children’s names, and a tidbit or two about you all. To me, that is, as Nat silkily sings, “just incredible.” [Time out: He really misses that last note, doesn’t he?]

My local Democratic Town Committee had a rally on Woodbury’s North Green on yesterday’s crisp, gorgeous Saturday morning (I forgot to bring my camera, so unfortunately I can post no pics of this classic New England scene). This has always been a strongly Republican part of a generally Democratic state, but this year, party officials see a chance to grab a seat in the State Senate. My friend John McCarthy, a former American Ambassador to Tunisia and Lebanon, now retired from the foreign service, is running a strong campaign emphasizing competence and pragmatism—what a concept!—in a time that requires change.

So the big Connecticut guns were all wheeled out yesterday morning to support and energize: The chair of the state party, our Democratic Congressman, the Attorney General, the Secretary of the State, the Comptroller, recent (and undoubtedly future) candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor, the Majority Leader of the State Senate, and a few I’ve probably forgotten. Much cheerful speechifying about the importance of getting John and Barack elected—an unusually terrific, positive, enjoyable kickoff to the final three days of hectic Get Out The Vote activities.

Back to that memory deal. I’ve been an active Democrat for long enough to have gotten on what I think of as “the list.” Some Democrat in Hartford needs to know a little something about Woodbury? Call this guy. Looking for a sacrificial lamb in some impossible election? If this guy won’t run, he knows someone suicidal who will. Most of all, need to raise some money for your campaign? This guy’s been carrying our flag for a while; he should be good for something. So every four years I get a call from our Secretary of the State. We schmooze, she asks me for money, I agree to send some, we say good-bye, and she goes on to the next index card in her contributor file. Every two years, she calls just to schmooze. She might also ask for a little money, but this call is mainly to keep in touch. She has higher office very much in mind. All of this is fine by me—she’s good at her job, and she doesn’t have to twist my arm for support. The thing is, we’d never actually met until yesterday. I walked up to her, introduced myself, and the first thing she said, without missing a beat, was, “how’s the writing going?” and the second was, “are you still winding the town clock?”

Well, the writing’s not going all that great, and I stopped winding the clock a while ago, but I was still astonished, and oddly gratified.

On the other hand, I suppose the deployment of this sort of fact-retention is responsible for the success of a good half of the incompetent hacks in office. I know it’s resulted in my buying the occasional unfortunate necktie.

Happy birthday!

Sweet B was three months old yesterday. We continue our evening iChats, which is where this photo came from, and its easy to notice how rapidly she’s changing and growing. I’m headed for Minnesota in a week to nanny (the copy editor of this blog says that to nanny can, indeed, be a verb) until just before Christmas. At the rate she’s going, she’ll be crawling by the time I get there, and we’ll be running quarter-mile repeats together before I head back home. I will consult to see if she wants mom to join us or plans to go too fast.