"Now Its My Turn" - Muhammad Ali

This morning as I walked out the door, empty stomach, and headed to the polling place at 6:20 a.m., I was so excited. I have kept thinking of Muhammad Ali's fight with George Foreman in Zaire. Everyone thought that Foreman would crush Ali, but the Ali camp loosened the ropes and Ali used the now famous "Rope-a-Dope" plan and let Foreman punch himself out. At some point in the fight (I think the fifth or maybe the eighth round) Ali looks at a gassed Foreman and says, "Now its my turn."

As I walk into the polling place and see my former neighbor, a former head of the Republican Party in Minnesota, all I could think is "Now its our turn." I was tempted to go over and say something, but that would be the kind of partisan crap that we are trying to put behind us.

Around 7:00 p.m, Minnesota time, the networks called Pennsylvania as going to Obama. That is fairly early in the evening for such an important state to be called. And then, at 8:37 p.m. the networks called Ohio has having gone in the Obama column. That is it. Its a done deal.

*****

Listening to the pundits tonight I learned something new. Obama had such a machine that he didn't have to call in huge favors with this victory. He comes to Washington as more of a free-agent compared with other winners in the past. Secondly, lots of Representatives are going to owe the Obama machine their victory. So Obama comes to town with a clean slate - he hasn't had to promise cabinet posts in order to get elected, and he has people who owe him their political lives. Boy this looks good for getting some things done.

One can only hope.