Politics

Apart from Halloween and the World Series (Go Giants!), the last couple of media weeks have been dominated by the US mid-term elections (house of congress and senate elections held in the middle of the Obama presidency, as well as a number of local governor, mayor, school board, etc. elections). The US political process is something to behold. The amount of time and energy people invest in it is only matched by the money spent. And not always offsetting the latter. The republican governor of California candidate Meg Whitman reportedly spent $160 million on her campaign. Supposedly most of it her own. Have to say it has been interesting, being here during the election. Berkeley is a very political place, and a stronghold for democrats (Obama had 89% of the popular vote in Berkeley in 2008). But also, it's kind of nice it's over. Some of it gets quite ugly. If we ever get negative attack ads back in Sweden, I will stop voting. Here is a very happy guy holding a sign that says "you're perfect", a really cool old (commercial) mural, and an eternal message inscribed in the pavement up the street.