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Surprised at the election results?

Nov 07 06:14

It's official. President Barack Obama has won reelection. To be honest, I wasn't too worried about him losing. I don't mean to be a cocky Democrat, but Mitt Romney wasn't the best candidate. But now that it's all said and over, I have a strange feeling, and it's not one of jubilation * like I felt 4 years ago. I think the word for it is "meh."

I'm not the only person to admit they weren’t too excited about voting this year. When Barack Obama won in 2008, I had so much hope. I got caught up in the excitement just like everybody else. We all know what a great speaker our president is, and I really was excited about the political process finally changing. However, we all know how long it really takes for things to really get better, and nothing can get fixed that buttoned-up in 4 years time.

It seems though that the mindset in the country is changing for the better, even more so than 4 years ago (depending on who you ask of course). While I'm a Democrat, not all wheelchair-users are by default a Democrat. In fact, you'd be surprised at how many wheelchair-users actually vote Republican. I'm friends with many of these people. They have great jobs and simply put, don't want to give more money than they have to the government.

Another interesting thing I noticed about this year's election: People with disabilities are more visible than ever before. The first ever double amputee, Tammy Duckworth (an Iraq veteran) was voted into a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday, representing the 8th district in Illinois. Darren Jernigan, a quad from TN running, also won his reelection for his seat in the TN State House.

Also, several amendments trying to limit gay rights were struck down, and marijuana even became legal completely and three states - Colorado, Washington and Oregon (in case you're planning to move now). These all bode well for us. Anything on the fringe is good for us if you ask me.

Who is our country becoming? I’ll admit - I’m happy about the changes, but I gotta say, I SURE wasn’t expecting them. Not so soon that is. Maybe I’m used to disappointment?

Do you think this year’s election results reveal a noticeable shift in our country?

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By Tiffiny Carlson

Tiffiny Carlson Disability buzz, travel, fashion and dating — fun things to amp up everyday wheeling life.

Tiffiny Carlson is freelance writer and writes the “SCI Life” column for New Mobility. She's also a C6 quad from a diving accident that occurred when she was 14 years old. A lifelong resident of Minneapolis, Tiffiny has been a writer in the disability community for over 10 years and writes for several publications and blogs, as well as her personal blog BeautyAbility. Her work has also appeared in mainstream publications such as Nerve.com and Playgirl.