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To Solidify Your Hatred Of That Athlete You Already Hate, Here Are Some Reactions To Last Night’s Election

So. A lot happened last night. Barack Obama retained the presidency. Both the House and Senate stayed under the control of Republicans and Democrats, respectively. The first openly gay senator was elected. There was even huge news on ballot initiatives: Colorado and Washington state voted to legalize recreational marijuana usage, while Maryland and Maine became the first two states to legalize same-sex marriage via vote. And something else happened: a whole lotta people tweeted.

Whether they were ecstatic, disgusted, or just relieved the ordeal had reached its conclusion, pretty much everyone said something. And as a sports site without a whole lot to talk about while everyone concentrates on election fallout instead, we thought we’d highlight a few responses to last night’s events from the sports world that stood out to us. It starts, as it normally does these days, with LeBron:

2 terms!!!! Ohio u guys are the awesome #ObamaStillPrez

— LeBron James (@KingJames) November 7, 2012

Also everyone else who voted for him as well!! U guys are powerful. Way to use it people.

— LeBron James (@KingJames) November 7, 2012

Ohio and Fla. My favorite states!

— LeBron James (@KingJames) November 7, 2012

But does Ohio love him back yet? Either way, LeBron’s awareness of the proceedings far outpaced Kris Humphries’:

My cab driver told me Romney won.Can I trust this?

— Kris Humphries (@KrisHumphries) November 7, 2012

Meanwhile, Cardinals kicker Jay Feely was clearly disappointed but not doomsaying:

RT @jamesgrantfl As disappointed as I am, I respect the office & believe the challenges facing us demand collaboration & genuine discourse

— Jay Feely (@jayfeely) November 7, 2012

…but he wasn’t too thrilled about the Colorado pot ballot decision:

I was being sarcastic, this isnt a positive result RT @9news: Colorado becomes the first state in the country to legalize marijuana

— Jay Feely (@jayfeely) November 7, 2012

Feely wasn’t the only NFL foot-using specialist to take an interest in the ballot initiatives, though. Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, an outspoken advocate of legalizing same-sex marriage, said this after Minnesota voters rejected a gay marriage ban:

And that’ll do it. Thank you everyone for all your support. Still a long road ahead, but we’re now the first state to beat this thing. #gj

— Chris Kluwe (@ChrisWarcraft) November 7, 2012

Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo expressed a similar sentiment:

Washington, Maine, Minnesota, Maryland leads the way to changing the nation. “manifest destiny” #equality

— Brendon Ayanbadejo (@brendon310) November 7, 2012

In fact, Kluwe was substantially more enthusiastic about the ballot initiatives than the presidential election:

So it looks like Obama won. While he’s better than Mittens, he still has a lot of work to do (Internet freedom, human rights, drones, etc).

— Chris Kluwe (@ChrisWarcraft) November 7, 2012

Ayanbadejo was happier:

I am so happy tonight I could cry. My kids will grow up in the age of equality for all and a great role model as president #americandream

— Brendon Ayanbadejo (@brendon310) November 7, 2012

Really, it makes sense to be more excited (or disappointed) about ballot initiatives than putting elected officials in office. No matter how much you might admire a given elected official: they’re politicians. Politicians habitually disappoint and lie and compromise on their principles to stay in office. The election is the beginning – it’s impossible to know how their terms in office will go from here. Ballot initiatives are people voting on ideas, voting directly on their interests rather than for people to represent those interests. Voting for politicians is a little unavoidably… well, dirtier. And that brings us to A’s pitcher/Twitter champion Brandon McCarthy:

There are people that are optimistic enough about politicians to dance and sing at campaign HQ. This baffles me.

— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) November 7, 2012

And more…

.@toddakin any thoughts on where things might have gone wrong?

— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) November 7, 2012

So wait, do the GOPers who are moving to Canada now just swap houses with the dems that moved there when Bush was re-elected?

— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) November 7, 2012

Yeah, I just got done talking about how it feels so much more pure to put certain ideas on pedestals in politics rather than the people in politics, but: #McCarthy2016

Getty photo, by Chip Somodevilla

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