Election rundown

There are many reasons for Americans to have hope after Barack Obama's victory last night. Although  I've expressed my malaise about the lack of attention paid to animals by the campaigns (and still feel it), it's fair to say that an Obama administration will take more seriously the protection of wildlife than the Bush Administration did. Obama appointments to the courts will be more open to the claims of  environmentalist litigants and his agency appointments may actually choose to enforce the statutes and regulations they're charged with enforcing. There's little that can realistically be done at the federal level to protect animals, but there's no question it's good for animals protected by environmental statutes that the Dems are back in town.

Michael Markarian has been tracking (here, here, and here) state ballot issues. Proposition 2 in California, which would expand the cage size of battery hens and other animals, has cruised to victory. After a hard fought battle, Question 3, a Massachusetts initiative banning dog races, has passed. And in Arizona a measure intended to head off future reform, and which would have sickly rewarded voter suppression, has gone down in flames.

Another fight against the future was won by anti-animal forces in Oklahoma, where the right "to hunt, trap, fish and take game and fish" has been added to that state constitution's bill of rights. Whether or not they are justified, animal users and abusers see change coming. It's worth noting that the Oklahoma measure does not require higher judicial scrutiny for wildlife-related laws, but allows "reasonable regulations." All and all, it was a good night for animal advocates.