'Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it'

These are the words that come to mind when I think about this election. For the Republicans, they have now put themselves in a position where they MUST solve the problems they have created, particularly in Iraq. They wanted a mandate, and now they have it. If they aren't able to deliver on security, health care, the deficit, etc., they will have no one to blame but themselves.

For the Democrats, this election may be a blessing in disguise. First, do we really want a Democrat to inherit this mess we're in, both domestically and internationally? Absolutely not. We want Bush to be forced to finish what he has begun. Second, this election pointed to two major problems with the Democratic party: their lack of depth of leadership, and their inability to connect with southern voters on 'moral values'. The leadership will develop on its own--the cream usually rises to the top. What the Dems really need to focus on is how to connect with voters on moral issues so that the voters can see past those issues and focus on economic issues, where Democrats are far better aligned with their interests than Republicans. This terrible election may have forced the Dems to stop and refocus their message to a more conservative America.

These are definitely ideas that I haven't yet heard, and they give me hope.

This morning, NPR was playing short reactions to the election from California, Wyoming, and Ohio. One woman said "I don't really think, at this point, that the left *understands* the right, and I don't think the right at all understands the left. And I don't really see a left and a right anymore; I see a center and a right." So, with regard to what you said, there really is an empirical problem in the US with segregations in ideology.

All the same, I think John Kerry tried much harder to appeal to a broader base than did George Bush, and I think that's why he failed. The religious right is BIG in this country (i.e. the entire southern half and the inland northern half). George Bush had only to tout his tool-of-the-right conservatism and bam! he had their vote. Kerry (as would any democrat) had the challenge of appealing to a much broader range of opinion. Thus, he said things like "I am personally against abortion, but don't want to impose that upon everyone." I personally found that admirable, but people don't like that wishy washy crap. So he lost, even though he was the only one attempting to compromise.

Lastly, I agree with your statement that Bush must finish what he has begun, but only marginally. This is like saying that a junkie has to heal his own addiction without intervention. Our country's wounds are festering. We need a new dressing.

Furthermore, he has begun a great deal of no less than CRUSADING that he does not need to finish. As I write this, an interviewee on NPR is delighted at the outcome of the election, only because he says now Bush can once and for all smite the issue of gay marriage. Bush clearly cares more about his personal image and his appearance in the eyes of evangelists than domestic or foreign policy. He cares about foreign policy because it provides opportunities for world-scale heroism. Thus, he will continue to push through his attempts to, say, write inequality into the constitution or grind gun control down to a pea.

So I remain very wary of our leadership. I have a hard time seeing anything good coming from our country's choice.

Something we should also look at is how much strain the far-right has created in the Republican party. The GOP has been forcing out those that they see as 'too moderate'. (See http://www.commonwealinstitute.org/publications/RINOArticle.htm) There are still a few of these moderates in the House and Senate. Recent news reports are indicating that they are going to fight to keep the party from going too far right and will side with the Democrats to do so. This is particularly true of Arlen Specter (R-PA) who today warned Bush not to appoint Supreme Court justices who will overturn Roe v Wade because, as head of the Senate judiciary committee, he will not allow them to be approved. As these moderates break with the party, it will (hopefully) make it easier for those moderate Republican voters who couldn't imagine voting Democrat to switch over. What is a moderate Republican? Read this: http://www.republicansforkerry04.com/primer.html.

This moderate Republican idea is definitely interesting. Looking at their list of traits, though, it sounds like they are pretty Leftist.

I guess the difference is economic self-governor (right) vs. larger economic government (left); but small social governance brings moderate Republicans toward the center.

Speaking of a divided country, Carla brought this site to my attention today. I like it!

I'm jumping in a little late here, but what the hell...

Peter's initial comments remind me of a little blurb that I think I read on the Onion, of all places... the fact that 48% of the nation actually voted for a 'placeholder' for the Democrats should give us hope that a few percentage points more might vote for a _real_ candidate four years from now.

I liked John Kerry, and I agree with Nate on the ambiguity of Kerry's stances. I appreciate that the man can think about an issue separately in terms of personal beliefs and governmental imposition of those beliefs. Yes - I like people that think this way; I think this way. But a politician can't speak this way. It instills no confidence.

I don't think another 4 years of Bush Doctrine is good for this country. I don't like that I am far less interested in travelling to Europe right now for the sole reason that Americans are so intensely disliked there currently. I blame Bush for that.

This is not nearly as important an issue as anything you two have discussed above, but for me, it's indicative of the widespread problems. This country has been heading in the wrong direction for 4 years, and now Bush is going to have more reason to steer us farther off course.

Damn those backwater Ohio hicks who came out to the polls to vote on our Issue 1 (no equal rights for homosexuals) and cast a vote for the Prez while they were there. BTW - ask me about Issue 1 and what's going on with it now. People of influence are taking a stand.