there are several threads from Kerry voters running right now-- all complaining about how tragic it is that America has lost its way, the future is bleak.People are asking in disbelief ‘how did it happen?’, ‘what did we do wrong?’.Will good ideas ever appear again in the public realm, or will we return to the Dark Ages permanently?
It’s natural to be disappointed—but why do you all feel so betrayed? You almost won, and Kerry’s ideas are not so far-fetched and out of touch with most Americans that all hope is lost.If a mere 1 per cent of the voters in 1 state had changed their minds, then Ohio would have gone for Kerry. Or look at it nationally:113 million Americans voted, and if only 65.000 Ohio residents had changed their minds and gone for Kerry, the whole world would be different. That is one half of onethousandth of the total votes cast.
Kerry supporters–cheer up!You are not alone–you are solidly supported by almost half the population
You’ll get your day in the sun, and then us conservatives will rant and scream about it.
If only one thousandth of the population makes the difference, it is because we have more in common than it seems. That’s what makes America great.
He did win in Wisconsin. According to CNN, he now has 252 electoral votes, with Iowa and New Mexico still not in. By my counting, 252 plus 20 from Ohio equals more than 272 equals won presidency.
Don’t bother Bricker with trivialities like math. He’s busy gloating, and you can’t let numbers get in the way of a good gloat.
As to the OP, even apart from Ohio, there were actually several states where, at least in combination, a 1% vote swing would have given the EC to Kerry. But I didn’t like the EC in 2000, and I don’t like it in 2004. The popular vote was close, but perfectly clear.
It doesn’t matter how close it was. Bush won, and has no checks in place. People will die. Debt will mount. The supreme court will be stocked with fundies. People with children are afraid for their future.
I’m sad because I believe that this was the most important election I’ve ever seen. The differences between the candidates was more clear than I’ve ever seen. I’m sad because many people voted for Bush because they believe he’s better at protecting us from terrorists. Terrorists existed before 9/11 - it was just on his watch they’ve been most successful. I’m sad because many people voted for Bush because they believe Iraq was behind the 9/11 attacks. I’m sad because many people believe that voting Bush means smaller government. I’m sad because many people were motivated to get to the polls to vote against gay marriage. I’m said because I see an administration that has so much damage to the environment that even Nixon’s EPA head spoke out about it.
I guess most of my sadness comes from many of Bush’s votes coming from people who didn’t even know what they were voting for.
Don’t you get it? That’s why we’re so sad! So many new voters came out to vote for Kerry, only to get Bush out, & as many new voters voted for Bush’s lies!
I actually am not all that sad, since I had no who would win before today. I also wasn’t too enthusiastic about Kerry, though I couldn’t be less enthusiastic about Bush. I really expected to be much more upset than I actually am. I’m surprised; I’m very much at peace. I’m developing some clear ideas on how to move forward, and I intend to. Also, with what has become an even stronger Republican hegemony in Washington, it’s not entirely an oversimplification to define Washington as the ideological enemy, and act accordingly. The left as a national governing power has become more irrelevent; so as citizens and caretakers of our local govt. we are now forced to wake up, get off our collective complacent arses, and defend our regional interests. If all politics is local, then improving our immediate environment is a very positive way to affect change. Fighting against our leaders in Washington will largely involve limiting their impact as much as possible, and thwarting Bush actions in this neighborhood at every possible turn without getting into too much trouble. Defeat can bring clarity of purpose, and now, I think, we have it.
And anyway, to some extent, I think Kerry dodged a bullet on this one. I wouldn’t wish leadership of such a divided electorate and a badly-botched war on anybody, quite frankly. Now that Bush has made his bed, he may find sleeping in it very uncomfortable. It will be a fun thing to watch if he does.
Only 1% in Florida in 2000 and Gore would have been president. It is a big difference. Perhaps Democrats wouldn’t feel so betrayed if Bush had never claimed to be “A Uniter Not A Divider” or “A Reformer With Results” or a “Compassionate Conservative” or promised to go across the aisle. After he was appointed to his first term he went out and made controversial picks for his cabinet. One of his attempts to appear to go across the aisle, was really a sneaky attempt to change the balance of power in the senate by getting Breaux to vacate his seat. (Luckily that didn’t happen.)
At least with Clinton the conservatives got some of the things they wanted.
I’m depressed. I haven’t gotten a thing done at work today. I lead a youth group meeting on Wednesday nights and I haven’t prepared anything. I’m just staring at the wall. While it’s true that it was a 1% difference in one state, that’s little consolation to me. After everything he’s done to this country, Bush won again. If Kerry had squeaked out a victory, I still would have been bummed that it was so close. I just don’t understand how so many people can still vote for this guy.
We’re a nation that attacks without being attacked. We help the rich get richer and ignore everyone else. We look out for corporations instead of employees. We say we’re against abortion but pretend abortion rates aren’t tied to the economy and adequate sex education, and ignore the fact that abortion is on the rise. And we’re doing everything we can to shove homosexuals back in the closet.
Last night Bush got 60,000,000 stamps of approval for everything he’s done over the past four years. That’s why I’m sad.
This ain’t no sporting constest. I remember my disappointment when the Red Sox lost in 1986, but the world was essentially no different as a result.
And even in most Presidential elections of my life, the differences between who won have resulted in largely short-term, potentially reversible changes in policy.
I believe this is the exception. I believe that, on several fronts, this Administration is digging us into holes we will be decades, at a minimum, in escaping from.
I believe this Administration’s creation and expansion of huge budget deficits, with their exacerbation of our similarly enormous trade deficits, will hurt us in permanent and serious ways. We have in the past managed to avoid the consequences of profligacy due to the dollar’s position as the world’s reserve currency. That day is coming to an end, thanks to the hollowness of our own currency at the time when the euro is asserting itself as a legitimate alternative. And when it ends, we will lose the equivalent of a huge subsidy from the rest of the world. It’s gonna be one hell of a fall.
I believe that while much of the damage from the Iraq war has already been done, both in terms of terrorist recruitment and in terms of turning the heart of the Middle East into a chaotic, violent no-mans-land, the longer we pursue the same course, the longer the consequences will be with us. (A violent, chaotic Middle East wouldn’t be a problem if we didn’t need oil from over there. Right now, we desperately need Saudi Arabia to remain stable, but it, too, is a powderkeg waiting to happen. We’ve made it more likely.)
I believe that global warming is real. Three years after Bush promised that we’d come up with an alternative to the flawed Kyoto agreement, we have done squat. That will likely continue. The longer we fail to act, the harder change will be, and the less good that will come of it.
I believe the Bush Administration will do its damnedest to bring down the safety net of Social Security and Medicare. Its continuing budget deficits hasten the day when a future Administration is forced to choose between massive tax increases, or gutting one program or the other.
That’s four areas in which I quite honestly don’t expect to outlive the consequences of the Bush Administration, and I expect to live another 40-50 years. There are several more I can think of where I expect substantial consequences, but those consequences won’t necessarily last more than a decade or two.
I am not interested in arguing these individual statements in this thread (each of them deserves a thread of its own), but I am answering the OP the best I know how. It’s nothing personal about Bush; I simply believe he’s doing long-term, possibly irrevocable damage to the country I love. I detest him because of his policies, not the other way around. I think he’d have made a fine Commissioner of Baseball.
How’s that? According to everything I’ve seen, Kerry did win Wisconsin; right now, it’s still blue on the map on the front page on CNN.
Wisconsin gives Kerry 252; Ohio would have given him 272. Without Iowa.
Yeah, foolsguinea said what I wish I had. For the past four years, I’d been living under the delusion that voter apathy allowed W to become president the first time, and that the heart of America really was more centrist and understanding. So I got off my butt this time - made donations, went to a swing state and canvassed, and did what I could to get out the vote. And Democrats did get out the vote. That wasn’t the problem. America really wants W as the president. The truth hurts.
It was no great suprise that Kerry lost, most people on both sides had realized it was more or less a coin flip on who would win the presidency. In fact, a year ago I would’ve guessed that Bush would’ve done much better in the presidential race then ended up being the case.
Honestly what really gets me is how thumped the Dems got in the various senate races across the country. There were numerous close races in the country where Repubs esposing very radical things (abolishing income tax, death penalty for abortion docs, “ramped lesbianism in grade schools”, etc.), and in almost all these cases the Dems were beaten. The fact is, with their madantes in the congress and the white house expanded, the conservatives will almost certainly pass through a large chunk of their agenda. More depressing is the fact that, for whatever reason, it is becoming increasingly clear that the majority of the voting public supports them, and as such the liberal Dems are unlikely to make a roaring comeback anytime soon.
Course I 'aint throwing in the towel. After all, being the underdog and fighting the powers that be is what really gets us liberals off. And there will almost certainly be a sizable backlash when the Repubs start actually passing the part of their agenda that isn’t tax cuts, and as the crazier members of their party feel less inhibited with no stong opposition around they were certainly give off many a damaging sound bite. Still, its gonna be an uphill struggle for at least the next four years.
Here come four fortysomething Federalist Society members.
One more way in which four years from now may be the other side of a tipping point.
Whether my party wins or loses is far less important to me than the consequences for my country and the world. We will not look back in 2008 and conclude that America is better off after four more years of Bush.
I don’t care about the fact that whoever has to deal with Iraq, or any of our other burgeoning problems, would look really bad. I simply wanted someone as President who has shown a propensity to recognize that the problems exist. It’s damned hard to solve them if you live in an alternate reality where they don’t exist.
If Bush could just create a gateway for us into his reality, then it would all be OK. Unfortunately, he has no wardrobe with a gateway to another universe hidden behind the cloaks. Or maybe we of the reality-based community just haven’t done enough drugs.
I find it funny to read this. In 1976, I helped on the** Mo Udall ** Presidential campaign in Madison, WI. We used the same lines to get people on board for Udall’s point of View. Now 28 years later I read the same doom and gloom mantra being posted on this board. People we will survive. In reality do you think that there is much of a difference between those two rich guys?