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Monday, November 01, 2004

Thoughts 

Sometimes I wonder: how the hell are we even in this place? Had 9/11 not happened, Bush would be losing to anyone with a pulse. By 12-15 percent. Terror is what has kept him alive. 9/11 was the best thing that ever happened to George W. Bush's political career -- and even you right-wingers know it. It changed everything, including people's ability to see The Big Picture. Almost every indicator: jobs, the stock market, the price of oil, the Redskins losing -- you name it -- favors Kerry. "No incumbent has won with X, Y, and Z...." yadda yadda. All Kerry. But 9/11 changed that stuff too, so toss them out the window.

America's heart is in the right place. The electorate knows Bush is a buffoon and that he's controlled by ideologues who aren't looking for the best answers, just the right (wing) answers. Polls show a majority of Americans consistently supporting so-called "liberal" causes. But these people are terribly afraid of terrorists. They think that Bush can do more to protect them than Kerry. They're entitled to that opinion. But if they re-elect Bush, they'll eventually see that they're wrong. Both parties and all Americans want to eliminate bin Laden and the terrorists. Badly. And I feel that Kerry will do a better job of it. But beyond that, there are threats to our country and our world other than terror. These are threats that can destroy us (albeit not quite as fast, nor as dramatically), and they are issues where Bush has and will continue to damage this country very badly for future generations. People think America will "keep on keepin' on" just because we're great. But that's not the case. I'm not going to stoop to absurd hyperbole like right-wingers and say that "the Republic will collapse" in the next four years if the election doesn't go the way I want it to. It won't. But I'm absolutely certain that we're in serious trouble if we continue down the current path for much longer than that. It's my hope that when people get into the voting booth they see not just the trees, but the forest.

I realize these aren't predictions. I crunched numbers and planned to make bold, detailed predictions -- most of which favored Bush. But now I'm not going to. My brain says Bush, because I can't believe that this crowd will allow themselves to lose. My heart and my gut, however, feel something. Something almost tangible. It might just be nausea. But seriously: there were 50 people lined up in the dark tonight on a busy street tonight, holding Kerry/Edwards signs. There are college kids who care about this race like they've never cared about anything in their whole lives. If turnout is good, I'm hopeful that Kerry can win by enough small margins that the GOP will look silly challenging them all. But if it's close, you can count on one thing: they'll be the sore losers this time. Gore was ridiculed for not bowing out gracefully, but just you wait and see what happens if Kerry wins by 537 votes.

So that's my final prediction: Brain: Bush. Gut/Heart: Kerry. Helpful, isn't it? Have a good and safe and sane election day....and if you're religious, say a little prayer for the nation. Though that's probably hopeless since a jackass like Bush couldn't possibly have gotten where he is without a hell of a lot of help from above.

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