Congrats to the President

I'm afraid I can't. Not until I see a change in his attitudes. And given he equates changing one's mind with "flip flopping", I don't expect it.

Heck, it's already over $2/gallon ... here. Has been avg $2.059 for weeks. I didn't notice the prices yesterday though. ;-)

 

Of course, you realise that you're now responsible for this guy, right? This time you voted him in of your own free will, pretty cleanly, with full knowledge of his character and track record.

So he can now be regarded as a fair reflection of America, in a way he couldn't be up to now.

 

No no no... he's only a reflection of half of America. Please don't forget that.

 

Well, I think Tony Blair is a fair reflection of England. In that, at least, he is the sort of person that we vote for. That says something about our national character. And he's very unlikely to lose the 2005 election, alas. Mind you the main opposition's worse.

I suppose I'm just a little dismayed, and quite surprised, that after 4 years of Bush, effectively only a few people in New Hampshire decided they didn't like what they saw. After all, what you got in those 4 years was certainly not what was advertised. Remember "compassionate conservatism"? The sheer amount of non-movement in the results since 2000 is quite remarkable, given everything that's happened.

I suppose we have to tip our hats to Karl Rove and his team. They've found a national faultline - the split over guns, gays and abortions - and exploited it mercilessly. Whatever happens, that seems to trump everything in the red states. I'm not sure where you go from here. Do the Democrats give up on those issues? Stop flogging a dead horse and accept that abortion and civil unions just aren't going to happen in the USA?

It would be nice to see them get out and fight positively for what they believe in. Clinton (somewhat), Gore and Kerry were all the defensive, Republican-lite type of democrats. That's just meant the country getting dragged to the right. Can they fight back?

Or, as I saw one depressed person on a Dem weblog suggest - the map is now very neatly geographically split. So get a divorce! All the northeastern blue states should join Canada, the western states are big enough to be a new country, and leave the red states as the USA.

Maybe it's not that bad, but looking at the BBC's little Flash map thing, which lets you wind back to each election since WW2, there's been an amazing shift. At one time, the whole country could swing from blue to red and back. Now the Republicans have managed to almost paralyse it. It will be interesting to see what happens next.

 

So did the guy he beat! It means NOTHING, all spin.

Senate (R - 55, D - 43, I - 1) and house (R - 228, D - 199, I - 1) both edged a little more in the republican majority. He sees this as a mandate from "the people" to continue on the current path. I'm sorry, but 51.4% is NOT a mandate.

 

Not QUITE that easy. Look at
California (also Oregon and Washington). The 'east/west' split shows there too. The coastal areas voted Kerry, inland, Bush. Since most of the population centers are on the coast, the states went with Kerry. But, the majortiy ( square miles wise) would not be happy about forming a new country

 

Ah, but they wouldn't have far to travel. The east Californians could sneak across the border into the Confederacy under cover of darkness.

 

*I* can't agree with you here Evan. I do not feel a familial relationship to the president of this country, no matter who s/he is.

I don't know what percentage of the Bush voters looked no further than a single 'morality' issues such as abortion, gay marriage, etc. *I* do NOT stand behind the current (and apparently future) president of this country as *I* do not think he is 'leading' it to a positive future. Anyone who wants to rip on his policies can do so with my blessing ;-)

I DO stand behind the men and women in the armed services he sent to Afganistan and Iraq. I also agree with your prior post that he is doing what HE thinks is right for the country. I do not doubt that he is, at heart, a good man. But, I think the voices he hears in his head are leading him astray.

 

It is going to be a long sneak on foot as I expect a trail of head and tail lights would be easily spotted ;-) Unfortunately for them, it is mostly desert.

 

No! I live in a tiny blue island in the middle of a huge red state.

Part of the reason the Dems had very little chance of gaining seats in the House is the crazy redistricting of Texas (ahem, possibly the doing of Tom Delay)--have you seen some of the Texas districts? They tried to guarantee a gain of 7 Rep seats to offset possible losses in other states, though I think they only managed 4 or 5 (one race I think is still too close to call). Considering that Travis County (where Austin is) is a Dem county, why shouldn't we have a Dem rep in the House? My district certainly doesn't anymore. Of coure, it only represents a very small fraction of Austin since we got split into 4.

The possibility of Bush appointing 3 supreme court justices scares me.

 

Too bad, so sad, we'll have to wait another 4 years!

Harry

 

I echo Doc's sentiments concerning the Dems not giving up, and nor should they. That's what makes this country so great, is the ability to have your opinions and voice them freely. I just hope that W will lean more to companssionate conservative as he promised when he won, but before 9/11. I still that changed a lot of things. But now is the time for the country to come together, not squabble and be divided.

**News: Kerry just called the President and conceded the election.**

Did Bush get his mandate from the people...not hardly, 51% is not a mandate, he will need to work more with the Dems to get this country back on track.

I'd also like to express my appreciation for the debates that happened in here leading up to the election.

Now, let's all go out and enjoy our Prii and the fall weather.

BTW, gas in Northern VA, is just under $2 a gal for regular...it's been vacilating between 1.65 and 1.90 for the past three - four months. Although I can still get regular for $1.86 at COSTCO, which is from what I was told by COSTCO, BP gasoline.

 

I disagree with this analogy as well. I could respect and defend a kid brother, certainly, even if he made a rather large mistake. However, I don't feel I have the luxury to even BEGIN to respect our President, because of what he has done and is doing to the country that I dearly love. If anyone tries to pick on Presidnet Bush, they will have my full support. And sadly, Bush will see this win as a mandate, and people all over the world will think Americans are a bunch of ignorant fools who deserve the downward spiral that awaits us (socially and economically) if we continue on our present course.

 

The current track was set after he didn't get a mandate, nor the majority of the popular vote, in 2000. Why do you think he will now think the track needs adjustment? If anything, getting 51% of the vote, and with the house and senate shifting more republican, will add to his belief that he does have a mandate.