The election is over and the President was re-elected by a much larger margin that any of the polls predicted. He won the popular vote by 51-48, a mandate, and he won the electoral college 286-252, a rather comfortable margin. He also won the moral victory by default, as Kerry/Edwards chose to play sore losers by refusing to concede defeat, and rubbed it in by not making a victory speech until Kerry concedes.
The President has a working majority in the Senate of 55-45, which is going to make it easier to peel off Democratic members to break filibusters, and he has Tom Daschle’s scalp as a reminder to Democratic senators who want to play the obstructionist game that this game has consequences. When Harry Reid replaces Daschle as Senate Minority Leader, the Democrats will have their first and only pro-life figure in a nationally prominent role, and Bush’s judges will have much less standing in their way than they’ve had for the last four years.
We now know that most of people in this country didn’t buy the extremist rhetoric about the illegitimacy and radicalism of the Bush Administration, and their judgment was harsh.
Democrats have much to learn from this election, starting with this: they can keep on acting like spoiled, bratty children and see their party recede ever farther into the fringe of American political life, or they can get in touch with their inner adult and take part in the dialog. It’s their choice to make, and while they’re mulling it over the country will proceed just fine without them.
Oh, and to those of you who’ve been claiming to be part of a “reality-based community” — actually, no, you aren’t.
Yes, of course you’re right about the American people’s choice. It shows the majority believe in Bush & his administration. It shows that a large minority do not. The closeness of the race does not, however, indicate that the Democrats are receding “farther into the fringe of American political life.” To me, the closeness of the race indicates the health of our democracy. In any case, the winner is to be congratualted.
I am amazed at your comments on Democrates acting like “bratty children”–this coming from someone who refered to Kerry as a “punk” a “pussy” a “zombie.” This is not adult dialog.
A close race like this does not prove either side as right or wrong. What is needed now is emphasis on what is common between all Americans, and there is much in the American “vision” we all share. I hope for no sore loosers or sore winners.
With a margin of 3.5 million votes, this election wasn’t particularly close, and given the nature of the Kerry campaign, the opposition to the President can’t be said to have any clear beef with the President’s program. Were they pro-war or anti-war, pro-life or pro-choice, religious or secular, fiscally conservative or liberal, for gay marriage or against it?
Nobody knows, because Kerry claimed to be all those things, so the President will most likely figure they were confused and ignore them.