November 03, 2004

The Day After

Ok, let me first say that all is not lost. Even though the networks promised that they wouldn't call anything until the was absolutely clear they called Ohio for Bush last night, but it's close this morning. The NYT has Ohio still as a tossup and the EV count 249-242. This is desperation setting in, but it IS still really close.

That being said, I've never felt more cynical and ashamed of Americans. Given all that has happened in the last four years, half the country (more than even think that Bush is doing a good job) voted for the status quo. The Youth vote didn't happen. The momentum in what 70% of Democrats said was the most important election in their life fizzled like crazy. Kerry should have mopped the floor with Bush given the terrible decisions the guy's made, but unlike 2000 we're probably not even going to win the nationwide popular vote. Granted, I had had a couple beers last night, though I was hardly drunk, but it was the first time I've ever really considered moving to a different country. Not only do I not know how I'm supposed to work with people for a more perfect union when they choose ignorance over the facts and "strong morals" over mistakes piled to the sky, but I'm also left with a swath of the population that continually lets me down in fights where it really counts. This is an election where young people REALLY could have made a difference. I think Micheal Moore is right, when you ask people questions on the issues (should gays get some more rights, should we do stem cell research, etc) most Americans are Democratic, and yet they disapeared right when we needed them.

So again, there's an outside chance that we could squeak this one by and Kerry could pull out a win, but we shouldn't be in this situation. We should be winning by large margains and I'm disgusted that people who agree with us on the issues at hand couldn't manage to help us in our darkest hour.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I totally agree. That's exactly what i said this morning - that I was disgusted and ashamed of the people who ignored everything and voted for Bush (even my best friend). I know lots of kids my age (18-20) who voted for Kerry but also a lot who would have voted for him but decided not to vote at all. It's sad and most irritating.
Manda

MosBen said...

I guess I should clarify that evidently youth voting was indeed up, though it seems in no greater proportion to the increases across the board, so youths were still as underrepresented as we normally are. I just can't believe that with 70% of Democrats viewing this election as the most important of their lifetimes and only 30% for Republicans we couldn't manage to get more people out there. It's insanity.

LameAim said...

I actually voted earlier in the day, by the way - I was just messing around and you left before I could undo the damage.

You should find me online - I should be online at work later on today.

Noumena said...

I'm finally back on, having lost an evening and a half of productivity in the run-up to major deadlines on Friday, so I won't put up the big post I've wanted to. Not that any of you bastards read my big posts. Gra!

Just go read Kos. Pretty much everything posted there today sums up what I've been thinking about since I woke up at five this morning. There's more, but school has to come before politics this time.

Back to papers and problems sets ...

MosBen said...

I read your stuff Dan!! Yay! /Hesh voice