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izanami
PopStar
Joined: Jan 27, 2004
Posts: 1037
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 Posted:
Nov 07, 2004 - 12:46 AM |
 
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| Post subject: final ramblings on the election from the average joes |
Best of the board
By Rob Minto
Published: November 4 2004 14:26 | Last updated: November 4 2004 14:26
As the US election unfolded and it became clear that George Bush was the winner, FT.com’s discussion board began to fill up with reactions and views. Many were in despair at the result. Some were pleased. Few gloated. Here are highlights of the more interesting, argumentative and poignant views from the board.
”Bush’s reelection to office merely confirms America’s continuing love affair with mediocrity. As an American abroad, I despair of the possibility that my people will ever come of age... As one wag once said, we get the leaders we deserve. I fear for the future of the country I love.” John Carroll
”I know that President Bush is not the brightest firefly in the woods but instinctively we know that he is a better man than Kerry.” G Bailey
”How do I explain your decision to my 5 year old daughter?” Mike Harris
”Can’t we just divide the country up some way and become two countries? I really don’t like the association with this government.” Still Sane Somehow
”I am amazed that a people as straight-forward, clear and honest as the Americans have elected this muppet, after four years of lies and incompetence.” Russell Grimshaw
”I would like to thank the Guardian for its Ohio mail campaign which was intended to assist Kerry. A review of American history would have shown them that it was a mistake on their part but they were blinded by their sense of superiority and rank ideology. President Bush will be around another 4 years and I am very pleased.” Daniel Stiles
”Fortunately, the vast majority of Americans do not care one iota about foreigners’ opinions of the American elections or America generally.” Florida Republican
US Election dicussion board
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”The American people and the world go to sleep tonight with the understanding that the man in the White House is committed to freedom and to the same democratic values for others which have served to make America great.” Tim H.
”In a twisted way I am also glad that Bush has won. Let Bush harvest the poisoned crop he has planted in the economy, security and environment. In four years time we will all be begging for a change.” W Lait
”There are conclusions from this election though. For the Democratic party, don’t nominate your most liberal members to run for president. After all the US is not a social democracy like much of Europe. Socialists don’t sell in America.” Rich Barry
”Simpleton, arrogant, deceitful, criminal, myopic. These are all words that accurately define Bush and his skewed domestic and foreign policy vision. The re-election of Bush demonstrates that basing an entire campaign on division and fear can yield positive results.” Casper
”To say that Kerry had no position on issues is to buy into the Bush philosophy that there are simple pat answers to all the difficult questions.” Jim Jolly
”Democracy has been kidnapped by neo-conservative warmongers” Pierre Camus
”I’m still proud to be an American but for the first time, I’m going to quit the country for four years.” Gregory Chen-Jordan |
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Edgewood
FooSlinger
Joined: Jan 28, 2004
Posts: 3906
Location: Colonial Shanghai
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Nov 07, 2004 - 07:31 AM |
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Regardless of whether anyone likes GWB or not, at least the people of his country chose him. Fairly. That's a lot more than the people of, say, China can do. We may not like their [the American people's] decision, but we should respect the fact that it was their decision to make. |
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Monk
Raver
Joined: May 03, 2004
Posts: 440
Status: Offline
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| Posted:
Nov 08, 2004 - 04:39 PM |
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"We may not like their [the American people's] decision, but we should respect the fact that it was their decision to make."
Why should we respect that? Democracy is a responsibility which the American people are not living up to. When the decision and the decision-maker are of such poor quality, it calls for doubt, not respect.
I can't help but feel that there's either a problem with the system or the people or both. Something needs to be fixed anyway.
A semi-related article (I know Herbert is a hardcore liberal but he's drawing from independent surveys here):
Voting Without the Facts
By BOB HERBERT
Published: November 8, 2004
The so-called values issue, at least as it's being popularly tossed around, is overrated.
Last week's election was extremely close and a modest shift in any number of factors might have changed the outcome. If the weather had been better in Ohio. ...If the wait to get into the voting booth hadn't been so ungodly long in certain Democratic precincts. ... Or maybe if those younger voters had actually voted. ...
I think a case could be made that ignorance played at least as big a role in the election's outcome as values. A recent survey by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland found that nearly 70 percent of President Bush's supporters believe the U.S. has come up with "clear evidence" that Saddam Hussein was working closely with Al Qaeda. A third of the president's supporters believe weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq. And more than a third believe that a substantial majority of world opinion supported the U.S.-led invasion.
This is scary. How do you make a rational political pitch to people who have put that part of their brain on hold? No wonder Bush won.
The survey, and an accompanying report, showed that there's a fair amount of cluelessness in the ranks of the values crowd. The report said, "It is clear that supporters of the president are more likely to have misperceptions than those who oppose him."
I haven't heard any of the postelection commentators talk about ignorance and its effect on the outcome. It's all values, all the time. Traumatized Democrats are wringing their hands and trying to figure out how to appeal to voters who have arrogantly claimed the moral high ground and can't stop babbling about their self-proclaimed superiority. Potential candidates are boning up on new prayers and purchasing time-shares in front-row-center pews.
A more practical approach might be for Democrats to add teach-ins to their outreach efforts. Anything that shrinks the ranks of the clueless would be helpful.
If you don't think this values thing has gotten out of control, consider the lead paragraph of an op-ed article that ran in The LA. Times on Friday. It was written by Frank Pastore, a former major league pitcher who is now a host on the Christian talk-radio station KKLA.
"Christians, in politics as in evangelism," said Mr. Pastore, "are not against people or the world. But we are against false ideas that hold good people captive. On Tuesday, this nation rejected liberalism, primarily because liberalism has been taken captive by the left. Since 1968, the left has taken millions captive, and we must help those Democrats who truly want to be free to actually break free of this evil ideology."
Mr. Pastore goes on to exhort Christian conservatives to reject any and all voices that might urge them "to compromise with the vanquished." How's that for values?
In The New York Times on Thursday, Richard Viguerie, the dean of conservative direct mail, declared, "Now comes the revolution." He said, "Liberals, many in the media and inside the Republican Party, are urging the president to 'unite' the country by discarding the allies that earned him another four years."
Mr. Viguerie, it is clear, will stand four-square against any such dangerous moves toward reconciliation.
You have to be careful when you toss the word values around. All values are not created equal. Some Democrats are casting covetous eyes on voters whose values, in many cases, are frankly repellent. Does it make sense for the progressive elements in our society to undermine their own deeply held beliefs in tolerance, fairness and justice in an effort to embrace those who deliberately seek to divide?
What the Democratic Party needs above all is a clear message and a bold and compelling candidate. The message has to convince Americans that they would be better off following a progressive Democratic vision of the future. The candidate has to be a person of integrity capable of earning the respect and the affection of the American people.
This is doable. Al Gore and John Kerry were less than sparkling candidates, and both came within a hair of defeating Mr. Bush.
What the Democrats don't need is a candidate who is willing to shape his or her values to fit the pundits' probably incorrect analysis of the last election. Values that pivot on a dime were not really values to begin with. |
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