A Big Sigh...
On one side, it is a sigh of relief, on the other a sigh of disappointment and resignation.
I believe there should be no question in anyone's mind which variety of sigh I uttered.
Reports are that Senator Kerry called President Bush in Washington DC this morning to concede the election. I for one commend the Senator for his consideration of the people of this nation. It was very classy on his part. We really did not need another 2000. In fact, if anyone cares to recall, that uncertainty took its toll on this country's economy, sending stocks into a nose-dive. We really didn't need that again, especially with the economy trying to recover.
This morning's blog rounds found things much as I imagined. Republicans are of course jubilant and Democrats are despondent and wondering what went wrong.
I for one will not gloat. It's unbecoming. Ok, I'll try not to...
We, as a nation need to heal this schism that has developed between us and reconcile our differences if we wish this nation to last. I've been purposedly silent on my blog as the events unfolded, allowing my last melodratic post to stand until things finally died down and reached stable plateau. We didn't really need anyone increasing the tension.
I've been fighting for the past while for moderation in our dealings with one another. I know some of you are going to point at a few of my posts accusingly saying, "you call that moderation?" And you are of course correct. There have been a few posts to my blog that were written to be extreme on purpose. If I am confronted by a reasonable argument I will attempt to argue my position reasonably. This last election cycle however was full of incendiary claims that needed to be confronted with counter claims that were equally incendiary or we would have simply conceded the election from the start and I truly feel that George Bush was the best man for the job.
For the Democrats wondering where you went wrong, I'd propose a few simple places Guns, Gays, Guts, God, GI's and Gimme's. Allow me to explain.
Guns
Guns in hands of law abiding citizens can do no harm. Only criminals commit gun crimes. You can't assume that everyone has the propensity to be a criminal without making people angry.
Gays
This country has come a long ways already in this regard. The general consensus is, "anything between consenting adults". That's a large change from the place where it was illegal in many states not so long ago. Sometimes it pays to be patient and bring about change slow enough that people's sensibilities have a chance to adjust before continuing on.
Guts
Have the guts to unabashedly love your country as well as yourself. All of this, "blame America first" nonsense will get you all kinds of votes in other countries, but it is this country where you need the votes to win. Also, have the guts to speak your mind. The entire "PC" movement is really pissing people off. So also have the guts to endure when others speak there's for crying out loud!
God
This article says allot. You can't offend this many people by calling them fanatics and expect to win. The Democrat party needs to rein in some of its more viscous anti-religious factions.
GI's
America will always vote to protect America. America loves her men and women in uniform. Weakness in defense will never get a majority vote, certainly not when this nation is at war (whether justified or not). A candidate's stance on and dedication to protecting this country must not in any way be impeachable even slightly if you wish to succeed. I'm sorry but pacifism perceived or actual will loose every time.
Gimme's
Another thing that most people find offensive is the hew and cry for entitlements. Entitlements mean taxes and let's not forget, that was the straw that broke the camel's back causing the Revolutionary War. You need to find ways to advance your social agendas that are brought about as much as possible with incentives (tax breaks) rather than punishments (taxes).
Think about these things. I believe these are the issues that this election hinged on. Perhaps if we can find concessions among these issues we can begin bridging the gap.
Thoughts? Anyone? Bueller?
I believe there should be no question in anyone's mind which variety of sigh I uttered.
Reports are that Senator Kerry called President Bush in Washington DC this morning to concede the election. I for one commend the Senator for his consideration of the people of this nation. It was very classy on his part. We really did not need another 2000. In fact, if anyone cares to recall, that uncertainty took its toll on this country's economy, sending stocks into a nose-dive. We really didn't need that again, especially with the economy trying to recover.
This morning's blog rounds found things much as I imagined. Republicans are of course jubilant and Democrats are despondent and wondering what went wrong.
I for one will not gloat. It's unbecoming. Ok, I'll try not to...
We, as a nation need to heal this schism that has developed between us and reconcile our differences if we wish this nation to last. I've been purposedly silent on my blog as the events unfolded, allowing my last melodratic post to stand until things finally died down and reached stable plateau. We didn't really need anyone increasing the tension.
I've been fighting for the past while for moderation in our dealings with one another. I know some of you are going to point at a few of my posts accusingly saying, "you call that moderation?" And you are of course correct. There have been a few posts to my blog that were written to be extreme on purpose. If I am confronted by a reasonable argument I will attempt to argue my position reasonably. This last election cycle however was full of incendiary claims that needed to be confronted with counter claims that were equally incendiary or we would have simply conceded the election from the start and I truly feel that George Bush was the best man for the job.
For the Democrats wondering where you went wrong, I'd propose a few simple places Guns, Gays, Guts, God, GI's and Gimme's. Allow me to explain.
Guns
Guns in hands of law abiding citizens can do no harm. Only criminals commit gun crimes. You can't assume that everyone has the propensity to be a criminal without making people angry.
Gays
This country has come a long ways already in this regard. The general consensus is, "anything between consenting adults". That's a large change from the place where it was illegal in many states not so long ago. Sometimes it pays to be patient and bring about change slow enough that people's sensibilities have a chance to adjust before continuing on.
Guts
Have the guts to unabashedly love your country as well as yourself. All of this, "blame America first" nonsense will get you all kinds of votes in other countries, but it is this country where you need the votes to win. Also, have the guts to speak your mind. The entire "PC" movement is really pissing people off. So also have the guts to endure when others speak there's for crying out loud!
God
This article says allot. You can't offend this many people by calling them fanatics and expect to win. The Democrat party needs to rein in some of its more viscous anti-religious factions.
GI's
America will always vote to protect America. America loves her men and women in uniform. Weakness in defense will never get a majority vote, certainly not when this nation is at war (whether justified or not). A candidate's stance on and dedication to protecting this country must not in any way be impeachable even slightly if you wish to succeed. I'm sorry but pacifism perceived or actual will loose every time.
Gimme's
Another thing that most people find offensive is the hew and cry for entitlements. Entitlements mean taxes and let's not forget, that was the straw that broke the camel's back causing the Revolutionary War. You need to find ways to advance your social agendas that are brought about as much as possible with incentives (tax breaks) rather than punishments (taxes).
Think about these things. I believe these are the issues that this election hinged on. Perhaps if we can find concessions among these issues we can begin bridging the gap.
Thoughts? Anyone? Bueller?
Labels: Election 2004
posted by G-Man at 2:43 PM
You have some good incites here. Having voted fro Bush it was more of a security issue for me; security of my family and person, security of income from excessive taxation, and security of my nation as a whole. I think that the President has a long way to go still in gaurentying the last one though. Look to the borders.
You hit the nail on the head with "Guts". I thinkl that most democrats who voted for Kerry, do not see our nation as the country of their birth; only some place that they live in.
You are invited to come over to my blog and comment on my guidance post; maybe you too can help me understand the new left.
I will *never* understand the left. In fact, I've made some serious decisions lately about how I spend my time and whom I spend time with. I don't regret my new choices and will not relent in telling it like it is. The entire world can call me an idiot and I'm not worried because the majority of this country is in the RED. I can also proudly say that my state doesn't have a single solitary speck of blue in it which would explain why President Bush didn't make as many trips to Nebraska as I would have liked but I do understand. lol :) We have a lot of work to do you guys. We need to keep on just as talk radio needs to continue and we can not for a second relent in what we believe in. Of course, I believe we are willing to set aside small differences to concentrate on what is important so we can UNITE but is the left willing to do the same? It's difficult because both sides are completely and utterly on different pages. I don't think we can even match priorities at this point. Know what I mean?
Thanks for your non-gloating. After working very hard to get Kerry elected, including donating, fundraising, and finally travelling to Broward County, Florida this week to monitor polls, the only conclusion I draw from this election is that this country is fundamentally conservative.
It's too exhausting now for me to try to be an amateur political consultant and figure out how millions of people vote the way they do. What I'm mostly interested in is the merits of issues which, whatever the political consequences, will still cause me to believe what I believe, including for gun control, gay marriage, and separation of church and state.
But again, thanks for the civility.
Well Jack, we've all worked hard to support our prospective points of view. I have argued all along that this all could have been presented in a much more civil manner. Those pleas went pretty much unheeded on both sides of the fence. That is the true issue that must be addressed before we engage in this folly again in 2008. We as bloggers, the only truly free media left in this country can lead the way. We could present our points supported by facts and interpreted in an unbiased fashion. We can have discourse without demonizing each other. We can go into the effort as friends, disagree as friends and come out the other side, still friends. It is in all of our interest after all. We only have presidential elections every four years and in the intervening years, we have to be each other's neighbors.
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