Several times throughout the last few days, I've heard arguments from both sides of the political spectrum attempt explanation of the electoral process and how we now have G-Dubb as prez for the next four years (FOUR years!). It comes down to a couple of simple issues that I've consistently seen:
1. Kerry is not a strong candidate for president.
2. Bush makes people feel like their moral values are safe.
I'll accept the first tenet because I was never fully comfortable with Mr. Kerry from early on during the primary elections. Mostly, I was surprised that he came so strongly out of left field to steal the primaries from more viable candidates, but in the end, he was it, and we had to accept that as fact. His rhetoric towards the end of his presidential campaign became much stronger, but unfortunately, it appeared to be too little too late. For what it's worth, I believed in what he had to say: that he could empower the economy, become a champion of the middle class, return our civil liberties to what they once were, and heal our standing within the international community, but unfortunately, the majority (yes, it is an official majority) of the country didn't hear this side of his message and instead saw an untrustworthy and weak-minded candidate.
Now, the second idea, that Mr. Bush makes people feel their moral values and lives are protected is not a lot of hogwash. It's no surprise that middle America finds his down-home demeanor and devotion to faith reassuring. We out on the west coast and northeast of the country may think differently, however. While many of us may have seen the economy, the international spectrum, and the war overseas as the biggest issues, many outside of these states saw gay marriages, stem-cell research, and abortion as abominations of faith that should be gutted and thrown overboard. Forget that people with different sexual orientations should be allowed civil liberties, forget that many adults suffer daily from debilitating disease, and forget that violent sexual crimes can lead to unfortunate choices, but remember that our country was founded by what else, Puritans. Is it any surprise then that moral values were the highest rated deciding factor in this election?
Ultimately, I like to believe we all wanted our moral values protected. It can be argued that those of us in the blue counties (check out the purple map to get an idea of what I mean) were thinking of others while those in red counties thought of themselves. I'm not trying to say that there's less compassion in the south and Midwest than in other regions of the country, but isn't it what drives these issues. Do we not want others to have the same rights we do, or are we more concerned that their rights will infringe on ours? I like to think that it's a little of both for everyone.
I'll end by posting what the newly elected Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama said at the Democratic National Convention:
Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America—there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.
It's my country, and your country, let's make it work for us.
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