Fear and moral outrage were a huge factor in this election.
Many people I spoke to were literally terrified of having John Kerry as President. I view this fear as irrational, but it is clear that it was stronger than the fear that others had of continuing with our foreign and domestic policy.
The gay marriage initiatives were political genius, particularly in Ohio. The mobilization of the evangelical voters, who had stayed out of the 2000 election as a result of the election-eve revalation that W had been convicted of an OWI, was enough to counter-act the mobilization of the youth, (which turned out to be disappointingly below predictions).
I believe in liberal social policies and a more restrained foreign policy. To some of you that makes me anti-american or communist. I find that extremely troubling and it reminds me of darker parts of our history. Being from Wisconsin, I need no reminder of the House Unamerican Activities Committee or Josephy McCarthy.
Clearly the country is becoming more nationalistic in the wake of 9/11 and the war in Iraq. This is the natural reaction of a people that has been attacked, and the examples throughout history are legion.
I believe the administration has used the war as a political tool. That view is not shared by many of you, and I understand that. I would ask you to go back to 2002 and listen to the words of Karl Rove.
Karl Rove told members of the Republican National Committee during a January 2002 speech that Republicans "can go to the country" on national security issues and invited his party to politicize the war in an election year. And according to The Associated Press, a White House strategy for the 2002 elections - formulated by top presidential advisors - advised Republican candidates to campaign with messages highlighting the war on terrorism.
You can apparently find the whole thing in the C-SPAN archives. The address was January 19, 2002 at the winter meeting of the RNC. Here is an excerpt:
"Now we come around and face another election and with it we face the question of on what ground will our Party contest this election. Let me suggest that there are a couple of easy answers and one tough answer. The easy answers are our priorities for America and they are clear. They are to win the war, protect the homeland, and revive our jobs and economic growth in America. And this is the message of the Republican Party as we go into the 2002 election.
The first and most important of these is obviously winning the war. Americans can trust that this Republican President and this Republican President with his war cabinet and this Administration will prosecute this war no matter how long it takes, no matter what the price, no matter what is required because the cause is important and the goal is so critical to the future of our country and indeed so critical to the future of the world.
[portion omitted]
We face a new and dangerous evil let loose in this world. This is not one evil country. This is a movement that crosses national boundaries. Today the Al Qaeda movement is to be found in 64 countries around the world. This is not just one group of individuals but a vast network. Between 50 and 70 thousand people passed through those training camps with the Al Qaeda in Afghanistan….
We had better pursue this evil to ground. We ought to root out this evil and destroy it utterly and completely or we will find ourselves leaving to our children and grandchildren a world that is much more dangerous and much less peaceful and much more prone to the kind of horror that this world saw on the morning of September 11, 2001….
I said to this sergeant I was sitting next to, How’s morale. He said, It’s pretty good today but it’s going to be pretty bad unless we see combat soon. (laughter)….
Now we can go to the American people on this issue of winning this war not just because of the inspiring leadership of our President since September 11, not just because of the solid and stable and experienced leadership of his war cabinet….. And not just because we’re doing well in the war. We can go to the American people on winning this war because the American people understand two things. One, they understand that this is going to be a long and difficult contest and that much is yet to be done and much is yet to be required. We are winning in Afghanistan, but we are winning only in the first theater of a long contest that will take a long time and a lot of treasure and a lot of challenge for this country.
And we can also go to the country on this issue because they trust the Republican Party to do a better job of protecting and strengthening America’s military might and thereby protecting America and we should be proud of the record of our party in doing just that."
Other than that, I leave you with the following statement I have posted on a few forums that I think is important and I would like to hear the thoughts of those on this forum. I have been disappointed in the response from other forums, as none of the vocal conservatives have had a thing to say about it, and I don't need any more encouragement from the liberals.
Terrorism is a tactic. It is not an ideology. It is not a country or a region of the world like the middle east. It is not a people.
Terrorism exists in many forms, some of them embodied by our own actions and the actions of our allies throughout history. One man's terrorist act is another man's act of revolution or self defense. We have never had the wisdom of God, let alone Solomon, but we act as if we occupy the moral high ground in the world. I wish that were true.
There are some occasions where we do not act like the greatest nation in the world.
Someone give me an answer to the following:
We are at war. The President is a wartime President.
Although we are at war for the soundbites and the headlines, the same Government argues it is not really at war when it comes to protecting the rights of the people it locks up, both foreign and domestic.
The people in Guantanamo Bay are not all from Iraq or Afghanistan. Some are US Citizens. Many of them are evil people that may well deserve the harsh and brutal treatment they receive, if you believe in that kind of punishment. But some of them are being held under the shadiest of justification that is not subject to review. These people were not allowed to know why they were being held, and they are not allowed to see the evidence.
They have been labeled enemy combatants under the Patriot Act and have no rights. Recently, the US Supreme Court gave them some rights back, but it remains to be seen if the US Army honors the Supreme Court's decision, given that this is not on US soil and the Army believes that its own law applies. Remind you of something?
This is not what people are dying for. Do you think the pictures they see of these prisoners on the internet have an impact on their desire to chop of the heads of Americans in Iraq and elsewhere? How can we ask them for mercy and restraint when we show them not a shred of human decency or dignity.
When are people going to wake up and understand that believing America is the greatest and can do no wrong is worthless if you don't uphold the values that make America great?
If the bill of rights means nothing to you, what are we sending our children to die for? Is revenge all we have left in this country?
We are better than this. If Bush truly wants to unite this country, he knows what he can do. He and the rest of the Republicans now have the power to show us all what it is they stand for. I pray that those who voted Republican are right. Nothing would make me happier.
Show me that this vote was not out of fear and the machinations of a right-wing empire. Show me they have a better plan for all americans. I want a better america, and that starts with jobs and education and health care.
If at the end of four years, we are still losing Americans in combat in the middle east, if we have no end in sight, if the deficit is out of control, if the country remains divided, if health care costs are through the roof, if many americans do not have health care or a living wage, if our public schools are in decline, if addiction remains a federal offense, if prison population and construction continues to rise, if the environment continues to decline, if solo drivers in 12 MPG SUVs still clog the highways, if we are still the bitch of foreign oil and the Saudis, etc., there will be no question as to who is to blame.
But if anyone thinks that I value the ability to look back in 2008 and say I told you so above a better america, you are incapable of having an open mind. I will be overjoyed to congratulate you all on your wisdom, foresight and courage. I honestly will.
On that note, can we all agree to try to make things better, even in the micro-level of this forum?
The election is by all accounts over, and now the real work has begun.
