The commentary on the election that made the most sense to me. (From jmo's blog). I think it just came down to the fact that the Republicans did a better campaigning job than the Democrats. How else can you explain the fact that he won Ohio? And when it came down to it, Bush did get the popular vote as well.
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The Dems lost because they are pro-choice and pro-gay marriage. Plain, simple, sad.
I know it's a narrow aspect, but the reason I pick this one to rant about is a) I'm biased personally, fair enough right? and b) it sums up one of my fundamental problems with the process. First, the facts I am basing this on: exit polls said of the ~20% of americans who said "moral values" were their most important issue, 80% voted for bush. Some guy on network news said about 1 in 5 voters were white evangelical christians. There are many other stats like the vote of weekly churchgoers skewing heavily for Bush. So what does that mean? To me, it means that for a good chunk of those who voted for Bush, they were *most* scared about what Kerry being in office would do to the moral compass of the country, while for most of those who voted for Kerry, they were most concerned with jobs, the economy, the ridiculously large deficit. While abortion and gay marriage themselves are not the issues which decided the election, Kerry's stances on those made people concerned about his values overall (note some catholic priests insisting that Kerry be refused communion, and Bush splitting the catholic vote with him). Personally, I know a lot of christians who were torn between the "moral" choice of Bush vs. the "everything else" choice of Kerry...they much preferred Kerry except for these absolute moral stances they felt led to support as christians. Anyway the real thing that makes me mad was that people were forced to pick between the two. If Kerry were allowed to be anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage like Bush, I think he would have won by a landslide (electorally). But no, a democratic candidate could never support those views. There really needs to be less slavish devotion to the two party system here.
Just in case this made me sound too partisan, I think Bush is a horrendous muckup too. I think there are a significant number people who voted for him out of misinformation as well (ie they actually still believe there were WMDs in Iraq). Here's to hoping for better choices and a better system in the future (did you know over $1 billion was spent on this presidential election? sickening).
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So as everyone rants and raves about the election and whatever, I've been doing some thinking as well.
Even though people thought I was a narrow-minded Bush-supporter - and not that I need to defend myself - I did in the end vote for Kerry. And not just because the 3 men in my life mandated that I do so. (Well, 2 did, 1 gave me a choice but I knew where he stood).
I never actually defended Bush - I just never supported Kerry. There's a difference, and I didn't appreciate being insulted and chewed out all the time. This is why I hate politics and in general, can't stand liberals.
Despite disagreeing with Kerry's moral standpoints, I voted for him because I believe that Bush has proved himself unworthy for a second Presidency based on the last 4 years and that the country needed a new face. Not that Kerry's face is attractive, but it's new. And that was enough to swing my vote. (My vote, which didn't matter anyways).
It was actually a very tough decision, and for everyone out there who yelled at me that not everything is black and white, I say the same about this election. Kerry is not good and Bush is not evil. It's not as clear-cut as that. As a Christian I feel compelled to support certain things and this election was the case where it forced me to choose between two candidates who were entirely unappealing, and who both had things on their agenda that I did or didn't support. God calls us to take care of his creation (the environment) and to care for the poor (social justice). God also calls us to a moral standard and in the relativistic society that we live in, the moral degradation is appalling as everyone seeks to live out what they think will make them "happy".
That being said, I think that Bush has given a bad impression of evangelical Christians and that makes me sad. I was actually quite offended during one of Sab Jr's rants when he said "so you would vote for Bush just because he's an EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN?" Clearly, I didn't vote for him, but what I think people don't understand is that we're ALL sinners - Christians are just those that are aware that we are. But we still sin, we still struggle, and we're nowhere near perfect and shouldn't claim to be.
This drunk guy on the train next to me last night was going on and on about Bush and how he sucked and how the white man was killing the black man, blah blah blah. (He REEKED of alcohol). But towards the end he said this: "he will have to answer to God one day". And Joe (this guy from TKD who took the train downtown with me) replied "we all will".
And it's true. One day all this arguing and media and nonsense won't matter because in the end you don't get to argue with God. And we'll all have to account for all of our actions, and when that time comes, there will be A LOT to account for. When I look at this election and the uproar that it's caused, it just points out to me the fundamental truth that there is so much sin in this world and that the world needs Jesus. If Bush is not being the ambassador for Christ that he ought to be - then that's just sad but all we can do is pray for him because he's in a position to do great or terrible things in the next 4 years.
James (Cadogan) told me that I should vote because if I didn't, then I didn't have a right to complain about the outcome. I think that's a bad mentality to have, because if America is a nation of complainers, then that's not productive.
What's done is done and no amount of ranting and raving is going to make Kerry the President. I think we should just focus on praying for Bush and that he would be guided by God and not by man, whether it be himself, his party, or whoever. And my conclusion would have been the same had Kerry won.
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