Glass half full

[Nick Douglas]

Obviously, yesterday was a disappointment. I expected Kerry to narrowly win Florida and Ohio to make it a decisive electoral win. When I got home, democratic supporters were practically celebrating in front of Shepard Smith, but as the night matured, it became clear that Bush was going to have a relatively strong win.

In this liberal's view, the fault lies not with the issues or the platform, but in the way the campaign was run and, more importantly, with the candidate. Kerry was a weak candidate. My feeling was that a huge number of Kerry voters were voting 'not Bush' rather than 'Kerry' this year. It's always going to be hard to win an election based on vitriol. You need a charismatic candidate to go along with it.

Given that Bush is going to stay president, obviously I'm very leery about the direction of the country. As Latin America follows the lead of Europe and southeast Asia in embracing socialism, America will continue to become more and more isolated in the world. Despite our troubles in foreign affairs, however, I'm going to be optimistic about certain areas:

-As a hard working person, this administration's neo-conservative economic policies will land more money in my pocket at tax time.

-As a person who relies on corporate prosperity for his work, having this administration in the pocket of many lobbyists backed by corporations will help me.

-Bush understood the problems with health care more than Kerry, so hopefully market conditions will be inserted back into the equation of health care costs.

-The Daily Show will be funnier.

-A weak Democratic leader like Kerry won't be gifted the nomination in 2008, therefore a strong Democrat can be brought in to finally work with other European and Arab countries in ending what will still surely be a massive clusterf-ck.

 

[dr. freeze]

Bush understood the problems with health care more than Kerry, so hopefully market conditions will be inserted back into the equation of health care costs.

Although this would ultimately hurt my salary, i cannot agree more.....good to hear intellectual honesty from a liberal....thats something we haven't heard for the last 10-12 years sadly enough and why we have seen the demise of democrats as of late....hopefully it returns

 

[Marra]

I think you got to look at Obama and Hillary as the two leading canidates in 2008. I would love to see Obama run.

 

[Chanman]

Good post Nick. Takes a lot to keep posting in this forum& others w/all the criticism directed your way. You stand up for what you believe in and that makes you in the minority. I look forward to more posts from you. Thanx, Chan.

 

[AR182]

nick,


in a post 911 world anybody who is a liberal is a weak candidate.

 

[SixFive]

agree with some of your post. I definitely voted anti Kerry, and I would have strongly considered a moderate Democratic candidate. Most of the Democrats around here are moderate to even conservative such as the one who ran for Senate (Mongiardo) and was narrowly defeated. The party is going to have to quit running these leftists if they ever want to regain power in the White House. Kerry was extremely week, and therefore, he lost. No other reason for it. A strong conservative/moderate Democratic candidate with the charisma of even a rock would have won this election.

 

[ferdville]

I agree with you Nick. If the Dems had run a different candidate, or even if Kerry had run his campaign differently, Bush would be out. Kerry focused far too much on slamming Bush and offered little insight to his own plans other than broad generalizations. Many, many fence sitters like myself were waiting for him to give us a good reason to vote for him, but he didn't do it. On a funnier note, I thought Dan Rather was going to have a heart attack when it became apparent that Bush won.

 

[Nick Douglas]

I have to disagree that Kerry's liberalism caused his demise. People will vote for a liberal, just not a weak one. The bottom line is that, even as a Kerry supporter, when he spoke you got the feeling he was too eager to please. With Bush (and with strong liberals like Ted Kennedy), you at least get the feeling they truly believe in what they say. Nobody likes a guy who just gives lip service in lieu of his beliefs.

I have to vehemently disagree with AR182 about liberals and terrorism. The bottom line is that this is a war we cannot win with an agressive stance. Think about how you would react if a secular state essentially fought a war against Christians. There is absolutely no way you would ever be defeated because God will always be stronger than any secular idol. I know this sounds preachy, but I'm sure my man SixFive agrees with me.

The way to win this war is to understand why the conflict exists, work to arrive at as fair a solution as possible, and then work with people within the Muslim world to root out and kill those corrupt leaders and extremists whose views are a dangerous threat to America's stability.

To Freeze and Chan I say thanks. I know we disagree a lot but I post what I believe based on making a true effort to understand what is going on in the world. Glad you guys agree in this case.

 

[djv]

Ya Rather aged 10 years in two hours last night. Marra No way Hillary makes it. She may run but she wont get it. Unless Bush really screws thing up. If so then just about anyone may pull it off. But Bush will need to stay about where things are now to get folks up in arms. By that I mean job growth stays slow. Unemployment stays above 5.3%. No real energy policy set in motion. Iraq lingers on another two years. The markets are still growing slow. A terrorist hit here. No control of health care cost. Things like that could get her elected. for that matter just about any Dem. Bush will have no one to blame but him self it it goes to hell.

 

[AR182]

you are wrong nick. people will not vote for a liberal in today's world.

 

[ferdville]

I still think that people vote with their pocketbooks. And those whose pocketbooks are most affected are more likely to vote and more likely to vote Republican. An interesting thing occurred in California. A bill was proposed to allow illegal aliens to obtain driver's licenses. Every poll taken indicated that the vast majority of Hispanics with average and above average incomes were against illegals getting licenses. This is just one example. People are scared when politicians offer everything for free - health care or whatever. Nothing is free and we know that.

 

[CHARLESMANSON]

Gee Obama we are so impressed with your victory in a state that is about 99% democrat. If you and Hillary are the light at the end of the democratic tunnel then your whining, complaining, crying, funger-pointing political party is doomed for years and years to come! :clap: eat it!

 

[djv]

Charlie has spoken he soon will back this up with some article.

 

[Nick Douglas]

ferd,

You also have to look at what is happening worldwide. Socialism is booming right now because people are choosing equity and societal harmony over economic prosperity. In America, we still worship money above all else, so socialism has become a bad word. As with all governments, eventually that will change. The question is, will international isolation bring change quickly or will Americans hold steadfastly to the current system?

 

[ferdville]

You make a valid point. And Europe is being flooded with Muslims which will no doubt bring about some manner of change as well. I think the U.S. has a ways to go before we embrace socialism, but I definitely see it heading in that direction. Nice to have you in here with your well thought out, reasonable and provocative viewpoints.

 

[djv]

Cash is king for a long time here. As long as we can keep China and Japan investing in our debt. We will fight socialism. I agree with Ferd nothing is free we must all pay. I just don't think hikes of 10/12% a year are necessary. Seems like some one is taking advantage of many. I don't believe todays workers are getting pay hikes in that range. National average last I saw was 3.5%. That included Bennies.

 

[ferdville]

This has been a big problem with Bush's administration - no doubt about it. Prices have gone way up the past few years but salaries have stagnated or risen only a few %. I didn't get a raise last year and none so far this year (teacher). But all my costs have gone up.

 

[djv]

Sorry to hear that. We need you. We need good teachers. Our Kids and Grandkids are the future. We need them taught well.
Some communities just don't remember that all the time.

 

[ferdville]

Teacher salaries aren't that bad - as long as you have at least a master's degree and some time in the job. We cannot attract much in the way of new prospects because the entry level is just too low for people with degrees in many cases. It is a very rewarding job with many excellent benefits (time off), but you can't make any big money unless you get into administration, and then you separate yourself from the kids. At least that fact keeps a lot of the good teachers in the classroom. The ones that don't like to teach become administraters in many cases. I worked in the corporate world for nearly 20 years and made great money. But rewards were few and time demands were awful. I have never been happier.

 

[CHARLESMANSON]

If you can read these words, thank a teacher.
If you can read them in English, thank a soldier.