why I no longer want to jump off a cliff (and neither should you) [View All]

[onenote]

Its taken a few days. At first I didn't want to read the paper, watch the news, or even come here. But I dipped my toe in the water and I'm glad I did. Cause it got me started thinking, rather than just hurting.

First, and somewhat flippantly, I have to ask: if the exit polls were so far off the mark with regard to who folks were voting for, why is the exit poll on why they voted being taken as the gospel?

Second, before everyone starts jumping off of cliffs, keep in mind the following: in 1972, McGovern only got 28.9 million votes (under 40 percent); in 1976, in victory, Carter only got 40 million votes; in 1980, Carter was down to 35.5 million (just over 40 percent), and the number was about the same for Mondale in 1984, and in 1988, Dukakis got just under 42 million (45 percent). And in terms of electoral college numbers, Nixon got 520 against McGovern, Reagan got 525 and 489 in his two wins, and Bush I got 426.

So spare me the eulogies for the Democratic party. With nearly 56 million votes, and around 48.5 percent of the total, you could say that the glass is half full rather than half empty, at least in comparison with the not too distant past.

(Also, the 3.5 million vote margin between Kerry and Bush doesn't look so bad when you compare it to the margins of the past: McGovern (18 million down); Carter (8.5 million down); Mondale (17 million down); Dukakis (7 million down).

Finally, the last line in the CBS commentary suggested that the Democrats problem is their inability to find the "right" candidate, something that the commentary further suggested was "a very difficult condition to cure."

I don't buy it: was Gore the right candidate? a couple of hundred votes and/or a different supreme court and the answer might have been yes. Kerry? Maybe not, but was the problem "moral values" or some phony patriotism ginned up by a post-9/11 campaign of fear mongering. Dukakis? Okay, bad choice. Carter: good choice and then bad choice. But not because of a moral values issue. But because of inflation, gas prices, and Iranian hostages.

So let's not lose all perspective here. Tuesday sucked. The next four years will suck. The supreme court may end up sucking for a long time. But each day we get closer to 2008 is a day closer to a chance to regain the presidency. It won't be easy. But its not as hard as some folks seem to be suggesting based on bogus analyses.
Now go and try to enjoy a nice fall weekend.

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