A nation most divided

That map on all the networks, whether it was the fancy NASDAQ one at CNN, the Skating rink motif of NBC or the various versions from FOX, CBS AND ABC had one recurring trait. There was blue at the far right corner, blue on the far left side and with the exception of lonely ole Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota and uh that’s it, Red everywhere else!

The Question for Democrats is how the heck they ever expect to hold the Presidency if they are pushed to the virtual margins of the country.

With the re-election of George Bush in both the Electoral College and in the popular vote, he finally receives the legitimacy of his Presidency that many said was lacking in his first term.

With a key win in Florida which was not a terrible surprise and another in Ohio which was, Bush found enough votes to put him over the top and claim a second term. The Florida vote was less controversial than last year, while Ohio became ground zero in this years struggle. Provisional ballots, absentee ballots and challenged ballots all direct our attention to a system that seems um, a tad flawed. When is a winner not a winner, when is a loser suddenly back in the game? It all makes for wonderful theatre, and the stumbling, fumbling and bumbling of the network talking heads gave proof that live television still can offer its great moments (I was particularly interested to learn that President Reagan would be making an appearance shortly, now there’s a network exclusive for ABC). But the way this election began to unravel as the hours went by, you began to wish that the folks at Comedy Central would have let Jon Stewart stay on a longer with his election special! Electoral Farce deserves satirical input!

With lineups of over ten hours at some locations reported and that unusual procedure known as the “provisional ballot” (we’ll count them if we have to but, if it’s not close why bother?) the actual task of voting seemed to require all the dedication required to preserve democracy. A national voters list seems to be a much needed item in the USA, if for no other reason than at least they would have a head start when it comes time to count the ballots. And is it not possible to have an earlier deadline for absentee and overseas ballots, having them back in the country well before the actual voting day, treat it like a mailing deadline for Christmas presents if you have to! The whole world was watching last nights demonstration of democracy warts and all, the folks in Iraq probably paying more attention than most, since the Bush government has said that they intend to send Iraqi’s to the polls in January (as if they don’t have enough problems at the moment!).

International observers to the festivities were at many voting stations, especially in the controversial state of Florida, as the day went on the observers began to long for the days of vote counting in such long time democratic states as Serbia, Venezuela and Kazakhstan!

In the end, the Democratic contender, after taking the night to sleep on it and hope for some kind of vote count change, offered his concession. Kerry not only lost the Electoral College and the popular vote, but watched as his running mate failed to deliver one single southern state including his own. The news got worse as the night morphed into morning, as the Republicans picked up seats in both the Senate and Congress. The long time leader of the Senate Tom Daschle even ended up losing his seat in the Republican onslaught. In short despite a massive increase in the participants to the process, the result not only improved Bush’s standing from four years ago, but finally added legitimacy to his office.

Earlier in the day the likes of Ted Kennedy, Al Sharpton and such seemed positively giddy at the possibility of chasing The President out of office. Exit polls apparently leading them to believe that they were on the verge of reversing four years of Republican rule and perceived tyranny.

The handlers, pollsters and political machine workers seemed to want to hang on til the last bitter moment. Only James Carville, the raging’ Cajun of the days of Bill Clinton could read the tea leaves properly. As the hours moved on Carville was working his contacts in Ohio, glumly he told his Crossfire panel on CNN that it was done, the Democrats could not make Ohio work and that was that. He basically said then and there that the Bush Presidency was on to a second term, you almost saw a glint of sympathy in the eye of Robert Novak, either that or a look of glee, fine line between the two there.

The Kerry folks should have listened to the wise Cajun; he did the math and realized that the Kerry numbers weren’t going to get him over the top no matter where they tried to shuffle the figures. Game, set and match for the forces of Bush!

For the Democrats the events of last night will signal an internal struggle worthy of the Conservatives in Canada. They need to try and figure out why they are merely a coastal party with a few outposts in the heartland. They need to understand why they couldn’t win support in a state like Ohio. A state where 16% of the jobs have disappeared, sending over 200,000 people to the unemployment lines, if the Democrats couldn’t win a state in economic and social distress what hope do they have in states where economic times are brighter? There is much work to do in the Democratic Party the message never found a home with over half of the American voter.

The win should however not be taken by the Bush administration as an endorsement of their policies. The fact that a bit over 49% of the electorate chose not to support the President should be a cautionary tone for those in the White House. They govern over the most divided nation since the Vietnam War and possibly on a parallel with America of the Civil War era (the split of the North and those West Coasters and the Rest seems to be an ominous reminder of times gone by). Large tracts of the American population don’t feel comfortable with the direction the President has been taking them; he ignores that message at his party’s peril.

Four more years of Republican rule. We wonder if it will be four more years of more of the same, or Four years of new directions and new agendas. More disconcerting for the American’s who did not vote for Bush, will be the awareness that with his success may come even more troublesome legislation destined only to divide the nation further. In 2000 Bush ran under the slogan of being a “uniter not a divider”. With the results of 2004 he will be given one more chance to prove that those words were much more than just a slogan of convenience.