05 November 2004

The galling thing

Why is this election so special? Lefties often go into a funk and mutter about incipient fascism after an election goes badly, but we get over it. This time, a lot of us --- and I count myself among that number --- are truly shell-shocked.

Part if it is how very bad the administration really is. Part of it is the creepy media environment we live in now. Part of it is the fear that American society really has become unhinged. And I have a long, serious post in the works about that stuff.

But there's a very immediate thing that I think has us stunned. We tried really hard this time. We dug deep into our pockets and gave money to the Democratic party. We gave our time to organizations. We went out to the swing states and worked door-to-door. The progressive wing didn't grumble and try to pressure the party; we pandered to swing voters every way we knew how. The Republicans ran a buffoonish candidate who didn't even win the election last time; we ran an articulate, politically moderate war hero candidate.

And still we lost. What more does it take?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It takes your nephew learning to spell and write his name.............so that in about 14 years he can take up the gauntlet if not before!

Love,

Mom

Anonymous said...

This is the place where I tried to write an articulate response but after several minutes and numerous attempts, I'm giving up in favor of dropping back into denial mode. "Shell shocked" is a perfect description of how I've felt since the election.

Meliny