I've been thinking for a while that a draft might actually help the situation in this country - the religious right might not be quite so righteous if they're forced to send their kids off to war. I have been thinking about that in terms of parents who vote. I was talking about that with a friend of mine today and he said he had been thinking along the same lines, but for a different reason. He was frustrated by the lack of young people voting, and he's starting to feel like, hey if you won't participate, then, fine, you go off and fight this war (you have to cut my friend some slack, he had just come from a conversation with his father, who was overjoyed that Bush can "fix" the Supreme Court and outlaw abortion).

One thing that really really bothers me is that Daschle got voted out. I don't know the political situation in South Dakota but it is unusual for a state to vote out a senior, influential Senator. It feels to me like the Republican party wanted to take him out deliberately - maybe I'm being paranoid, but it feels like they wanted to shut down strong opposition.

mcbain - I really think the Republicans were the ones to bring "gay marriage" up to start with. Karl Rove wanted that issue on the table so that he could motivate his forces. The Massachuetts legislature probably played into his hands, but I think Rove and co. would have figured out a way to keep the issue in the forefront no matter what.

Someone else I know brought up today that national security fears also seems to be one of the deciding issues in this election, and isn't it ironic that the citizens in the most visible and likely terror targets voted overwhelmly not to keep Bush.


Of course in the middle of all the commiserating today with my friends, I got a call from a new business contact, who lives in Kentucky. I haven't met him yet, I don't know his political leanings, but it was weird to suddenly shift gears and be chipper, answering his polite "how are you" with "oh fine", not "depressed and angry".

I'm going to speak out more and let my concerns, thoughts and other issues be known.

Perhaps the most surprising news for gay observers of the presidential election is that exit polls show President Bush received the exact same percentage of gay votes — 23 percent — as he did four years ago. This despite the president's vocal support for a federal constitutional amendment banning gay marraige.

According to the CNN exit poll, 4 percent of all voters identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual, the same percentage as four years ago, at least as reported by ABC News that year. By comparison, 11 percent of voters were black, 9 percent were Latino, 2 percent were Asian, and 3 percent were Jewish. In 1996, 5 percent of the electorate self-identified as gay.

Democrat John Kerry did pick up a slightly higher tally of gay voters, however. Kerry received 77 percent of gay votes according to the NEP poll; Gore received 70 percent in 2000 according to ABC.

"And here we go again with the "illegitimate" election fantasies. The whole basis of argument for the left in recent times has been "if I don't agree with it, it must be a lie." This has never been more evident than right now. Witness: This election is a fraud, a sham. The Republicans (sorry, Rethuglicans) cheated their way through another vote. The vote counts are all wrong. The machines were fixed. Someone was paid off. And, of course, the exit polls were rigged. Even if Bush were to win both the Electoral vote and the popular vote, his win would be decried as illegal. Perhaps that is what is driving the hate today; the fact that there is nothing to point to in order to support the cries of another fake presidency."

You will not live in fear.