Ugh. This is not looking promising.
I spent most of last night watching Angel episodes, doing my best to ignore the results coming in — but, of course, I couldn’t stay away entirely. Unfortunately, every time I checked in, things looked worse and worse. Eventually, I just had to head to bed and see where things stood in the morning.
Right now, things stand at 254 to 252 Electoral Votes, with Bush in the lead. New Mexico, Iowa, and (most critically) Ohio are still too close to call. Much as I’d like to believe that we could pull a rabbit out of our hat and pick up Ohio’s twenty Electoral Votes, it really isn’t looking terribly likely.
Even more discouraging is that even were we to disregard the Electoral College and look at the popular vote, Bush is leading there, too. It’s tight — about a three and a half million vote edge — but it still puts Bush ahead.
I’ve got to admit, while I hadn’t come out and said so flat out, I was pretty optimistic yesterday and in the weeks leading up to voting day. I really hoped that there were enough unknown factors &dmash; a mobilized youth contingent; the number of new, first-time voters; blocks of cell-phone users that hadn’t been factored into polling data — that predictions aside, Kerry would end up the clear winner. I thought there was a chance that we’d pull through with more than just a few percent here and there, but that there would be a definite, decisive win.
Basically, I made the mistake of forgetting one of my dad’s favorite maxims: “You will never lose betting on human stupidity.” I let hope and optimism push aside my customary cynicism. I actually thought that for once, this country would vote with its head and heart, rather than letting the fear, paranoia, and xenophobia so omnipresent in the Bush campaign to take control.
I really find it mind boggling that so much of this country’s population can support Bush. How they can look at what he’s doing to the country — politically, socially, environmentally — and what he’s doing to the rest of the world and honestly think that he is the best man to be in charge.
But it looks like that’s the case. Unless a miracle comes through in the next day or so as absentee ballots are counted, provisional votes are checked, and Ohio’s votes are sorted through with a fine-tooth comb (and Kerry, don’t you dare concede before it’s absolutely clear where things stand), Bush will continue his single-minded, blindingly theistic reign over our country.
Which scares me more than I really want to think about.
But even if Bush wins, the battle is not over. As Meteor Blades says at the Daily Kos:
Not a few people have spoken in the past few hours about an Americanist authoritarianism emerging out of the country’s current leadership. I think that’s not far-fetched. Fighting this requires that we stick together, not bashing each other, not fleeing or hiding or yielding to the temptation of behaving as if “what’s the use?”
It’s tough on the psyche to be beaten.Throughout our country’s history, abolitionists, suffragists, union organizers, anti-racists, antiwarriors, civil libertarians, feminists and gay rights activists have challenged the majority of Americans to take off their blinders. Each succeeded one way or another, but not overnight, and certainly not without serious setbacks.
After a decent interval of licking our wounds and pondering what might have been and where we went wrong, we need to spit out our despair and return — united – to battling those who have for the moment outmaneuvered us. Otherwise, we might just as well lie down in the street and let them flatten us with their schemes.
The battle for the presidency may be lost.
The battle for this country must keep going.
“Disco Death Race 2000 (full mix)” by Various Artists from the album Disco Death Race 2000 (full mix) (1996, 1:13:48).