Nice guys finish last.

I'm glad I got the chance to find out who John Kerry is, to support him, and to vote for him. I'm proud that I can say my state gave him our 55 votes. I'm proud of keladryb, malograntum, bowdlerized, idlerat, isiscolo, and everyone else I know online and offline who got out there and fought like postmen (neither rain nor sleet nor snow nor twisted ankles...). I'm glad that more people than four years ago woke up and got involved. I'm glad that more people voted for Kerry yesterday than voted for Bush in 2000.

I'm glad the Kerry camp didn't choose to prolong the inevitable in Ohio. There was no reason to think that counting all the provisional ballots would have helped; the gap was already too wide. 51% of the voters wanted Bush; that's a fact, and it's a place to start. If the voters could not get what they wanted, as they didn't in 2000, that would be a place to end. Two elections in a row stolen by litigation would have been enough to break my spirit, regardless of which party benefited.

I see that some people are disappointed in Kerry for not fighting harder [ie, refusing to concede Ohio], but I never expected him to. I think he would have been wrong to do so, and I think he knew that too, and that's why he didn't do it. As I've been saying all along, he's a good man and an honest man, and I think he was more interested in a fair election than in winning an election. I also think he knew that it would only have hurt his party, which is in dire straits as it is.

It was low for the RNC to go after Tom Daschle, but I can't say I'm sorry he was defeated. He's been a weak leader for the Democrats, and they need to turn it around now. They need to take a hard look at what went wrong, and figure out how to fix it. I think they can and will. Daschle's out, Obama's in, and that gives me hope.

The next two-to-four years are going to be hard for social liberals and fiscal conservatives. I don't see any reason to think Bush won't continue to fight against gay rights, and to spend irresponsibly, driving us deeper into debt.

But since its inception, this country has been on a progressive path, and though this is a step back, I believe that in the big picture, we'll continue in that direction. If we were on a path of steady conservatism, people wouldn't BE nervous enough about gays to want to deny them the right to marriage. It's a panicked backlash against where this country is, inexorably, going. And I believe that in the end, they'll find that it was too little, too late.

Right now, we need to keep fighting. Let's figure out how to flip the Senate in '06 -- if Bush is gonna be appointing Supreme Court justices, we need a force that will moderate his hand. As slippyslope put it, we are not a tiny cowering few. This race was close, and there are still more potential voters to be reached.

After Ted Kennedy's failed bid for the Presidency, he remained a fierce liberal voice in the Senate. From everything I've heard, Kerry's staying in the Senate too.

From the Boston Herald:

The Democratic source said Bush called Kerry a worthy, tough and honorable opponent. Kerry told Bush the country was too divided, the source said, and Bush agreed.

"We really have to do something about it," Kerry said according to the Democratic official.

Nice guys finish last.

I'm glad I got the chance to find out who John Kerry is, to support him, and to vote for him. I'm proud that I can say my state gave him our 55 votes. I'm proud of keladryb, malograntum, bowdlerized, idlerat, isiscolo, and everyone else I know online and offline who got out there and fought like postmen (neither rain nor sleet nor snow nor twisted ankles...). I'm glad that more people than four years ago woke up and got involved. I'm glad that more people voted for Kerry yesterday than voted for Bush in 2000.

I'm glad the Kerry camp didn't choose to prolong the inevitable in Ohio. There was no reason to think that counting all the provisional ballots would have helped; the gap was already too wide. 51% of the voters wanted Bush; that's a fact, and it's a place to start. If the voters could not get what they wanted, as they didn't in 2000, that would be a place to end. Two elections in a row stolen by litigation would have been enough to break my spirit, regardless of which party benefited.

I see that some people are disappointed in Kerry for not fighting harder [ie, refusing to concede Ohio], but I never expected him to. I think he would have been wrong to do so, and I think he knew that too, and that's why he didn't do it. As I've been saying all along, he's a good man and an honest man, and I think he was more interested in a fair election than in winning an election. I also think he knew that it would only have hurt his party, which is in dire straits as it is.

It was low for the RNC to go after Tom Daschle, but I can't say I'm sorry he was defeated. He's been a weak leader for the Democrats, and they need to turn it around now. They need to take a hard look at what went wrong, and figure out how to fix it. I think they can and will. Daschle's out, Obama's in, and that gives me hope.

The next two-to-four years are going to be hard for social liberals and fiscal conservatives. I don't see any reason to think Bush won't continue to fight against gay rights, and to spend irresponsibly, driving us deeper into debt.

But since its inception, this country has been on a progressive path, and though this is a step back, I believe that in the big picture, we'll continue in that direction. If we were on a path of steady conservatism, people wouldn't BE nervous enough about gays to want to deny them the right to marriage. It's a panicked backlash against where this country is, inexorably, going. And I believe that in the end, they'll find that it was too little, too late.

Right now, we need to keep fighting. Let's figure out how to flip the Senate in '06 -- if Bush is gonna be appointing Supreme Court justices, we need a force that will moderate his hand. As slippyslope put it, we are not a tiny cowering few. This race was close, and there are still more potential voters to be reached.

After Ted Kennedy's failed bid for the Presidency, he remained a fierce liberal voice in the Senate. From everything I've heard, Kerry's staying in the Senate too.

From the Boston Herald:

The Democratic source said Bush called Kerry a worthy, tough and honorable opponent. Kerry told Bush the country was too divided, the source said, and Bush agreed.

"We really have to do something about it," Kerry said according to the Democratic official.