Junto Boys

BUSH WINS

After spending the last three days reading every poll, I was convinced that Jay Cost who operates Horse Race Blog had the best read on the polls. He did a good job of explaining why Florida was close last time. Gore people came out in droves and Bush people stayed home. This time around Bush’s people were motivated to vote. Tricia came over worried that Zogby had already speculated a Kerry victory. But I convinced her that the numbers were flawed and Bush would do alright once the votes were tabulated. Bush lost Minnesota though I predicted victory. I also thought he would win Wisconsin, but no poll can compete with same-day registration. I think the difference in that race was the skid row element that Democrats could round up for a bottle and burger.

It was the first clear popular majority since 1988. Even more impressive is that a Democrat hasn’t won a majority since 1976 when Carter got 50.1% of the vote. Zell Miller’s “A National Party No More” couldn’t be better said.

Boy was it sweet seeing that pathetic Tom Daschle lose. He was Mr. Obstructionist in the Senate the last four years and then he had the stones to show an ad with him hugging President Bush after 9-11. He was a great example of how Senators for ages have played liberal in Washington for 5 ½ years and then head home to play conservative for 6 months. It just doesn’t work like it use to. One reason is the Internet. A good blog Daschle v. Thune kept South Dakota readers up on his hijinks like the old media never has.

What happened in South Dakota also happened nationwide. Kerry paraded himself around as a huntin’ man that was going to kill terrorists in the final phase of the campaign. Earlier he promised one of those mythical Democrat middle class tax cuts. He also tried a draft scare with the youth vote and a Social Security scare with the elderly. The world was falling apart because wealthier people were allowed to keep their own money. His campaign had to stoop to disingenuousness to get the American people on board. For all the people who called Bush liar in this campaign, it was John Kerry that had to take positions he didn’t believe in to stay competitive? Kerry may be smooth, but you still don’t really know where he stands at the end of a statement. While even Bush’s butchered words don’t keep his true meaning veiled. John Kerry and his ilk cannot win an election in this country by being themselves.

I thought Coors would win in Colorado and Murkowski would lose in Alaska. The reverse yielded the same result. Republicans have a 55-45 seat advantage and with the way Daschle was targeted by Republicans for his judge blocking it might not be as hard to get 5 senators to join Republicans in ending these filibusters. It’s even possible that Democrat Ben Nelson from Nebraska will switch parties. Even if he doesn’t, it’s likely that he’ll stay out of the filibuster mess. Harry Reid is in line to become Minority Leader though word is he’ll have some competition. If Reid wins, he like Daschle will have to choose to obstruct the President that won his home state. Reid will have the luxury of 6 years before re-election. Neal Boortz thinks that Hillary will become minority leader. That would really make watching politics a lot of fun.

The Supreme Court was as important in this election as the war, because judicial activism has made the Constitution more and more meaningless. Civil Libertarians have argued against the Patriot Act and I share some of their concerns, but I don’t think they have love for the Constitution in mind. The Constitution for them is a useful thing to cite now and then but worth disregarding when they can achieve other goals.

Many of the most controversial political issues in America can be traced back to court decisions that subverted the will of the people. The court may be morally right at times and morally wrong at other times, but what cannot be forgotten is that the legislative branch was given the power of writing laws. Losing the separation of powers is much more detrimental than losing legal abortion in all 50 states. Democrats have been holding the court hostage for that one issue and it’s hurt the country as a whole.

The cool people in the media derided Bush for supporting the Federal Marriage Amendment. He was somehow subverting the constitution for supporting a process that the constitution approves of. Supporters of abortion should be promoting an amendment that protects abortion. That way no Supreme Court can take the right away. Too many times the debate on controversial issues is coming down to 9 people in robes. How does that help America? Bush will be nominating at least two people in the next four years and if they think like Justice Scalia, we have a much better chance of getting back to something like the Republic the founders foresaw.

The war speaks for itself. Bush really believes in the danger and Kerry doesn’t. Kerry’s kibitz campaign didn’t convince a majority that he's serious. The way he used nonsense like the disappearing explosives in the closing days and how he polled people on the effects of the Osama Bin Laden tape showed that he is less serious about the task at hand. Joe Liebermann or Joe Biden wouldn’t have fallen into these traps, and they may have had a better shot at beating Bush. If the Democrats learn anything from this election it’s that they need a candidate that isn’t a phoney.

Bush almost blew the whole thing with that dismal effort in the first debate. Though he got better as the debates continued he never regained the big lead he had before the first square off. Did passing the Medicare entitlement help? That’s the kind of debate Republicans will have among themselves. I tend to think he spent a lot of money to attract the middle and it was his own base that came out to re-elect him instead. Had Bush lost it would have been difficult politically for any President to use pre-emptive force in the future. If this military action wasn't justified what was?

Michael Moore and Moveon.org and Dan Rather and even Howard Stern (The self proclaimed king of all media) and all of the other people who were hell bent on a Bush loss can go home wondering what happened. I can’t forget the vile French, and the terrorists themselves that were foiled again.