For the most part, I have opted to stay out of the fray in here since the election. Honestly, I'm not certain how to react to all that occurred. I'm not even sure I'm comfortable with any party having this much power, even if it is the one that I find to be the most industrious at this particular time. I have read most of your posts and I have sifted through a number of op/ed pieces over the last day or so. There are a few common themes and there are numerous explanations for why such a dramatic election in U.S. history occurred on the evening of November 4, 2002. Many of them are grounded in history, many are grounded in ideology, many are grounded in excitement or anger, depending on your party alignment; however, I keep finding myself gravitating toward a relatively simple explanation. America appears to be waging an intellectual war against elitism and entitlement. When Clinton was first elected, it was an exciting time. He was young and energetic and could sell each of us our old shoes. The economy was already in recovery, but that doesn't matter to us when we are doing well. We really only notice that we are doing well, not the policies that got us to that point. That all started to wane before the 96 election. Many grew disillusioned, not by how the country was doing economically (although we did have one of the worst stock market crashes in history that year), but by a sense that our leadership was unethical and perhaps, not as trustworthy as we had hoped. We essentially sold our collective soul for our temporary happiness. The bubble did burst, though, which left us with much to contemplate. The 2000 election was a tug of war of sorts. The split was right down the middle, despite how well our economy had done. Something was amiss. More and more people started to see that our collective conscience was more important for our survival in the long-run. GWB gave us that option. Half of the country in popular votes (and, of course, more if we look at the electoral college) voted partially against the past 8 years. The cries ensued and threats were made: wait until 2002. We waited and the election took place, but GWB's presidency was affirmed rather than denied. It wasn't because of the economy ("stupid"), it was because we, regardless of any problems that we presently confront as a result of 9/11 or the already stagnate economy, were finding ourselves a means for loosening the shackles of a PC that has gone awry. A large portion of the country endured being labeled as racist, stupid, mean, evil, or any other number of unattractive descriptors, for supporting GWB, whereas, the reality is that such accusations served little purpose but to create the ensuing backlash. GWB represented something that was missing. His words connected with the average American. He represents inclusion in the way the average American defines it: equality not separateness based on skin color, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. GWB spoke TO the public, not AT the public. He provided a figue with whom many could identify. Face it, everyone likes to prove people wrong when they are underestimated. Furthermore, people reacted to the respect evident in the tone of his message, NOT necessarily his person. This had been missing for a long time. Before the election 50% of the country was prepared to trust again. After 9/11 80% of the country was prepared to trust again. The 2002 election is a backlash. I am not deluding myself into thinking it won't reverse itself. History always does eventually. But for right now, the message I glean from all of this is that Americans want character, they want to be treated with respect and they want to be treated equally. When a leader emerges on the left who imparts the same feeling, as I am sure will happen again (e.g., Kennedy, Johnson), then the power will shift. In the meantime, I hope that we can get things in perspective, for as I have said a million times before, I don't see any sense in not saying it again, when you get right down to the core of every argument, we all want the same things. We just see very different paths to reaching our goals. I do hope that you do not read this message as gloating, or even basking for that matter. I have my apprehensions. I just don't care to give credence to the histrionics of doom by engaging in debate when it is debased to that. On the flip side, I do not care to engage in the drama of winning, for that only incites the already angry. Right now, there are far too many important issues looming. I just assume reserve my energy for learning from all that has actually occurred.