OK, So...
In contrast to the admittedly very heavy and dark tone of my post yesterday, I wanted to write about Ron Turner getting fired, and the way the jobs in the Big Ten should be ranked.
Turner's main problem has been simple, as a guy who came in as an offensive coach, he has not developed a quarterback since Kurt Kittner left, which has really been the downfall of the team over the last two years. That, coupled with the poor performance of the present junior and senior classes in general, led to the firing. As far as successors, many of the local commentators have been talking about getting some pro assistants, as well as smaller school coaches like Jack Bicknell of La. Tech or college assistants like Chuck Long. Let me be the first to offer up a possibility: Ron Zook should be the next head coach at Illinois. Zook made a lot of mistakes at Florida, but if he could do one thing, it was recruit like mad. Recruiting was one of the things Ron Guenther said was the reason Turner was gone. Zook will not have the burden of replacing a legend as he did at Florida. He can get the talent to make the team number one in the state again, because right now it clearly is number two to Northwestern, which is on the brink of going to another bowl game. While this might not be the coach some in the media would think, I believe, if you really examine the needs of the University of Illinois, that Zook may just be the best (reasonable) pick for the Illini.
This gets me to thinking: If by some horrific accident, all the Big Ten Coaches needed to be replaced at once, how would you rank the prestige and quality of the jobs:
1. Michigan. If you didn't think I would say this, you're fooling yourself. They have, clearly, one of the top 5 traditions in football (ND, U of M, Alabama, USC, Oklahoma), the ability to recruit nationally and in every state in the Midwest, the knowledge that the fan and alumni base keeps them on TV every week, and one of the top venues in the nation.
2. Ohio State- Much the same as above, though Ohio State is more centered, recruiting wise, on the state of Ohio, which, lucky for them, produces a ton of talent.
3. Penn State- while I acknowledge their current difficulties, the state is simply to talent rich, the tradition of the school to great and their geography, situated nicely between the eastern and western parts of the state and right in the mid-atlantic region, make it a great job.
4. Wisconsin- When one considers where they were before Alvarez, it almost boggles the mind how good they have gotten. The state isn't as talent rich as the others listed above, but they have the ability to get players- especially on defense and at running back to be good for a long time.
5 (TIE) Purdue and Iowa- the only reason I put these schools together is because their recent success is tied so closely with their current coaches. Both schools have tradition, but are also capable of falling on their face if they make a bad hire, or have a couple of bad recruiting classes.
7. Michigan State- Nick Saban left because he found it too hard to be "little brother". State is the only school in the Big Ten with another "Superpower" program not just in the state, but also in the conference. Its a great job in a lot of ways, there's a lot of talent in the state, and MSU has always recruited FLorida better than Michigan, which seems to focus more on Pennsylvania and California, but there is a ton of politics at State that just aren't involved with the Michigan job.
8. Illinois- Good recruiting base in Chicago, but you lack the tradition to capture the imagination of kids.
9. Minnesota- There's only one reason they are this low. The lack of an on-campus facility. They look minor-league when they have to deal with both the Vikings and Twins getting priority at the HHH.
10- Northwestern- You're the great academic school of the conference (And when you have a conference with Schools like Michigan, Wisconsin and Purdue, that's saying something) and you're the only private one. You are in the center of the Chicago area. These things can sometimes hurt you, but you have some natural advantages.
11. Indiana- You're always second fiddle to basketball, always. Hoosier football has never been a big deal in the state, and with both Notre Dame and Purdue, its difficult for IU to gain a foothold in people's consciousness.
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Monday, November 22, 2004
Dread
That's what I've been feeling about seeing this day on the calendar. Now its here. Knowing what I might have been celebrating, it hurts tremendously. I know I should be over this at this point, but its just been hard. Its hard to get over something when you really don't want to, and that's been me for the past nine months. I've been stuck. I've let loneliness creep in so much that at night, sometimes, I feel as if I am suffocating on my own grief. This has been my decision. I haven't gone out at night, I haven't made an effort to put myself out there while I am in the city. Part of the reason is because I don't intend on being here much beyond Christmas, when I will be done with classes and my internship. I won't have any ties to keeping me here, and so I've wanted to minimize the ties I have here. Now I don't really have much beyond the people I work with at the magazine and John, and the people at the magazine will be spreading across the country as well. I know I can make the effort, its just that I feel the need to get into a comfort zone, and right now, the city seems crushing. I feel invisible, and, for the most part, I've done a good job of doing this to myself. Its very difficult, I've been finding, to divest myself from what I hoped would come to pass, and to come to grips with reality. Work has been a distraction, but when I don't bring work home with me, I can get into trouble, and it almost seems that it has been happening more as this day approached. I know I need to get over this, maybe I will soon.
The week has certainly been an eventful one. I thought Stern gave out punishments that fit what went on Friday. Artest, everyone knew, was a ticking time bomb. It was Stephen Jackson who just looke dtotally out of character. He went nuclear on Friday, and this from a person who was not involved in the series last year.
Michigan certainly didn't look good on Saturday, but thankfully, Iowa certainly did.
I want to congratulate everyone involved with Quick Change Room. I enjoyed myself a lot. I also want to thank Bohne, Andy and everyone else in their suite for letting me stay the night on Saturday.
That's what I've been feeling about seeing this day on the calendar. Now its here. Knowing what I might have been celebrating, it hurts tremendously. I know I should be over this at this point, but its just been hard. Its hard to get over something when you really don't want to, and that's been me for the past nine months. I've been stuck. I've let loneliness creep in so much that at night, sometimes, I feel as if I am suffocating on my own grief. This has been my decision. I haven't gone out at night, I haven't made an effort to put myself out there while I am in the city. Part of the reason is because I don't intend on being here much beyond Christmas, when I will be done with classes and my internship. I won't have any ties to keeping me here, and so I've wanted to minimize the ties I have here. Now I don't really have much beyond the people I work with at the magazine and John, and the people at the magazine will be spreading across the country as well. I know I can make the effort, its just that I feel the need to get into a comfort zone, and right now, the city seems crushing. I feel invisible, and, for the most part, I've done a good job of doing this to myself. Its very difficult, I've been finding, to divest myself from what I hoped would come to pass, and to come to grips with reality. Work has been a distraction, but when I don't bring work home with me, I can get into trouble, and it almost seems that it has been happening more as this day approached. I know I need to get over this, maybe I will soon.
The week has certainly been an eventful one. I thought Stern gave out punishments that fit what went on Friday. Artest, everyone knew, was a ticking time bomb. It was Stephen Jackson who just looke dtotally out of character. He went nuclear on Friday, and this from a person who was not involved in the series last year.
Michigan certainly didn't look good on Saturday, but thankfully, Iowa certainly did.
I want to congratulate everyone involved with Quick Change Room. I enjoyed myself a lot. I also want to thank Bohne, Andy and everyone else in their suite for letting me stay the night on Saturday.
Monday, November 15, 2004
The New Alamo
That's what I was worried Fallujah would turn into, especially in the Muslim world. We seem to have done a good job of avoiding that, as well as the other possibility, Fallujah becoming the Arab Masada. Masada, if you didn't know, was Herod's former palace, which was built into an enormous rock/mesa. The Romans laid siege to it for many months following their capture of Jerusalem in the Jewish Rebellion. The remaining Zealots, as well as the Assassins, were held up there, and when it became clear the Romans would take the city, the population inside committed mass suicide. It became a symbol of holding out at all costs, and strength. The general of the Tenth legion said "We have won. We have won a rock."Maybe we still will get that. That's a very scary possibility.
Thank you State, very very much.
Powell quit today. No one is surprised by this, though I must admit, the selection of Rice to replace him is disappointing to me. She has proven herself to be a largely incompetent NSA and so giving her a promotion does not make much sense, but then, this White House has shown itself capable of a lot of things that do not make sense.
If I am out of step with a country that wants to criminalize abortion and legislate against love, then I 'm glad to be out of step with America.
A paper in Florida put out an article today about how much the city vote in some states overwhelms the rest of the state. It was supposed to be an analysis piece, but unfortunately, it makes things seem as if Democrats in cities overwhelm the wishes of the state, because the city somehow don't count as part of the state.
Arafat is gone. I am torn about this, on the one hand he was the most important figure in the last 50 years of Mideast history, because he was the representative of the Palestinian cause, and ultimately made the world aware of their plight to the point that they had to pay attention. On the other, he was a terrorist who convinced his people that terror was the only way to win their freedom. Its odd when you consider how Arafat and the PLO failed to play well in America, how well the IRA, and Arafat's obvious equivalent Gerry Adams, did. Now, there is an obvious constituency for the IRA to appeal to, but still, both groups were terrorists, but one was viewed favorably, while the other did not. Part of it is that Arafat was so obviously and unabashedly militant, with the fatigues and head scarf, while Adams always appeared in a suit. Funny how things like that change our perception.
That's what I was worried Fallujah would turn into, especially in the Muslim world. We seem to have done a good job of avoiding that, as well as the other possibility, Fallujah becoming the Arab Masada. Masada, if you didn't know, was Herod's former palace, which was built into an enormous rock/mesa. The Romans laid siege to it for many months following their capture of Jerusalem in the Jewish Rebellion. The remaining Zealots, as well as the Assassins, were held up there, and when it became clear the Romans would take the city, the population inside committed mass suicide. It became a symbol of holding out at all costs, and strength. The general of the Tenth legion said "We have won. We have won a rock."Maybe we still will get that. That's a very scary possibility.
Thank you State, very very much.
Powell quit today. No one is surprised by this, though I must admit, the selection of Rice to replace him is disappointing to me. She has proven herself to be a largely incompetent NSA and so giving her a promotion does not make much sense, but then, this White House has shown itself capable of a lot of things that do not make sense.
If I am out of step with a country that wants to criminalize abortion and legislate against love, then I 'm glad to be out of step with America.
A paper in Florida put out an article today about how much the city vote in some states overwhelms the rest of the state. It was supposed to be an analysis piece, but unfortunately, it makes things seem as if Democrats in cities overwhelm the wishes of the state, because the city somehow don't count as part of the state.
Arafat is gone. I am torn about this, on the one hand he was the most important figure in the last 50 years of Mideast history, because he was the representative of the Palestinian cause, and ultimately made the world aware of their plight to the point that they had to pay attention. On the other, he was a terrorist who convinced his people that terror was the only way to win their freedom. Its odd when you consider how Arafat and the PLO failed to play well in America, how well the IRA, and Arafat's obvious equivalent Gerry Adams, did. Now, there is an obvious constituency for the IRA to appeal to, but still, both groups were terrorists, but one was viewed favorably, while the other did not. Part of it is that Arafat was so obviously and unabashedly militant, with the fatigues and head scarf, while Adams always appeared in a suit. Funny how things like that change our perception.
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
Just a thought
One of the reasons so many red states voted so overwhelmingly against gay marriage, and why the people there fear gays so much, is that voters in those states probably do not know anyone, personally, who is out, and therefore humanizing. One of the ways we might be able to alleviate this problem is for gay college students, along with their straight friends, to cross the country during the summer and talk to people in these states. Now, these people would obvioulsy have to be extremely brave, as they would have to risk potential Matthew Sheppard-like events in some states, but that's why we include straight friends, people who surprised people could turn to and see someone who is accepting of this person's sexuality, whiuch doesn't mean something is wrong with either of them. They could also go into African-American communities, since the stigma is that much greater among blacks.
Ohio State= Dirty like a landfill
Other than Donald and Goofy, are there any original Disney Cartoon characters in the same league with Warner Brothers?
Watch out for the Black Dog.
One of the reasons so many red states voted so overwhelmingly against gay marriage, and why the people there fear gays so much, is that voters in those states probably do not know anyone, personally, who is out, and therefore humanizing. One of the ways we might be able to alleviate this problem is for gay college students, along with their straight friends, to cross the country during the summer and talk to people in these states. Now, these people would obvioulsy have to be extremely brave, as they would have to risk potential Matthew Sheppard-like events in some states, but that's why we include straight friends, people who surprised people could turn to and see someone who is accepting of this person's sexuality, whiuch doesn't mean something is wrong with either of them. They could also go into African-American communities, since the stigma is that much greater among blacks.
Ohio State= Dirty like a landfill
Other than Donald and Goofy, are there any original Disney Cartoon characters in the same league with Warner Brothers?
Watch out for the Black Dog.
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Other Stuff
I, like John, have decided to take a break from the election for a bit, instead, I'll just give you a few thoughts on completely immaterial matters.
1. The Michigan-Michigan St. game Saturday was among the great sporting events I've ever seen. The way Michigan St. carried the play, especially before Stanton got hurt, was very surprising, and the performance of their running back was great as well. Braylon Edwards' performance late, though, was among the best late game performances ever. His long reception broke Michigan out of a slump and set up the field goal to make it a 14 point game. His two consecutive touchdown catches were absolutely astonishing, easily just as good as what Larry Fitzgerald did last year. The overtime's were so incredibly nerve-racking, especially because Michigan Mike Hart, who has to be kicking himself for being born the same year as Adrian Peterson. Braylon's touchdown in the third overtime, not too mention Avant's in the second, were just amazing. I really give a lot of credit to Michigan State, who could have just died in the overtime becasue they blew that lead, but agin they didn't. Now we just need them to get back up in two weeks, and beat Wisconsin, sorry John and Karen.
2. As part of fact-checking an article, I happened upon Shula's Steakhouse's 48oz Club, which, as one might guess, is for people who finish their 48oz steak. One guy I found, a Jeff Pallies, seemingly ate three, that's one more than 2, in one day, and potentially at one sitting. That's 144 oz, 9 pounds of meat.
3. I'm starting to look for jobs, so far my interest has been peaked by jobs all across the country, from Idaho, to D.C, to Vermont, to an AP job in Honolulu.
4. Ok, I lied, one last election related thing. I saw the episode of Seinfeld last night where Susan died from licking the toxic envelopes. The "Jerry" plot of the episode, though, reminded me of the election, and what might happen. Jerry's (Republican America) life gets saved by Janeane Garafolo (Bush), who's character is exactly like Jerry in every way. Jerry is smitten, because he's finally found the one he's always been looking for, himself. Kramer (Democrats and liberal America) is freaked out by this and doesn't like Janeane/Bush. Then, Jerry decides to ask Janeane to marry him (re-election). Then, as their sitting at the coffee shop Janeane orders cereal for the third time that day, Jerry realizes how weird it is and regrets it. In the next episode we see the two of them break up, happily, acknowledging that they hate each other. This works in a lot of ways, except we have to live in Bush's America, and we can't break up after one episode.
I, like John, have decided to take a break from the election for a bit, instead, I'll just give you a few thoughts on completely immaterial matters.
1. The Michigan-Michigan St. game Saturday was among the great sporting events I've ever seen. The way Michigan St. carried the play, especially before Stanton got hurt, was very surprising, and the performance of their running back was great as well. Braylon Edwards' performance late, though, was among the best late game performances ever. His long reception broke Michigan out of a slump and set up the field goal to make it a 14 point game. His two consecutive touchdown catches were absolutely astonishing, easily just as good as what Larry Fitzgerald did last year. The overtime's were so incredibly nerve-racking, especially because Michigan Mike Hart, who has to be kicking himself for being born the same year as Adrian Peterson. Braylon's touchdown in the third overtime, not too mention Avant's in the second, were just amazing. I really give a lot of credit to Michigan State, who could have just died in the overtime becasue they blew that lead, but agin they didn't. Now we just need them to get back up in two weeks, and beat Wisconsin, sorry John and Karen.
2. As part of fact-checking an article, I happened upon Shula's Steakhouse's 48oz Club, which, as one might guess, is for people who finish their 48oz steak. One guy I found, a Jeff Pallies, seemingly ate three, that's one more than 2, in one day, and potentially at one sitting. That's 144 oz, 9 pounds of meat.
3. I'm starting to look for jobs, so far my interest has been peaked by jobs all across the country, from Idaho, to D.C, to Vermont, to an AP job in Honolulu.
4. Ok, I lied, one last election related thing. I saw the episode of Seinfeld last night where Susan died from licking the toxic envelopes. The "Jerry" plot of the episode, though, reminded me of the election, and what might happen. Jerry's (Republican America) life gets saved by Janeane Garafolo (Bush), who's character is exactly like Jerry in every way. Jerry is smitten, because he's finally found the one he's always been looking for, himself. Kramer (Democrats and liberal America) is freaked out by this and doesn't like Janeane/Bush. Then, Jerry decides to ask Janeane to marry him (re-election). Then, as their sitting at the coffee shop Janeane orders cereal for the third time that day, Jerry realizes how weird it is and regrets it. In the next episode we see the two of them break up, happily, acknowledging that they hate each other. This works in a lot of ways, except we have to live in Bush's America, and we can't break up after one episode.
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Napoleon
I had other thoughts on some of the things I said before. I do not know that we are doing things so badly, we did after all, win 49% of the vote, but obviously something is missing. Slate suggests that we need to start defining issues in moral terms for people, the economy for example. We won when Bill Clinton said he wanted to reward people who worked hard. The President uses small business as code for this. We sort of did this with outsourcing, but we can do it better.
I read Talking Points as well and Josh had a very good point. The very best thing the conservatives do, and have for two generations, is create a religous fervor using outreach from the alternative media and undermining the rest of it, and then using grass roots organizations, think tanks, and others to get their message out, both in their own and in the normal media. We can't just let the machinery of warfare- Americans Coming Together, MoveOn.org, Media Fund, Air America just wither on the vine. We need to start getting behind these things now. We won't be smothered by the conservatives in defeat, we will smother ourselves if not careful, and the machinery we may well need soon will die in its infancy. We must not let that happen. By keeping the machinery we give ourselves a much better chance next time, whoever the candidate is.
BAYH/RICHARDSON '08
I had other thoughts on some of the things I said before. I do not know that we are doing things so badly, we did after all, win 49% of the vote, but obviously something is missing. Slate suggests that we need to start defining issues in moral terms for people, the economy for example. We won when Bill Clinton said he wanted to reward people who worked hard. The President uses small business as code for this. We sort of did this with outsourcing, but we can do it better.
I read Talking Points as well and Josh had a very good point. The very best thing the conservatives do, and have for two generations, is create a religous fervor using outreach from the alternative media and undermining the rest of it, and then using grass roots organizations, think tanks, and others to get their message out, both in their own and in the normal media. We can't just let the machinery of warfare- Americans Coming Together, MoveOn.org, Media Fund, Air America just wither on the vine. We need to start getting behind these things now. We won't be smothered by the conservatives in defeat, we will smother ourselves if not careful, and the machinery we may well need soon will die in its infancy. We must not let that happen. By keeping the machinery we give ourselves a much better chance next time, whoever the candidate is.
BAYH/RICHARDSON '08
What Exactly Happened- Double Dagger
I think myself and probably most of you reading this are in a huge state of depression right now. Obviously, what happened yesterday, given what we wanted to happen, is extremely disappointing, and I'm not just talking about the Senate and House, I half expected that. I just thought that, especially with the early exit polling, combined with the long lines, would mean huge turnout and a Kerry win. I know everyone is disappointed. I am as well. I'm disappointed not in the candidate, I thought Kerry did everything he could, though he made some mistakes. I am disappointed that the youth vote did not turnout in the disproportionate numbers we thought it might, I'm disappointed that turnout itself will not exceed 115 million. If it had gone over that, Kerry probably wins.
I am disappointed for, and in, the country. I think that we had a real opportunity this election to become hopeful again, to choose a fairer and more cooperative path in the world. Instead, we chose fear and intolerance at home and a repudiation of multi-lateralism abroad. Europe and the Middle East have to be shocked at this result. Britain as well. I think they hoped that we would elect the right guy, but we didn't. Hopefully, Bush will try to govern more from the center, but that is a fool's hope. He knows has a larger majority in both houses on Congress, and what he will see as a popular mandate. The Tax cuts for the wealthy will be permanent, as will the shift of the tax burden to the middle class. We may get a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, we may well get a draft, and invasions of Syria, Iran and anywhere else that opposes us. As a nation our willful ignorance of the world will continue. Darfur will only get worse, which we breed more hatred for us in Africa. Barring drastic shifts or unexpectedly brilliant success in Iraq, there will still be chaos there. If I sound pessimistic, its because I am, I'm frustrated that the votes we needed didn't come in, that millions registered and didn't bother to show up. I'm pessimistic about the future of Roe, because with possibly 4 judges leaving the court, 3 of which would be likely backers of Roe (O'Connor and Ginsburg are both not in the best health and Stevens, though healthy, is in his 80's), it would not be surprising to see Republicans use the electoral win to try and overturn it on the bench. Bill Frist used the term "mainstream judges" this morning, and Republicans will try to make that a synonym for destroying the right to choose. I'm pessimistic about losing the promise of stem-cell research, though the initiative in California passed. I'm concerned we will see new laws to discriminate against gays and lesbians across the nation, no matter the stink the Republicans made about Mary Cheney.
Now comes the look at the future. In 2000, we had a very different world and nation, in a lot of ways than we have now. In other ways, it’s the same, bitterly divided nation. Kerry won all but one (maybe two, if Iowa goes to Bush) of Gore's states and picked up New Hampshire. The exit polls showed that Values were the number one deciding factor in Ohio, and were also important in Florida. Its difficult to imagine, barring Americans waking up to find a gay person in each of their households or a sudden and dramatic shift on Abortion, that Democrats will have a hard time winning in 2008 without fielding a candidate who can at least talk about these things. Hillary Clinton, though I love her to death, does not have this ability. She does not possess the ability to communicate with "regular folk" on values. Her husband did. The two men I can think of who do on our side are Evan Bayh of Indiana and Barack Obama. I wouldn't touch John Edwards with a ten-foot pole. He failed to deliver any rural voters, the voters he supposedly was going to get for us, not in droves mind you, but enough to be competitive. Edwards failed this election. Gephardt would have been better, as would Bob Graham. In 2008, Obama will still be just a pup, though he may be a possibility as a Vice-President, Bayh is the man I think should be the standard bearer. He's centrist enough to appeal to Red States, and while we might prefer someone a little closer to our liberal hearts, the rest of us will have to do our best to swallow the pill the DLC will feed us after this election. On the other side, I think of six immediate names, Rudy Giuliani, Jeb, John McCain, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, George Pataki and Bill Frist. None, other than maybe McCain are possibilities I like very much, especially, and obviously most of all, Jeb.
We will survive this. We always have. We survived eight years of Reagan and four of Bush 41. We can survive the next 4. We as a party, and the left as a movement can't spend the next two years navel-gazing; we have to decide what went wrong, not think about, but decide what went wrong, and fix it. If we need to be less overtly anti-Bush, so be it, perhaps the sound and fury may have turned off some voters who went the other way. The fight must continue. If we can't win nationally, we need to do the conservatives have done. If you're really pissed and angry, good, you should be, now we have to use that to do more than write placards and march, we need to build a giant grass roots effort, dress rehearsal in 2006, with the show in 2008. Channeling the anger is better than simply being angry and then dropping out of the system.
It won't be fun, but we have to do our best to survive the next four years.
I think myself and probably most of you reading this are in a huge state of depression right now. Obviously, what happened yesterday, given what we wanted to happen, is extremely disappointing, and I'm not just talking about the Senate and House, I half expected that. I just thought that, especially with the early exit polling, combined with the long lines, would mean huge turnout and a Kerry win. I know everyone is disappointed. I am as well. I'm disappointed not in the candidate, I thought Kerry did everything he could, though he made some mistakes. I am disappointed that the youth vote did not turnout in the disproportionate numbers we thought it might, I'm disappointed that turnout itself will not exceed 115 million. If it had gone over that, Kerry probably wins.
I am disappointed for, and in, the country. I think that we had a real opportunity this election to become hopeful again, to choose a fairer and more cooperative path in the world. Instead, we chose fear and intolerance at home and a repudiation of multi-lateralism abroad. Europe and the Middle East have to be shocked at this result. Britain as well. I think they hoped that we would elect the right guy, but we didn't. Hopefully, Bush will try to govern more from the center, but that is a fool's hope. He knows has a larger majority in both houses on Congress, and what he will see as a popular mandate. The Tax cuts for the wealthy will be permanent, as will the shift of the tax burden to the middle class. We may get a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, we may well get a draft, and invasions of Syria, Iran and anywhere else that opposes us. As a nation our willful ignorance of the world will continue. Darfur will only get worse, which we breed more hatred for us in Africa. Barring drastic shifts or unexpectedly brilliant success in Iraq, there will still be chaos there. If I sound pessimistic, its because I am, I'm frustrated that the votes we needed didn't come in, that millions registered and didn't bother to show up. I'm pessimistic about the future of Roe, because with possibly 4 judges leaving the court, 3 of which would be likely backers of Roe (O'Connor and Ginsburg are both not in the best health and Stevens, though healthy, is in his 80's), it would not be surprising to see Republicans use the electoral win to try and overturn it on the bench. Bill Frist used the term "mainstream judges" this morning, and Republicans will try to make that a synonym for destroying the right to choose. I'm pessimistic about losing the promise of stem-cell research, though the initiative in California passed. I'm concerned we will see new laws to discriminate against gays and lesbians across the nation, no matter the stink the Republicans made about Mary Cheney.
Now comes the look at the future. In 2000, we had a very different world and nation, in a lot of ways than we have now. In other ways, it’s the same, bitterly divided nation. Kerry won all but one (maybe two, if Iowa goes to Bush) of Gore's states and picked up New Hampshire. The exit polls showed that Values were the number one deciding factor in Ohio, and were also important in Florida. Its difficult to imagine, barring Americans waking up to find a gay person in each of their households or a sudden and dramatic shift on Abortion, that Democrats will have a hard time winning in 2008 without fielding a candidate who can at least talk about these things. Hillary Clinton, though I love her to death, does not have this ability. She does not possess the ability to communicate with "regular folk" on values. Her husband did. The two men I can think of who do on our side are Evan Bayh of Indiana and Barack Obama. I wouldn't touch John Edwards with a ten-foot pole. He failed to deliver any rural voters, the voters he supposedly was going to get for us, not in droves mind you, but enough to be competitive. Edwards failed this election. Gephardt would have been better, as would Bob Graham. In 2008, Obama will still be just a pup, though he may be a possibility as a Vice-President, Bayh is the man I think should be the standard bearer. He's centrist enough to appeal to Red States, and while we might prefer someone a little closer to our liberal hearts, the rest of us will have to do our best to swallow the pill the DLC will feed us after this election. On the other side, I think of six immediate names, Rudy Giuliani, Jeb, John McCain, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, George Pataki and Bill Frist. None, other than maybe McCain are possibilities I like very much, especially, and obviously most of all, Jeb.
We will survive this. We always have. We survived eight years of Reagan and four of Bush 41. We can survive the next 4. We as a party, and the left as a movement can't spend the next two years navel-gazing; we have to decide what went wrong, not think about, but decide what went wrong, and fix it. If we need to be less overtly anti-Bush, so be it, perhaps the sound and fury may have turned off some voters who went the other way. The fight must continue. If we can't win nationally, we need to do the conservatives have done. If you're really pissed and angry, good, you should be, now we have to use that to do more than write placards and march, we need to build a giant grass roots effort, dress rehearsal in 2006, with the show in 2008. Channeling the anger is better than simply being angry and then dropping out of the system.
It won't be fun, but we have to do our best to survive the next four years.
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
GOTV
Today has been pretty maddening. I was sick with the flu the last two days, and therefore haven't seen a thing on the web or anything since I left home. Obviously, right now, things look like we might be experiencing the heaviest turnout in decades, which is gfreat, no matter who wins.
Still, I , along with most of the people I know, want Kerry to win. The early exit polls, especially in the states like Pennsylvania and Florida have looked good, but I am still nervous. Obviously, I think everyone is. Last night, before going to bed, I saw a short segment on Chicago Tonight, which WTTW puts on every weekday. It featured two panelists of three who were likely to be sympathetic to the GOP cause, and both had iffy feelings. One said that in watching the presidebt speake in New Mexico, that he seemed to see a man who had been given bad news. The other, an editor at the Trib, said that soemone had called him, a friend who worked with Karl Rove, and asked him if he could see any scenarios in which Bush won without winning Florida or Ohio. To be frank, I can't. To offset that, Bush would have to take Michigan, Wisconsin and Michigan, and I don't think that is likely to happen.
Still watching different websites has not been good for my psyche. Looking at Salon and Talking Points, I see good news for the President, but when I look at the Corner, which is the blog at the National Review, I see only bad signs, though I suppose that is to be expected.
Thank you to everyone who helped make this turnout possible, you did God's work. Now we just have to hope it goes our way.
Today has been pretty maddening. I was sick with the flu the last two days, and therefore haven't seen a thing on the web or anything since I left home. Obviously, right now, things look like we might be experiencing the heaviest turnout in decades, which is gfreat, no matter who wins.
Still, I , along with most of the people I know, want Kerry to win. The early exit polls, especially in the states like Pennsylvania and Florida have looked good, but I am still nervous. Obviously, I think everyone is. Last night, before going to bed, I saw a short segment on Chicago Tonight, which WTTW puts on every weekday. It featured two panelists of three who were likely to be sympathetic to the GOP cause, and both had iffy feelings. One said that in watching the presidebt speake in New Mexico, that he seemed to see a man who had been given bad news. The other, an editor at the Trib, said that soemone had called him, a friend who worked with Karl Rove, and asked him if he could see any scenarios in which Bush won without winning Florida or Ohio. To be frank, I can't. To offset that, Bush would have to take Michigan, Wisconsin and Michigan, and I don't think that is likely to happen.
Still watching different websites has not been good for my psyche. Looking at Salon and Talking Points, I see good news for the President, but when I look at the Corner, which is the blog at the National Review, I see only bad signs, though I suppose that is to be expected.
Thank you to everyone who helped make this turnout possible, you did God's work. Now we just have to hope it goes our way.
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