How "W" Won...

I found this in the NY Times and believe it is worth posting here.

"HOW W WON"
BY JOHN PODHORETZ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW YORK POST HOW W WON
November 4, 2004 -- TWO things happened on Tuesday night: George W. Bush won the election decisively, and John Kerry and the Democrats lost the election decisively. That's what a close study of the final vote tally reveals. On Tuesday, 9 million more votes were cast than in 2000. On Tuesday, Bush received 8.3 million votes more than he did in 2000. If those 8.3 million Bush voters who weren't there for Dubya in 2000 all came from the big pool of new voters, then Democrats should start getting ready to pack it up and move to France. Why? Because a Republican president has increased his ballot total by 15 percent simply by creating new Republican voters who didn't exist before. This is potentially catastrophic for the Democratic Party. It will go into the next two national elections (in 2006 and 2008) with a Republican electorate 15 percent larger than it was four years ago. But look. It's highly unlikely that every new Bush voter came from the overall newvoter pool. It's safer to assume that new voters split the way the overall electorate split, 51-48 in favor of the president. Under this scenario, John Kerry deserves congratulations for receiving about 4.3 million votes that didn't exist when Al Gore ran for president four years ago. But before Democrats start sending Kerry congratulatory telegrams, they should consider this: Bush only got 4.7 million from the new-voter pool, then his historic total means he got another 3.6 million votes from people who voted Democratic in 2000.
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So if you figure the new voters broke 51-48 in favor of the president, you also have to figure that George W. bush took a whopping 7 percent of Gore's 2000 vote total away from the Democrats. Democrats can and should console themselves with the thought that they can get those voters back. If someone has pulled the Democratic lever before, there's reason to think they can go Democratic again under the right circumstances and with the right candidate. But to do that, Democrats will have to accept reality. And the reality is this: Democrats voted for Bush in large numbers because they like him. They admire him. They want him to be president. They don't think he's an idiot, a fascist, a warmonger, a religious fanatic, a kook, a liar, a cheat, a monster, a bad guy. They think he's done a good job. The Democratic Party has spent four years demonizing George W. Bush, and in part because of their stupid, useless, senseless negativism, Terry McAuliffe & Co. lost 4 million voters. Some strategists will surely argue that because the Democrats were so pointed in their attacks on Bush, they brought the 2.8 million people who voted for Ralph Nader back in the fold. There's some merit in that argument. But that still leaves the party with a net loss overall from 2000. And that, my friends, is the story of this election. George W. Bush won the election triumphantly because he made new voters. And John Kerry and the Democrats lost the election ignominiously in part because of the self-destructive hate and venom they spat at the president, which caused Democratic voters to flee in droves.
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E-mail: podhoretz@nypost.com
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If you want to be right, then DO RIGHT!

Can You Hear Me Now?

I am so excited with the fact that the Presidential, State, and local elections worked this year!As some of you know, we homeschool our children and try to keep them in the know when it come to the world. In the last round of elections, everything fell apart and our attempt to use the election process as study, completely failed, thus leaving our children with a bad taste in their mouths..This time was quite different, and I am so very proud!.While we were happy with the outcome, the best part for us was the way it came about. We got to see the media put in their place as the average American citizen let their voice be heard..Another high point was the candidates and their composure. I was very pleased with the speech made by Senator Kerry. He was quite eloquent, and sadly I must say, that I really wish he could have presented himself as he did after it was all over. I think if he had just been himself throughout the whole campaign, as he was afterwards, things would have been very different..President Bush also spoke well of his rival, and did his part to put the campaign behind also. I truly hope that what they both spoke of, coming across political lines to realize a better America, will actually come to fruition..It was also very invigorating to see just how many people came out to vote. The effort to bring out the vote was truly phenomenal! I hope that we can see this kind of turn out in the future. I find it sad that it took such drastic efforts to increase the turn-out, but maybe it will become habit for the new voters..Another thing that was good to see, was in the fact that the people of America was allowed to be heard, and boy were they. What would normally have been a decision for the supreme court, was decided by the people. The issue of the amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman proved to be a good test. Not taking issue either way, it was very obvious how the American voter felt. If only we could get more of the issues to vote rather than before the supreme court. This country is made up by a vast people, and it is they who should define it. Eleven states all with the same outcome...pretty impressive. I say let us be heard! We loved the opportunity, and plead for more opportunity in the future!While many believe that in issue such as an amendment defining marriage was not proper constitutionally, the constitution needs to be managed by the masses, and not the few!.For those who boldly crafted this proposal, I say thanks! You have allowed the people of America to be heard, and I say bring more!.In regards to the stupor that the press and liberal democrats are expressing, I pray that you will have to get use to it! You act surprised that the American people would vote their heart and conviction? I say that you need a lesson in patriotism. While you cast your condescending look upon us, the poor, the uneducated, and those who don't have the sense to come in out of the rain, I say, learn your lesson well. You have finally heard what the people of American are about and want.I know so many of you, and understand how you, the enlightened, liberal, democrat has held the view that you understand "better" than the rest of us. You hold an indignant eye for any who do not agree with your understanding, yet, cannot allow the same concession you demand of us. You have worked for decades trying to stand above, educate, and dismiss us "the lesser," for an America that will stand hand in hand with a global community of enlightened equals. You need to take a long look at just who you are trying to embrace. Not all in the world hold to your belief system, and no degree of argument or education will change them. The world is a very dangerous and mean place to be.You want us out of Iraq....never should have been there...tell that to the thousands who have been murdered by the regime that "we" removed. Go to Sudan and enlighten the muslim militants who daily are slaughtering whole families for simply being Christian, or are they doing a service to society? Tell any woman in the larger part of the middle east, who has to completely cloak her body in public. Tell her of "her" rights as a citizen in this enlightened world. Before you decide you are going to dictate what is right or wrong, you might want to take the time to know just exactly what you are talking about. All your indignation has rendered you to a state of blind stupor. The greater part of the general public has spoken, and they are not buying what you have to sell!.In this election you lost more ground than at any time in recent history. I honestly believe in the checks and balances system, and you have taken yourself out of the game. You have allowed both the Executive and legislative branch's of government to be run by one party...you have spun so far out in left field that you were rejected in the vast majority of every race you entered. I truly hope you have learned a lesson, as so many of you who "knew" you could not be defeated, have all the answers, and are better enabled to legislate against the will of the greater populace; hubris excuses no single person.
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If you want to be right, DO right!