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Friday, September 10, 2004

A day in the life of...

Despite Democratic protestations to the contrary, Bush does seem to have taken a fairly significant lead in recent weeks, most recently evidenced in an AP poll that put the incumbent president ahead by 6 percentage points.

The AP poll has Kerry falling behind in every swing category: lower educated voters, suburbanites, rural voters, the middle class, married couples and baby boomers.

The willingness of the American public to vote against their own interests never ceases to amaze me. The Republicans have succeeded in creating wedge issues (gay marriage amendment, abortion, gun rights) that distract voters from the much more significant realities of a soaring budget deficit and a leadership vacuum in Iraq.

Sure, we may lose a thousand-plus soldiers and a couple hundred billion dollars fighting a poorly-planned invasion of a foreign country, but at least I get to keep my handgun. Yes, our president might be bankrupting the nation, but at least I don't have to fund birth control education in India. This kind of thinking.

The other thing I've been struck by is just how angry Bush supporters are. In the last week alone, I've come across a number of little would-be Zell Millers. They're filled with hatred and bitterness. I guess I would be bitter too if my only vision for the world is one in which the divine right of the parochial powers of a U.S. economic and religious elite supercedes all over values, including humanity, science and reason.

Kerry is down in the polls, this I concede. But I have enough faith in the wisdom of the American people to believe they can rise above the prejudice dished out at them by the Karl Rovemobile and make a rational choice aiming toward a better future.

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