Published Nov 3, 2004

Well, the apparently oft-underestimated Mr. Bush has done it again. And this time, better, which is actually a good thing because, well, if Bush can learn to get elected better maybe he can learn to fight world terrorism and fix the economy better too.

All yesterday everyone had heard all about the big turnout, which would usually be a bad thing for Bush because:

  • In the past, non-voters have been overwhelmingly working-class and minorities, both of whom skew very Democratic
  • Who schleps out to the polling place if they don’t want a change?

This election broke both of those trends. The new turn-out? Didn’t skew Democrat, didn’t want a change. But hopefully, that doesn’t mean four more years of the same. I can’t imagine that we can go forward without doing something about:

  • The deficit
  • The rising cost of health care
  • Potential non-positive long-term outcomes in Iraq and even Afghanistan
  • Nukes in Iran

Bush now has a mandate. Four years ago, before he showed his true colors, he managed to get No Child Left Behind through which, while an awful idea, was at least a moderately interesting attempt at change. I’m hopeful that we’ll see some moderately interesting attempts at change in the future. But I wouldn’t bet on it. What would I bet on?

  • Deficit gets bigger
  • Market goes up, but not over 11,500 in the next 4 years as the economy never really takes off
  • Unemployment goes “down” as average income of bottom quartile goes “down” (translation: poorest 25% lose their jobs, take worse-paying jobs)
  • Unemployment goes “down” as more unemployed give up
  • Afghanistan becomes a narco-state; central government only really controls Kabul area
  • “Elections” in Iraq lead to a central government that only controls a small area
  • Kurdish part of Iraq returns to functioning as an effective seperate state
  • Iran’s influence in Iraq becomes immense
  • US airstrikes on nuclear facilities in Iran topple Tony Blair’s government (soon!)
  • North Korea detonates a nuclear weapon

That’s enough depressing news for one morning, but, in four years, we can come back and see how right I was (or wasn’t, hopefully). But I’m conceding, so here’s this:

“George W. Bush, I hereby give you the full opportunity to prove me wrong.”

Now, for all you who live in the US, here’s what people outside the country think:

(I’ve tried to be as “fair and balanced” as I can be in selecting news sources, modulo who updates regularly and and who doesn’t make you pay for content.)

Happy reading! And happy next four years, majority of voters!

(Note: Yes, I did take the Kerry banner and electoral vote count off of my site. No, not because I’m embarassed at having backed a loser. The election’s over, so why tease?)

5 Comments

T | November 3, 2004 5:03 PM

we’ve got one thing to look forward to…

http://www.cafepress.com/clinton08

MisChef | November 5, 2004 6:14 PM

dude, you got you a LOT of comment spam. wassap with that?

Wade | November 6, 2004 6:17 PM

It’s out of control. MT-Blacklist catches about 7 attempted comment spams a day, about 3 get through. All will be solved tomorrow, however, just you wait; I’ll fix them! Bwa ha ha ha ha.

Wade | November 7, 2004 11:58 AM

Ironically, there is the comment spam of which we speak!