Yes, the election is over and as Ms. Secia points out the "Religious right-wing extremist zealots" have come out on top. They will be basking, gloating and belittling anyone who does not agree that their victory is because "the American people have spoken."
I hate to be the one to point this out but the outcome had very little to do with voice of the people. In fact, if you look real close you will see that when Americans speak, very few politicians really listen. Political victories are made with money (money from interest groups, yours vs. theirs), media spin (positive spin about you, negative spin about them) and the mistakes (yours and theirs). This election, like every election was base on just that, so lets not waste our time assigning this victory to the voice of the American people.
What the Republicans did was vote, while the Democrats did not. The Republicans had 53 percent of the vote and evidence is showing that this victory was not the voice but the color of the American people and a question of fear. The Republicans used the fear from Sept. 11 to highlight our need to be seen as strong patriots by playing to our own insecurity about race, religion and culture. This limited any real disagreement or discussion between the republicans' "patriotic view" and the rest of us. Thus before Sept. 11 the Democrats had vision after Sept. 11 they were lost without away to look "patriotic" and still disagree.-รก
The "72 Hour Plan" used by the Republicans to get out the vote in the rural and suburban neighborhoods in about 30 states... worked because 85 percent of the voters were white males about 7 percent were black and just 4 percent Hispanic.
The fact is that the Republicans knew what they wanted, how to get it and so they got it. The Democrats knew what they wanted but after Sept. 11 they forgot that it is just as patriotic to say, "America -- Change it or Lose it" as it is to say "America -- Love it or Leave it".
Enjoy your victory, because we have been here before. The year was 1994 and the Republicans kick butt; Gallup showed large support for the Republicans but by November of 1995 that Republican advantage was gone. Clinton and his Democrats came back in 1996 to win.
What both parties need to remember is that, when Americans were asked on November the 8th by Gallup: "Would the country be the same regardless of which party controlled Congress?" Guess what? Almost 50 percent said it would be the "same regardless." Now that, Ms. Secia, is the point: the American people have spoken, and most feel (I am sorry to say) that it does not matter.