Election 2004: Nothing Like Before But Certainly Not Expected

I kept looking at the zombie-tron last night; making sure what I saw was reality. I don’t believe I went to sleep until 5am this morning. I know that I still feel accomplished for the work we and others have done to get out the vote and raise awareness like never before. That doesn’t stop from this point at all, at least not for me. I’m certain that many of my fellow Americans who realize how pivotal this moment is will continue to fight for issues that are fair and hold this administration accountable for anything that detracts from the improvement of this country. I have hope that all the groups like HSAN and Citizen Change do not fall silent because the results are not what were expected – we all did a necessary work. We should take pride in knowing that we empowered many young and uninformed people and armed them with knowledge that I hope sticks to their minds – especially after this.

In this article from Joe Garofoli of the San Francisco Chronicle, there seems to be the feeling that while efforts to get the youth vote out was a good thing but failed to have the supposed impact on the election. Who knows what really happened as far as turnout is concerned. I know in my own voting district, I saw people of all ages out and motivated. I don’t know how it was nationwide but I just can’t believe that we didn’t get it done on our end. I wish I could trust the media’s assessment of what went wrong – or right, according to your choice. The pundits are licking their chops at our defeat no matter how diplomatic the post-election talks have been. I do agree with the administration’s aim to focus on getting this country back to order and leave partisan leanings aside – yet I only support this notion if those on the other side are truly concerned with working with those who don’t share their ideals.

The Religious Left – something that writer Max Blumenthal mentions in a piece featuring several AlterNet writers. I wonder if that is a true focus to undertake because I can say from my civic minded duties, the black church has certainly got more involved than any other time I can recall. In a voting drive I worked in Baltimore this year hosted by the popular Tom Joyner Morning Show, many of the fans in attendance were from church groups and such. But to engage a religious Left and use that influential muscle to rally a new regime change – I’m still not sure if that’s the answer. And while I refuse to feel a sense of sadness, I can’t help to want to brace myself for some form of impending doom. America, as a good friend said, validated Bush last night. That is a very scary thought indeed.