woe

[e_clare]

Subject heading of the e-mail from Mom, yesterday afternoon: the end of the world.

My internal optimist (who does come out from time to time, fleetingly) is inclined to disagree. She wants to believe that everything will turn out all right, in the end.

Then there's my housemate who voted for Bush. (I know!) My jaw hit the floor when he revealed -- while watching BBC election coverage -- that he voted for Bush. This is a smart kid, raised by Democrats, lifelong resident of New York City -- and he voted for Bush.

Never mind that he disagrees with the president on every other major issue (pro-choice, favors gay marriage, supports stem cell research). He voted for Bush because of one thing: fear.

Okay. I'll be nice. "Security." He's justifiably worried about the safety of his family in the City. In his opinion, Bush is the only one to keep the country safe. Is this why he won, ultimately? Because Kerry doesn't seem "safe" enough?

So there. I know someone who voted for Bush, and we're still friends. A regular model for tolerance and cross-political bliss, here. I'll admit, it made me question the strength and conviction behind my own vote. Raised Democrat; vote Democrat. Don't worry about who it is, as long as it's not Bush. I feel good about my Kerry choice now, but I have to respect JM for following his gut on this one and developing his own opinion -- often I feel like I'm blindly following my parents and other people, politically. Resolution: become more informed and politically active. (But I'm still counting on banannagoats to help get me started there.)

Fun facts about Kerry in Ohio, courtesy of the Columbus Dispatch.

• He took giant Cuyahoga County [main city: Cleveland] by nearly 220,000 votes.

• He won second-biggest Franklin County [That's my county!] by 8 percentage points.

• He kept Bush’s winning margin in GOP Hamilton County [main city: Cincinnati] to 24,683 votes, well below the 60,000-vote standard.

• 5.6 million, or 70 percent, of Ohio’s record 8 million registered voters cast ballots

Oh. Crap. "[a] proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution to ban gay marriage, approved by voters Tuesday, helped turn out Bush’s base."

Yeah, optimism? Gone again.

Comments

[llogan.livejournal.com]

the only reason h ewon ohio was because of that issue one thing. it was put there souly to get the white evangicals out to vote. the passing of this issue means that in ohio, gay marrage is outlawed three different and equilly horrible ways.

also, technically, issue one screws me up too. im not going to say how here, but ill tell you about it in some mail.