the outcome of the election

[kandrathe]

I would be for elevating the level of our political discourse.

My prespective is that in the US about 45% of the people could not imagine 4 more years of GW, 45% could not imagine 4 years with a President Kerry, and 10% (which includes me) are other. I would suggest that we do not follow the lead of the media and disolve our interactions to the left and the right, or the black and the white. Quoting Barack Obama, we can disagree, but we don't need to be disagreeable.

Of the 45% that voted for Bush, the misconception I'm seeing is that they voted based on ignorance. Most are well informed, and many share the same concerns for the environment, or the war in Iraq that Europeans might. It was that they did not choose those issues as their highest priorities.

Rudy Guliani made an interesting observation as he has just returned from an extended visit to many European leaders. The topic of discussion was on US and European unity. He said that most European leaders wanted to know when the US would be more open to understand the European point of view. His observation was that Europeans share values with a slim portion of Americans represented by parts of California and New York, but are out of touch with the core of American values represented by the heartland.

Evidence of that was in exit polling where Iraq was the primary issue that guided the votes of people in New York and California, but in the rest of America the primary issue that concerned voters was moral values. There has been much discussion and reflection by Democrats on how they avoid embracing moral values as a campaign issue. That is certainly in keeping with the traditions of New England, where it is not polite to discuss certain delicate issues in conversations. I found that to be true of many parts of Europe that I visited as well.

The other observation about this election that I found interesting was that the highest correlation for voting was directly tied to whether that person attended synagogue or church. I know at least a dozen people who particularly voted for Bush because he was a devote Christian, and just as many of my liberal friends who were dismayed by that fact.