Election Night 2004
3 November 2004, mid-afternoon
I wonder how much of the world is glued to their TVs waiting for the election results of the US. Incredible the effect one country can have on the rest of the planet. I’m heading to Matt’s now to watch the spectacle, and I’m quite sure it will be a spectacle.
update 12:13 AM: Matt’s party was fun; I got to watch the Daily Show. However, the election results are looking pretty grim so far. I am hoping things turn around, but it is looking like Bush the sequel right now. I don’t understand how Americans can vote for him again. Come on people!
update 12:30 AM: Thinking about it more, it’s actually quite disappointing. I’m hoping that some time soon the tides will turn in Kerry’s favour. But, even if they do, I can’t believe so much of the US is still in love with Bush. Even if you can’t get behind everything Kerry says and does, how can he not be better then Bush. I mean, honestly, how can anyone not be better then Bush. He’s like walking talking incompetence.
update 7:31 AM: I was quite disappointed last night; did it show? I think it did. I realized this morning that I shouldn’t be sad. Why? Because at the very least, I don’t live in the USA, I live in Canada, the greatest country in the world. There are lots of reasons Canada is the best thing since sliced bread, but I’ll just bring up the smallest reason: we do a pretty bang up job of counting all the votes in our elections in one night. It is quite impressive. Lets see if they figure things out by the end of the day, right now it is 254 vs. 252 with 3 states still counting.
update 8:42 AM: Also, to continue my shock and outrage, how many states voted to outlaw gay marriages outright? The only thing better then bigotry is institutionalized bigotry. Good on ya’.
update 12:07 PM: Well, Kerry has conceded. Four More Years! Four More Years! Four More Years! I need to get that on a T-Shirt. Well, maybe Four More Years? Or perhaps, Four More Fucking Years?.
It is pretty easy to hack the voting system. So I hear on daily planet … ;)
by Dan on November 3 2004, 4:14 am #
I see that Clintons are the only one (Democrat that is) happy at this.
I can already see the banners. The slogans claiming “I am the new Democrat”. Sound familiar? Yeah, except this time it will be Hillary.
Atleast, Obama won. Democrats accomplished something. And finally a Black senator after eternity.
by Sunny on November 3 2004, 6:27 am #
The thing that’s shocking me is how far ahead Bush is in the popular vote. I didn’t expect that.
by Sencer on November 3 2004, 7:49 am #
I can’t believe how Bush has managed to convince people that only he could prevent another 9/11. Since he did such a bang up job preventing the first one.
The war in Iraq is going horribly. Afghanistan is slowly slipping back into the hands of warlords. The Patriot Act is way to broad. The greatest budget surplus has turned into the greatest deficit. A recession. I don’t see how the Republicans could have won the popular vote.
by Dave on November 3 2004, 10:18 am #
Sample American Response
OMG WTF?! DON’T U KNO DAT IF U DON’T LIKE BUSH UR A TERORIST???
The best thing I heard at an election viewing last night was the mockery of Bush’s stance as “one of the people”. The basic thing was that why would I want someone average running the country, wouldn’t I want someone much, MUCH smarter? One of the people just implies mediocrity, and it’s so confusing how that can be used as a favorable characteristic.
The Daily Show’s Prelude to a Recount was funny, but needed to be longer and with less commercials.
by Dinu. on November 3 2004, 11:30 am #
i am quite disappointed myself, speechless i might add. after years of display incompetence, the country still loves their bush; it really goes to show how many ultra-conservative white-folk there really are in the US.
by matt on November 3 2004, 12:34 pm #
I think Matt makes a good point here. The United States is certainly not the only country in this world whose political agenda seems illogical to left-leaning Canadians. I think when trying to understand how this populace could possibly re-elect Bush (along with Cheney, no less), we should first come to terms with just how different we are from the average American.
It is easier to look at the cultural differences between us and the citizens of Afghanistan and Iraq, and write off their political choices (or lack thereof) as being caused by things we may not fully understand. The same reaction does not seem intuitive when it comes to our “American cousins”.
As I sit here, unable to comprehand how Kerry did not appear to be the obvious choice for more than 50% of Americans who visited the polls yesterday, I feel we may have to appease ourselves by saying we are so different from our neighbours, we may never understand how Bush was awarded a second term in office.
Perhaps if I was an ultra-conservative white person, I might be able to offer a perspective with more substance. Fortunately, I’m not.
by rishi on November 3 2004, 12:51 pm #
Hey, thanks for coming. I’m really glad you had a good night. We’re all having a bit of a sad morning, of course, but we’ll get through it.
Rishi, I’m white, and I don’t get it either. I’m wracking my brain, trying to put myself in the mindset of the person, or rather the apparent majority of people, who wanted another four years of Bush enough to vote for it. There aren’t that many captains of industry, so I wonder where the rest of the votes came from. I honestly don’t get it.
This election was a great opportunity for Americans to stand up and declare what the rest of the world already knows. A great number of them did, but sadly, not enough. And the fact that Kerry has apparently conceded, rathe than fighting it out, is the greatest shock of all.
by A Different Matt on November 3 2004, 2:49 pm #
By the way, I do want to see the pictures from last night. It may have been a depressing night, but man… We were making memories.
by Matt on November 3 2004, 3:41 pm #
I plan to post them tonight and the rest of the week. I got a couple that I liked. I’ll send you them all when I get back home. The party was fun, thanks for throwing it. Ed Helm’s first bit on the Daily Show was funny.
by ramanan on November 3 2004, 4:59 pm #
as for the daily show, Samantha Bees made me weep.
by Dinu on November 3 2004, 5:10 pm #
Let’s all move back to California.
by Sunny on November 3 2004, 7:26 pm #
Hopefully, this is the last time we have heard of Zogby.
by Sunny on November 3 2004, 7:28 pm #
I see that Clintons are the only one (Democrat that is) happy at this. I can already see the banners. The slogans claiming “I am the new Democrat”. Sound familiar? Yeah, except this time it will be Hillary. Atleast, Obama won. Democrats accomplished something. And finally a Black senator after eternity.
by G. Carlisle on November 30 2004, 3:37 am #