Nick Kristof gave this advice in his column this morning. He added, “as much as you can” and I believe this is a better approach than becoming unglued with hatred for what Mr. Bush stands for.  If you hate Bush, then you must hate the majority of voters in the country who voted for him.  Hatred gets you nowhere.  Understanding who opposes you or who had the formula for winning can get you somewhere.  At the present time, the recriminations and self flagellating that is going on in Liberal Democratic quarters has just stirred the mess with fingers dirty from pointing at all the nastiness of the other side. Wide suspicion exists among the spectators who hoped for a Kerry win is that there was a fix, particularly in Ohio, where Kerry voters were uncounted and he could have won (he WAS a contender) if the dirty tricks were caught in time.

But, holding your nose is a lot better than balling up your fists and going out looking for a fight.  Mr. Bush will bring that fight right up in your face in a few days when his team figures out their plan of attack.  Mr. Bush had no mandate in 2000 yet he acted as if he had one.  He is a winner this time but I think, and many others think the same way; that he does NOT have a mandate for his margin of victory is too small.  There was NO landslide even if many Liberals felt that such a phenomenon landed on their heads. The Democratic Party, like the Republican Party is composed of factions and the Republicans were able to unite the groups in their party to get the job done.

So, hold your nose.  But, get to work.  I noticed that the money kept pouring in to the Kerry side and he still has a job in the Senate.  He could be a rallying point and be made into the poster boy for a more moderate Democratic party getting rid of his moneyed look, houses, polo playing detractions.  Mr. Bush is a millionaire and of a family with a lot of oil money but he looks like one of the guys, talks like one of the guys and used to drink like one of the guys.  All of these things gave him the aura of someone you could trust although all the things he did were examples of how he didn’t care one bit that others thought he was dissimulating and just plain lied and cannot tell or admit the truth.  He is a good old boy wearing western boots and talks the talk others understand.  So, hold your nose – but work with him in the sense that he must listen to you and finds that when he cannot move you from YOUR positions, he will have to hold his nose and work with you.

In the mean time, we must begin to educate the youngest Americans about democracy and how it is supposed to work.  One day we will get rid of the Electoral College and have each of their votes counted – with a paper trail, maybe?