This Election, a Coda

Damn. Damn. Damn.

A few observations:

• Gay-bashing and fear-mongering is a winning electoral strategy


• Placing your hopes in voters aged 18-29 is a losing electoral strategy


• This election was a referendum on the Bush administration, and they won.


• 51% is sufficient to declare a mandate, especially if you cement your control of Congress.


• Karl Rove, not GWB or Dick Cheney, is now the most powerful man in America. This is his victory.

The last point, I think, deserves a little more explanation. I think it's safe to say that a lot of Republicans were worried they would lose this election. Lots of folks on the other side, like me, believed that they would. What seems to have put the GOP over the top was the, ahem, values thing. And as far as I know, that was Rove's strategy. So I think everyone who got elected, from Bush down, is feeling both grateful and indebted to Rove.

Four more years, indeed. Welcome to the new intolerance.