Election Day - 2004 - Final thoughts

I showed up early this morning at our local polling place. As I approached the school, I was surprised to see the parking lot full and an overflow line of cars parked on the street leading to the school parking lot.

I've voted at this particular school since 1991 and each time I simply walked up, voted and left, something that rarely took more than 10 minutes to accomplish.

Today, it took me 45 minutes to vote.

I repressed the urge to scream "Go Bush" and "Die you leftist sycophants propagandized into voting for a loser!" as I slipped my ballot into the computerized scanning machine.

Heh.

This morning, I was buoyed, exhilirated really, by the numbers of people I saw waiting patiently to vote. I thought then that this was a good sign.

Tonight, as I write this with East coast polling places beginning to close, I've lost most of that confidence.

I listened to portions of Limbaugh and Hannity, I've been to Drudge tonight, and I'm seeing that this is closer than I had hoped it would be. And Drudge, at the moment, is reporting Kerry ahead in key states.

I hope, even as I write this, that my pessimist side is simply being annoyingly dominant and that Bush will pull this out.

I hope, as I type these words, that later tonight, or early tomorrow morning, we'll see that Bush has pulled it out.

But I also am resigned to this notion that given the era we're in, the issues that this country faces, the leadership that I continue to believe Bush has exhibited during an unprecedented time, that this election shouldn't be close.

When I see how effective Michael Moore has been with some, how ineffective the SwiftVets have been with others, I simply shake my head in wonder at how close things really are.

What I must do is trust that no matter what happens, no matter whether my guy loses, or that the wrong guy wins, that God's sovereign hand is on us (on us all) and that He continues to reign.

I'll sign off now and resist the temptation to watch the MSM report gleefully as the numbes come in. And I hope that my moroseness is short-sighted, that my optimism will rise to the surface, and that George W. Bush, a flawed man who I think has shown the world that he is made of the right stuff, will be re-elected and lead us over the next 4 years.

We need W. We do not need Kerry.

It's really that simple.

UPDATE:

Cox & Forkum weigh in as only they can.

MORE: Joe Carter asks What If Kerry Wins?

AND MORE: Gordo and I are on the same Cranky Neocon channel. Let's continue to hope that we're both full of it, something I think we've historically lived up to...

Heh...

YES... MORE: Glenn Reynolds lifts my spirits (It's 9:17 PM)

AND EVEN MORE UPLIFTING NEWS: Hugh Hewitt:

There is no room for confidence, of course, as no breakthrough has occurred for either side, but the undercount of the Bush vote via the exit polling should suggest that there is more good news rather than bad news coming.

Sheez... I hope so... it's 10:23 PM Eastern...

ANOTHER UPDATE: Drudge, who was apparently snookered early by faulty exit polling, lifts me to new highs at 11:43 PM:

White House sources are telling UPI that they believe George W. Bush will win Ohio and be re-elected president of the United States.

At 10:30 p.m., Bush was told by a senior adviser that Ohio would land in the GOP column and put him over the top with at least 274 electoral votes, the sources said.

Let's hope Drudge hasn't screwed this one up! What a difference a few hours makes...

LAST UPDATE OF THE NIGHT: ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX call Florida for Bush, he's currently at 246 to Kerry's 211, needs Ohio and Alaska to put him at 269 (I think)... I've got to get up in less than 5 hours (it's currently 00:36 in the morning)

Comments

[Gordon]

Thanks to about 100,000 Ohioans, we look like we're full of it! And I thank God for that!