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So the American people have chosen to stick with Bush. I thought they would, even though I doubted that a second term for Bush would serve America well. It turns out that I was right about the former&059; only time will tell if I am right about the latter.

Looking at the broader picture, though, I cannot help but think that this is the Democratic party’s Goldwater Moment. They’ve lost everything: The White House, Congress, and soon the courts. It’s now time for the Democrats to reinvent their party—lest America become a permanent GOP monoculture.

As for Bush himself, I hope he will be a better president in his second term, but I am skeptical. He already had the greatest chance he could have ever asked for to unite the nation and the world, but he squandered it for partisan gain. Will he suddenly discover a better use for his power now? I doubt it. With full-spectrum GOP dominance of the entire government, I fear that we can expect an even more radical agenda from Bush (though I agree with Kevin Drum that he might not be successful at implementing as much of it as he would like). 

Oh, well. Any guesses on Bush’s nomination for Rehnquist’s seat on the Supreme Court?

I know it is pretty preposterous to think that a few last-minute donations of the size I am capable of making would have an effect on the outcome of this presidential race, but like most Democrats I feel this is perhaps the most important election of my lifetime (actually, more to the point would be to say that I think this election will have the most significant effect on my children’s lives). I am also pretty appalled to see that most Bush supporters seem to be so out of touch with reality.

So, with these things in mind, I am prepared to make what will probably be my last contribution to a political campaign. The only question is where to make it. Where can I get the most bang for my Franklins at this late stage in the game? Ideally, I would like to target Ohio as much as possible, because most experts agree that whoever wins Ohio will win the election. Please make any suggestions in comments. 

I’m sure that’s what Bush supporters will claim when discussing this letter.

Scholars Give Bush Foreign Policy a Failing Grade

NEWARK, DELAWARE—October 12—Over 650 foreign affairs specialists in the United States and allied countries have signed an open letter opposing the Bush administration’s foreign policy and calling urgently for a change of course.

The letter was released today by “Security Scholars for a Sensible Foreign Policy,” a nonpartisan group of experts in the field of national security and international politics.

The letter asserts that current U.S. foreign policy harms the struggle against Islamist terrorists, pointing to a series of “blunders” by the Bush team in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. “We’re advising the administration, which is already in a deep hole, to stop digging,” said Professor Richard Samuels of M.I.T.

The scholars who signed the letter are from over 150 colleges and universities in 40 states, from California to Florida, Texas to Maine. They include many of the nation’s most prominent experts on world politics, including former staff members at the Pentagon, the State Department and the National Security Council, as well as six of the last seven Presidents of the American Political Science Association. “I think it is telling that so many specialists on international relations, who rarely agree on anything, are unified in their position on the high costs that the U.S. is incurring from this war,” said Professor Robert Keohane of Duke University.

You will probably never see broader agreement about a political issue than exhibited here. 

I got my absentee ballot today. Quick, somebody do an exit poll!

The presidential race was an easy choice, as was the vote for my representative in the House—I’ll take the Democrat in both of those races, thanks. In the end, though, I picked George Voinovich over Eric Fingerhut for the Senate race. All things considered, my political views are pretty close to Eric Meyer’s: I would probably be a Republican if the GOP actually stood for what it says it stands for. But it doesn’t, so I can’t.

I have a soft spot for Voinovich, however, because he actually stands up for his principles—even if that means saying no to a popular war-time president. I have a lot of respect for Republicans who can distance themselves from Bush. I’ve spoken highly of Voinovich before, so it should come as no surprise that I support him now.

It’s hard to say what will happen in Ohio this year, though. It’s looking like the GOP may sweep the state at the federal level. It’s pretty close, though, with Kerry only about 3 percent behind Bush in the polls—polls which, I should mention, never take into consideration the Kanagawa vote (or the vote of Ohioans abroad elsewhere in the world, for that matter). That segment of the vote was lost to Bush a long time ago. Is it more than 3 percent? I doubt it, but Ohio seems to have had a rather large increase in Democratic voter registrations this year, so we’ll see what happens.

Salon is running an interesting look at what we can expect if Bush is reelected:

And you thought his first term was a nightmare

President Bush’s plans for a second term threaten a devastating series of far-reaching challenges to the viability of the Democratic Party itself. Under Bush’s slogan of an “ownership society,” the Republicans intend a long-term effort, using changes in Medicare, Social Security and taxes to pit better-off and worse-off Democrats against each other, offering all-but-irresistible incentives for some to desert the others—and any progressive national coalition.

Why am I not surprised? Could it have something to do with the fact that Bush has spent most of his presidency deliberately making wedge issues out of situations that he could just as easily have used to gain sweeping bipartisan support? Could it have anything to do with the fact that he goes out of his way to attack even people who support him, but simply belong to the wrong party? Could it even have something to do with the fact that he drives away people within his own party who do not totally submit to his view of how things should be?

On the other hand, I can’t help but feel sometimes that if the Democratic party loses this election, it really does deserve to be destroyed. Letting two qualified candidates fall to someone with a record as lousy as Bush’s is pretty pathetic.