So, How 'bout them Steelers?

I think they have a real good chance this year.

Well.

I guess it's a silver lining that we still all woke up Americans. It was nice of Mr. Kerry to remind us of that, although I'm uncertain its something I'm real proud of at the moment.

So, what did we learn?

1. Even if Puffy threatens to kill them, only 1 in 10 people 18-30 will turn out to vote.
2. All the blogs in the world don't equal a single vote.
3. The True Believers ought to have voted their conscience.
4. Calls from Mary J, P. Diddy, Spike, and Bill Clinton only help so much.
5. Randi Rhodes will find some way to decide the election was stolen.
6. Larry King really wants to go home and get to bed.
7. There really wasn't a silent majority.
8. "The People" want more of the same.
9. Ralph Nader is probably right.
10. John Kerry didn't blow up their shorts either.

But mostly I think what we learn is, there are more of them then there are of us. Often working in this industry I forget what the world is like. Living amongst artists really is a rarefied air. Things that my peers accept as second nature really are odd and sometime abhorrent to other people.

I found myself wanting to think that rather than the election being about Democrat or Republican or about Liberal or Conservative that it was about Enlightened and Ignorant. That people that think simply could not support the things that the President of the United States stands for, and that in the wake of this election performance that what the country needs is more public education. But really, although I think that would help I don't think that's what its really all about.

As the day wore on I think I became more comfortable with the idea that what the difference really is about is Progress and Tradition. It is a battle between a desire to have a forward moving lifestyle and those who are rooted in a traditional lifestyle. Its important to phrase it like that too. I don't think you want to make this about Secularism and Religion. There are devoutly religious people with a progressive view of the role of government. So really this is about a group of people more open to change than another group.

Maybe we should do a national production of "Fiddler."

Interestingly the skew to this axis, to issues on a progressive continuum makes the Democrats inherently weaker. When a Republican candidate takes a position on say gay marriage or abortion it unites their base. Often when a Democrat does it, it has the opposite effect, splitting the base. In a popularity contest we simply cannot compete with the Republicans on these types of issues because they are typically more energized than we are to begin with, and they are more comfortably in agreement. I am uncertain if there is an alternative to the traditionalists when you are talking about social issues. I'm not sure there really ever has been. Most of the ground staked out by progressives was cleared not by popular mandate, but rather by the courts and the protections the founders put into the constitution. When you give the entire country the choice they often don't go that way, and they certainly don't lead that way.

As much as anything else this election was determined by gays, guns, and god.

Like it or not it seems like progressives are in the minority. This is too bad for the electric car, universal health care, and publicly funded elections. Its too bad for gays, draft age kids, people without health insurance, and people without the discipline to save for old age. Its too bad for people that favor negotiation over military action, preserving the environment, and protecting America's standing and reputation in the world. Those of us that favor progressive courses are going to have to find other avenues to bring our ideas to fruition. For the time being, any public mandate will be in another direction.

Even though I've been mopey all day over the outcome, I've also been kinda guilty. See, I'm past draft age and have no kids, I have a job and health insurance, and I make decent money. Even though this was a lousy day for the country, the world, and the planet Earth, I think in the end it might be a fairly benign outcome for me personally. Maybe that's really what many of the traditionalists are thinking of when they make their voting decisions. Me? I feel dirty and I didn't even vote that way.

In the meantime, I think that Ben Roethlisberger kid is definitely for real.