Doug Ross @ Journal

Exit Polls

The already discredited exit polls are now being used as fodder for mainstream media to try and determine why us ignorant boobs in Middle America voted for Bush. The answer they come up with: we're all evangelical bigots and are therefore against gays and gay marriage. Well, they may console themselves in any manner they choose, and if they want to bury their arrogant, elitist heads in the sand for another four years and inevitably face another drubbing in 2008, more power to them. For such nuanced people, they sure to like to boil things down to facile, simplistic fundamentals. To illustrate the complexity they ignore, I thought it would be interesting to chronicle my journey to a 2004 Bush vote. I started out thinking that this might be the year I vote for a Democrat. Other than Bush's foreign policy, I didn't agree with many of his policies. Domestically, I find compassionate conservatism to be frightfully expensive. I think we need tighter immigration laws, not blanket amnesty. In balance, though, I liked (and deserved) my tax cuts, and I don't want to pay $16 for an orange. I have always admired Bush's tenacity, though. His detractors call it stubbornness, but I see it as leadership. I've believed for quite awhile that the job of President of the United States is not a position that should be filled with a politician; rather, it is a position requiring the steadfastness of a true leader. I see that in Bush, and I respect it, even when I don't agree with his decisions... ...So, I was luke warm to a second Bush term, and looked forward to investigating an alternative. I followed the democratic primaries very closely and thought that out of the nine, there was one that I might be interested in voting for. Too bad for Joe that he was deemed by the elites in his party as being too Jewish and too ugly. He may still have been carrying the indelible taint from his prior run with Psycho Al by his side. Either way, long story short we ended up with John Kerry. Prior to Kerry's nomination, I tended towards anti-Bush. After the nomination, I strongly turned Anybody But Kerry. When it came down to making my decision, my vote was somewhat for Bush, but primarily against Kerry and his party. Specifically, I voted against: - I voted against a man that clearly used his Vietnam experience as resume padding. After failing to get his requested deferments, he enlisted in the Naval Reserve, fully expecting stateside duty. When that didn't work out for him, he went overseas and bought a 8mm movie camera to chronicle his exploits. Once enough film was in the can, he gamed the system and got his three purple hearts. Had he been an enlisted man, I think I could have lived with that. As an officer, expected to lead and set a positive example for his men, I cannot. His actions in Vietnam showed early on that this man does not understand or care about the responsibilities of being a leader. - I voted against the man that came back from Vietnam and slandered his fellow soldiers, ostensibly in protest of our involvement in the war, but more likely in order to make a name for himself to launch his political career. I voted against the treasonous action of illegally meeting with North Vietnamese and Viet Cong representatives on two, if not three, occasions. The fact that he was still in our military at the time exacerbates my feelings of disgust at his actions. There are right ways to protest the actions of our government, and there are treasonous ways to protest. This man chose the path of dishonor. - I voted against the man that can't seem to tell the truth about even innocuous things like having run in the Boston marathon (he did not). I voted against the man that testified before the Senate that he was in Cambodia in December, 1968. He was not. As examples of this casual, and possibly pathological, lying became even more common I decided that there was no way in the world he could be trusted on any topic. It became even more obvious who had the most credibility between Kerry and the 254 Swift Boat Vets that had come forward to share their direct experiences with Lt. Kerry, war hero. - I voted against a man that wasted 20 years of opportunity to lead his country as one of only one hundred Senators. I voted against a man that tried to play both sides of every issue. I voted against a man that couldn't even stand up and take the responsibility for his senate votes. I voted against the man that voted against our military procurements as a habit. I voted against the man that voted to gut the intelligence budget, but had the gall to complain about faulty intelligence leading to the 9/11 attacks. I voted against the man who voted to cede Kuwait to Sadaam Hussein. I voted against the man that originally reversed his earlier decision and agreed that Hussein needed to be removed, only to recant when he thought it would gain him his party’s nomination for doing so. I voted against a man that is incapable of demonstrating the strength of his convictions because he simply hasn’t any convictions. - I voted against a man that would say anything, anything at all, no matter who it hurt to become President, simply to stoke his enormous ego. I voted against a man that accused the incumbent of having "secret plans" to bring back the draft, in order to frighten younger voters and their parents into voting for him. Cutting Social Security, dairy subsidies, whatever - Bush had a "secret plan." These accusations from a man who had a "plan" for everything, with the exception of having a plan to deal with the Swift Boat vets, who clearly stated their plans well in advance. This from a man who could not or would not provide ANY details about his plans. - I voted against the “whatever Bush has done, I would have done better” load of drivel. 20-20 hindsight is not a quality I look for in a presidential candidate; I prefer one that can look ahead and see opportunities. I look for one that can decisively address unanticipated challenges without having to check the polls first. - I voted against a man that has vacillated on the most important issue of our time, the war on terror. I voted against the man that has repeatedly denigrated our military leadership in a time of war to score political points with his far-left base. I voted against a man that believes the duplicitous and cowardly French and Germans are more desirable allies than the steadfast British, Australians, and others. I voted against the man that believes killing 3000+ civilians in cold blood, in an attempt to destroy our national will, is a “law enforcement” issue, not an act of war. - I voted against a man that believes “rich” people like me should pay even more taxes, above the 34% I pay now, while he and his billionaire wife pay less than 14%. I voted against a man that doesn’t understand that corporations are good, not evil. I make my living working for a corporation and do not want to see it damaged by populist rhetoric and class warfare. I voted against a man that believes every person that survives the democratic abortion on demand policy should be supported at a standard of living that surpasses the middle class of every other country in the world by redistribution of my hard-earned income. If voting against Kerry wasn't enough, I also voted against: - I voted against a blatantly biased media that applied a double standard in their reporting that surpassed belief. I voted against a media that believed they could get more credible witnesses to Kerry's Vietnam experience by traveling to Vietnam than they could get from 254 Americans, including retired Admirals and a Congressional Medal of Honor winner. I voted against a media that attempted to smear a sitting president using patently bogus documents, and to this day refuses to apologize or hold the responsible parties accountable. I voted against a media that used the despicable actions of a very small group of Abu Graib prison guards to tarnish our entire military and country in pursuit of their cause to get their anointed candidate elected. I voted against a media that apparently believes it was more honorable to run and hide in Canada (or Oxford) to avoid Vietnam service than it was to dedicate six years of your life flying a dangerously obsolete fighter jet in the National Guard. - I voted against Massachusetts activist judges that feel that they should be able to decide social issues for our entire country. I don't personally think gay marriage would destroy the institution of marriage; I think Hollywood and Washington DC heterosexuals are doing a fine job of that themselves. I really don't have a dog in this hunt so to speak. But I believe that this is an issue for each state to decide. Regarding a national constitutional amendment, I tend to favor amendments that grant rights to minorities over amendments that restrict rights. - I voted against a party that embraces blowhards like Michael Moore, even to the extent of giving him a seat in the presidential box at their national convention. I voted against barely literate "celebrities" that feel that their opinions are somehow weightier than mine, and the media that enables them. I voted against the party of Terry McAuliffe. I voted against the party of George Soros. I voted against the party that will not denounce groups that cannot and will not tell the difference between the President of the United States and Adolph Hitler. I voted against the party that embraces the first amendment as long as it is not used to ensure the freedom to speak against or criticize them. Too bad these questions were addressed on the exit polls. The media and democratic party might, just might, have gotten a clue.

Exit Polls