Nervous Democrats

Ruy Teixiera at Donkey Rising tries to comfort the Nervous Nellies in the Democratic Party about Bush's post-convention bounce and some apparently anomalous polling results from Time. It's useful to have someone who takes the time--and apparently knows a thing or two about polling--to analyze the results as they come in so that the rest of us don't turn into blithering idiots as we panic about the election.

The absolute worst thing that could happen is for committed Democrats to think that the election is already over when the race has just truly begun.

I think the nervousness has some basis, however. As the 2000 election played out, I followed the polls intently. Some network news site had a helpful line graph, tracking polling results over the weeks and months of the campaign. I kept watching as those red and blue lines moved up and down, moved closer together and eventually crossed in the last days of the campaign. Despite the complicity of the corporate media in supporting Bush and bashing Gore (yeah, they were--it's called "Goring" now), it seemed that the voters were finally getting the message that Gore would be the better president. It looked like he would win, if only by a slim margin.

Well, he did win--the popular vote. And Bush took the electoral vote only after some seriously questionable events in Florida.

That, of course, is old news. Bitter news for partisans. From my perspective, it's something else altogether.

I had the sad experience of watching Bush as governor. I had seen the difficulties caused in Texas because of his administration--and knew of worse to come because of the policies that he had pushed through. I also knew about the things that he didn't care about and wouldn't do anything about--and to have him find a national forum in which to exercise that disregard would be a disaster for the things that I cared about.

During the campaign I was in a position that made me a potential resource for others who cared about a particular issue. One national-but-niche magazine called me to find out where Bush stood on the issue while he was governor. All I could say is that he didn't--do anything, say anything--he just didn't care. Another noted newspaper called and eventually asked for dirt. I was not connected enough to have any. All I could say is that he just didn't care. In a state with fairly conservative values, not caring was the same as opposing.

I was seriously concerned about the election outcome. I watched the election returns avidly. All night long. Only when Tom Brokaw had to get some sleep at 5:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning did I, too, finally give it up and try to sleep. The next few weeks were a waking nightmare.

And so has the Bush administration been such a nightmare. I see how his personal beliefs and political agenda have become exactly the disaster I feared for the things that I care about most. I see how funding is cut--with profound effect on peoples' lives--in life and death matters. I see how he has actually used the issue to present himself as compassionate--for others, not Americans. And I see that even that use has been falsely presented, since his promises, even for others, have not been fulfilled except to advance his personal beliefs.

And now my concerns are broader. Thanks to his tax cuts, my take-home pay is $30 more each month. But my mother will now have a 17% increase in her Medicare premium this coming year. Thanks to his tax cuts, I am told that I'm not going to have the promised level of Social Security when I retire in the next few years. (Yes, I saved--but a little problem with a big stock market crash and companies like Enron and WorldCom have made Social Security a much bigger issue for me.)

It concerns me that Bush is a warmonger, that he is willing to lie to make the case for war, that he appears to use war to satisfy his own personal agenda. It concerns me that even our staunchest ally--Britain--is backing away from us. It concerns me that his rabid Christianity--which doesn't seem to involve actually going to church--leaves no room to understand that there are other belief systems in the world, that those belief systems deserve more than token respect.

It concerns me that we are told that there is no need to worry about inflation, because it's all under control. But gas is nearly $2.00 a gallon--still. And food costs more. And soon electricity and other necessities will cost more. Propane--in a natural gas producing state--is now $2.00 a gallon.

It concerns me that . . . well, this list goes on. Regardless of the nonsense of name-calling and mudslinging that is all the campaign that anyone seems to care about, there are some serious issues facing this nation--and some of them affect me and the people I care about. For some of them, it is even a matter of life and death. I'll be following the polls very closely in the next 8 weeks, and I'll be sitting up late on election night.