It's time for Senator Kerry to prove me wrong. We'll know at 10am today when he's scheduled to speak whether or not he'll drag us needlessly through the next 11 days waiting for a statical improbability (almost an impossibility). It was a hard fought race yet somehow surprisingly clean. The few isolated incidence across the country turned out to be in the margin of the normal where even NPR had a hard time not calling it clean.

Last night at 6:30 I got off the phone with Foxphotog simply knowing the Bush had lost. I had lost faith in the American people's ability to act responsibly when so much was on the line. I'm sorry I doubted you my friends.

In 2000, Gore won the popular vote by 500,000. In 2004, Bush won the popular vote by 3.5 million. That 4 million vote swing matches the number of evangelicals Karl Rove said sat out the last election. In 2000, Gore could take some solace in winning the popular vote. In 2004, Bush has won both and while not by a great margin in the electoral college, he did it by receiving the largest vote count in American history and by being the first President since his father to carry more than 50% of the vote.

This election is over. My candidate won and for that I'm thankful. I hope we can now spend a little less of our energy hating the President. The vitriol on display this toward this President by my friends on the left and the mainstream media needs to now come to an end. There is no benefit in continuing with the hate. This is the first election in 40 years to see a party retain the Presidency while increasing the lead in the House and the Senate. Two years from now and again in four years, we'll take the pulse of the country and see where we are. Today, the American people have voted for a more conservative brand of government.

To my lefty friends that are upset, disappointed, or even angered by the result of this election please understand that I "get it." We are all still political "sports fans" mourning our team's loss and celebrating our team's victories. I remember the feeling of being crushed when George H.W. Bush lost his re-election after successfully kicking Iraq out of a neighbor's yard. I remember thinking how in the hell could America re-elect Bill Clinton only 2 years after the Republican Revolution.

If you feel you need to, please feel free to vent your frustration in my guestbook. I won't call you down. Please get it all out now so that when we meet again face to face you'll know that I respected your opinions even though I may disagree with them. I will never rub someone else's face in victory just as I would resist the urge to blame others in defeat (I say "resist" because it is REALLY hard to do).

The country will survive so long as our citizens continue to reward those that stand on principle. You might disagree with Bush but at least you can predict where he stands on a given issue. His strongest critics know that this word is his bond and when say something he means it. That is a powerful, important part of leadership.

Congratulations to all those who exercised their right to vote and a special thank you to all those volunteers that helped to make this election clean, honest, and re-inspiring.

Anyway, for them what care...

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