Seeking answers, consolation or at least commiseration that mothers so well provide, I had called my mom in Cincinnati in the wake of John Kerry's concession speech.
My mom, after an evening with a like-minded, middle-aged, suburban friend spent in a hot tub and elevated with doses of champagne and potstickers, had assuaged her feelings of utter disenfranchisement and bewilderment at the election's outcome.
In the strong tradition of my family's tendencies to self-delude and deny, my mother had arrived at a pronounced conviction that the country could not be to blame, but rather that the minions of the Right had swooped in to bastardize the nation's true sentiments. "There just couldn't be that many ignorant people in the nation," she cried.
If anything, however, this election is a sobering call to refuse just that logic of denial. Democrats and left-leaners have to be honest with our nation's profession of beliefs, that the nation has been asked a question and has answered in a way that we liberals find both unexpected and alien.
There is credence to the strength of Republican principles and their appeal to "mainstream" America, over those of Democratic and leftist ideologies. The fact remains that Republicans won, largely because of their support in the "heartland" states. But this election has shown we have a clear split of the nation - 51 to 48 percent - with each political party resonating almost equally among the American people.
My liberal mom has significant numbers of like-minded company in the Midwest, though the opposition party may have edged them out to garner her state of Ohio and the election at large.
The near-even bipartite division of national opinion registered in last week's casting of ballots is not a call for Democrats to change or abandon their principles, however. Rather, I see strength in the Democratic Party and in our level of salience among American citizens near-equitant to the "triumphant" Republicans. Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch spoke at a rather sober Democrats meeting in the aftermath of Bush's reelection, and he said that this is not a time to change our heartfelt positions and pander to the American public. "Stay the course," Lynch said.
I say, stay the course, but louder, stronger and more effectively.
I have, for days since the election, listened to NPR testimonials articulating where Kerry and his party "went wrong."
Monday-morning quarterbacking decrying faults and missteps is always an obnoxious practice, but it is particularly annoying here, with no clear failure at hand. In such a close race, are we really able to make judgment calls as to the efficacy of the party and its platform, toward a post facto tailoring of the party to fare better in the next election cycle?
We left-minded folk should not now turn our backs on the Democratic Party for having failed us. We should not try to figure out which positions to espouse and which to quiet, like choosing populist sentiments over arguments for gay rights, in order to remedy the so-called "distance" that critics have described between the Democrats and the American people.
We have seen in this election that nearly one-half of this country does affiliate itself, and rather strongly, with the Democratic platform. Our product is solid, but perhaps our means of broadcasting it needs remedying.
To that effect, let's be honest. Let's not blame the unfortunate electoral outcome on a fluke or some insidious scheme of the Right (although wouldn't that be easy, were it true). Nor should we give up on the process or the party now that our vote did not gain us our desired president. Rather, let's go with what indeed has resonance with half the country already, and find means to broadcast our message more effectively.
John Kerry, as we all know now, received 4 million more votes than did Al Gore in 2000, yet George W. Bush received more votes than any other president in history. We had a message and candidate that effectively mobilized almost half the country - an improvement from years past - but Bush's camp did it better.
This is a time for ardent dedication, not denial or surrender. Whether we choose more grassroots enthusiasm, more astute framing or sheer dogged persistence, we need to match the fervor of the Right.
I cannot pretend to know the fix, but I do know that our message and our candidate's demonstrated appeal should not be abandoned or changed in a moment of weakness. Rather, we should use this disappointment to our advantage, as motivation to do it bigger and better in the next election.
America loves an underdog, people. Let's color America blue.
Emily Dietsch '06 is an American civilization and art history concentrator.
