Subject: rt40 -- election post-mortem
    Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2004 19:43:14 -0400


Dear friends,

Winter seems to be approaching us gently this year. The ground is still
carpeted with multi-coloured leaves and the air is not so cold that one
couldn't go biking outside without looking like an eskimo. Life goes on
as usual, and I could scarcely complain. In fact I count my blessings
every day, including the good fortune of writing to friends like you.
Hope you are all doing well, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

It is now almost a month since the elections. It is difficult to watch
the news and listen to all the spinning coming out of the
administration. Nevertheless, let us wish them the best and hope they
will do well for America and the world. Though the results were
disappointing from our perspective, we live to fight another day and
look forward to the work that lies ahead. But it never hurts to analyze
what happened and try to learn from the experience. It is in that spirit
that I write these post-mortem thoughts, albeit a little bit late.

Sankar

P.S: For those of you getting this for the first time, "rt" is a
collection of random thoughts that I sporadicaly send out to my friends.
Please let me know if you do not wish to receive it. I would also love
to hear your comments if you have any, especially if you are a literary person.

Random thoughts (40) --(mostly) election post-mortem
11/30/04

1. The day after the election I was at the River road unitarian church
listening to a talk by a monk (Bhante Rahula). After the turmoil of the
previous month, listening to the calm and detached flow of thoughts from
the monk was like being by the side of a murmuring stream in the
wilderness, leaving the commotion of civilization behind.

2. As Thich Nhat Hanh often says, Republicans and democrats are the yin
and yang of American society. They cannot exist without one another. I
would also say that conservatives are like the body and liberals are
like the heart and soul.

3. After the election, there was a general complaint that the people in
the blue states were out of touch with those in the red states and
vice-versa. It is ironic that, in the age of the internet with universal
access to the global community, people still have trouble understanding
each other. It shows that communication is really about listening, with
an open mind. Even the most advanced technology cannot help if people
listen only to what they want to hear.

4. It is clear that a good majority of America is out of step with the
trend in the world towards more co-operation between countries, and has
a narrow view of the Islamic world in particular. They seem to believe
in the supremacy of military power and the effectiveness of aggressive,
unilateral action, and in their view the best way to tackle Islamic
terrorists is to force democracy and law and order on Islamic countries.
Underneath all this is the lack of understanding and resulting suspicion
of foreigners and the non-western world, as well as the new global
culture which is increasingly influencing Hollywood. They fear that
their culture and values are threatened. I have spent enough time in
central Pennsylvania (my sister lives in a Harrisburg suburb) to know
that, while these people may be suspicious of foreigners, they are
fundamentally decent people who are very friendly once they get to know
you. Ultimately, the Bush campaign was more effective in exploiting
their fear of terrorism and erosion of values and culture than was the
Kerry campaign of their fear of losing jobs to outsourcing. Both did
pander to the fears of people, but in my (perhaps biased) view Kerry's
paandering was more benign. Certainly more needs to be done to improve
education and job training or else a big section of the American
population is going to be caught unprepared for the new global market.

5. While conservatives rant about the liberal elite and Hollywood
poisoning their children with shows that promote immoral behaviour, they
seem to be not so upset with the advertisers who promote rampant
consumerism, alcohol and violence. My sisters complain that they cannot
find video games that are not violent and gory. Patriotism, honour,
bravery are all fine, but they have nothing to do with a mass culture
that promotes mindless violence and killing just for the thrill of it.
There is definitely a culture of glorifying war and violence in this
country that is wrapping itself around the flag in the name of defending freedom.

6. This aggressive militarism is taking America down the same road as
Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. It is nurtured by a strange mix of
imperial hubris and paranoid isolationalist nationalism. 

6. For all their flaws, I still believe Americans are a wonderful people
on the whole, and the founding ideals of this country are still valid
and worth fighting for. From my experience of meeting with people on
both sides, I am more convinced and optimistic that they offer the best
hope of creating a society with freedom and justice for all. I hope the
election sets into motion a process of dialogue between Americans, and
people of both sides gather together in town halls to talk and find
common ground. I hope it starts to change the hearts of lot of Americans
about the role of religion in society, and also other cultures. The more
people talk to each other the less they fear each other.

7. I think the key problem that John Kerry and the democrats had was one
of communication. The Republicans, perhaps because of their superior
control of the airwaves, or more effective communication, were able to
convince people that they think like them, have the same values, and
paint a war hero and an honourable man as an unreliable, untrustworthy
scoundrel. Once people started trusting them and thinking they are on
their side, they were willing to set reason aside and believe that the
Republicans will do what is best for them. Another strategic mistake was
to focus all their criticism on Bush. It is clear that Bush is simply
window-dressing and that real power lies with Cheney and the rest.
Focussing on Bush made him a martyr for the right-wing.

8. Liberals also need to look in the mirror and see where their
weaknesses are. There is definitely a more permissive attitude towards
drugs, sexual promiscuity and family cohesion among some liberals. If
the democrats are going to win they need to make a stronger case that
they understand these issues. I wish Kerry had talked more about his
work as a prosecutor and as a senator going after crime rings and money
laundering by drug traffickers. Also, it is true that many on the
liberal side today are what are called "Bohemian Boomers" (there was a
book written about this). As these former hippies or activists age and
become more affluent, they have lost some of their authenticity and
moral authority. They need to roll up their sleeves again and get out of
their comfortable lives and get to work again. It was great that many of
them were out on the campaign trail but the real work lies ahead.
Ultimately I am convinced that the Democrats have the strength of better
ideas on their side and will be able to bring the country together
towards a better vision of the future.

9. Finally, on a less serious note, I must admit to some serious egg on
my face regarding the outcome of the election. I was surprised, as were
many pundits - and they were definitely more informed than I was. The
big factor was the turnout the Republicans were able to get, among their
base voters. Karl Rove and his get out the vote machine outmanoeuvred
the Democrats on this. They were able to turn out far more voters than
the Democrats thought them capable of. More social and religious
conservatives voted, and it was reflected in the exit polls. It made it
look as if suddenly America had become more socially conservative.
Another surprise factor was the Catholic church's vehement anti-Kerry
campaign. They managed to steer many catholics, especially hispanics,
away from Kerry.