The Election Campaign

Some of you might be aware that there is a war raging in this country. One between two parties and their partisans. A war that uses real conflicts to inflict blows; a war that attemps to shame its participants; a war that draws from the poor to swing the rich.
Defamatory, Insulting, Lightly Veiled, blows are exchanged, and yet no clear winner has emerged.
That is until tomorrow.

California is a very liberal state; here, everyone puts down Bush. And why is that, you ask? California is very a self-conscious state; very susceptible to world opinion. Arnold is doing a good job, but everyone here is ashamed that he was elected; why, you say, they voted for him. Well, they did, but they like to make fun of themselves. Ah, we are so stupid here, they say. And they all say it, even the ones who voted for him.
California does not support Kerry. California hates Bush. All the tourists agree. And who is Kerry, but Bush's opponent? And the puppet of a massive backlash?

A backlash only tamed by an excellent support team. Yes everyone hates Bush. And yes they all think that Kerry is the one to vote for. But, all that television air is filtered by Bush's team. Nothing illegal. Just pure craftiness.
And so it is that all these Californian liberals have nothing to watch but republican propaganda. Kerry is always shown on the defensive. He does well, but he defends.

During the presidential debates, there was little doubt across the nation that Kerry was dominating. One on one, Bush is reduced to pretentious insignificance. And yet he smiles knowingly.
He knows. He knows that his support base is faithful, and he plays them. Christian, against abortion, against gay marriage, he follows the trend of his party. But he is also a creator. Bush has instilled fear in the American public.
Terrorism: a word that is heard constantly here. From back home, this obsession is a little comical. Here, it is predominent and seminal. His whole campaing stems from a cult of fear.
When Kerry dared insinuate that terrorism has gained too much importance and that the economy deserved more attention, Bush's strategists jumped on the opportunity, and using their vast media connections, inundated the public with a flood of non-sense. Kerry's written words were blown up, and showed to the credulous public as the proof of the man's incompetence.

And can the American public be blamed for its response? Haven't they been brainwashed into mindless acceptance since the 11th of September 2001? Haven't they agreed to the patriot act?

Today the polls show no clear winner. The candidates are spending time in the swing states, claiming votes with their smiles. The election might not be as close as it was four years ago, but at this stage analysts stand divided.

Back to Bush's supporters: they vote. Which is not the case of Kerry's supporters. Hence, in the college world, and on stations like MTV, campaigns have run to "rock the vote", or in other words, to encourage a wider portion of the electorate to go and vote.

The results are coming.