There's one image that will always stay with me...

[jbm]

On election night I sat in our little local dem headquarters across from the man who was running for assessor. He's 56, has worked for the assessors office for 23 years, and is an incredibly nice, responsible, Walter Cronkite kind of guy. The previous assessor had retired so there was no incumbent, and his opponent was 26 years old and the only job he's ever had was working for his parents at their engraving business.

I did the poll watching thing on election day, so I saw the fundamentalists coming to the polls in small groups amd asking how to vote straight tickets. My heart aches about Kerry, and about Claire McCaskill losing her bid for governor. I hate that our dem candidates at state level went down. I hate the losses experienced by our other local candidates, but I absolutely cannot shake the image of the man who had earned the right to be assessor when he realized people he had lived next door to all his life had given the job he had certainly earned away to an unqualified 26 year old kid. I cannot tell you what that was like.

I'm sure he must have had the devil in him somewhere since he wasn't a republican, but it's funny cause I've known him for years and I just never noticed he was evil.

One of my democratic friends said maybe we should abolish the democratic party here, and just run all our candidates as republicans. She wasn't entirely kidding. I dunno.

[Straight Shooter]

1. No. We need to fracture the Republican party.

There are schisms developing and it's important to focus on those schisms within that party.

The GOP is the party of hate. Let them start hating each other instead of everyone else.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

2. The One True Thing I have learned from the affairs of men...

Is that it is in the times of success that fraturing and dissolution occur, since their own personal advancement is then freed to take full rein.

It is in the times of hardship and struggle that people give themselves up to something greater than themselves, or at least something they perceive as such.

That is why the warrior does not concern him or herself with the petty concerns of winning or losing, for truly, the struggle never ends.