I was totally unprepared - mentally & emotionally - for a Kerry loss.

[stopbush]

I've been voting since 1972 and have never missed an election. Always vote Dem, and the older I get, a straight Dem ticket. So, I've been through a lot of campaigns.

This year, I felt like we had it won. When Mondale ran, I knew we were going to lose, even though I despised Reagan as much as bush. When Gore ran, I was worried because the religious wackos pulled so hard for bush. When Clinton ran in 96, I had no doubts he would sail to victory. And this year, I started out as a Deaniac but gradually took up the Kerry cause. I even shook hands with him at a rally here in Vegas. I just had a feeling that even with the fear mantra, the gay bashing and the outright lying from bushco and their media whores that the truth was so overwhelming that JK would carry the day.

As the returns came in last night, I didn't really watch. I felt that Kerry would win Ohio and that he would fight til the end for his presidency. I just never considered this outcome. When I got online at work today and read that JK had just conceded, I was shocked. And, I'm still shocked.

I don't know if there's any point to this except to vent a little and wonder if anyone else is having the same feelings. You know, I didn't want to give in to fear, and I'm very much a realist. But this thing really pulled the rug out from under my world.

[UpsideDownFlag]

1. i think it pulled a lot of rugs out from under people.

approximately half the country, actually.

[TheDonkey]

2. me too, unbelievable this country can be that stupid

still can't believe it. But I'm not watching the cable news anymore I've had enough, maybe next year.

[liberalpragmatist]

3. You're not alone

I told myself not to drink the koolaid. I constantly told myself that it was a neck-and-neck race, that both sides were motivated, that it would come down to one or two states, that we could still lose.

But I was thoroughly unprepared for it. Pondering the future today I was struck by all the things I just assumed would happen over the next four years because Kerry would be President. No, I wasn't naive about his performance as President - it'd always be difficult to get everything passed and all presidents lose some battles. But I really thought we were gonna put out good policies, restore our reputation in the world.

I never considered that I wouldn't see John Kerry's face giving the state of the union. I had pondered him speaking to the European press at a summit, speaking in fluent French. I had imagined Theresa as First Lady, and Vanessa, Alexandra, Chris and Andre Heinz as being our first family.

A lot of that sounds superficial. But that's when it strikes home.

Case in point: I never got around to seeing "Going Upriver" - I meant to, but I guess in the back of my mind I sort of assumed that Kerry would become President, the film would get a lot of play, and I'd have 4 to 8 years to watch it.

Now I don't know if I can bring myself to go see it.

[PittLib]

8. I just bought Fahrenheit 9/11 ...

and have been so busy (and addicted to DU) that I never watched it. I don't think I can because I will go through the roof.

[PittLib]

4. I have been living and breathing this campaign since about May.

I have been actively involved since July. I feel like I just hit a brick wall, and want to scream "WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED? THAT'S IT?" I can't believe it.

[Maiden England]

5. I feel like there's been a death in the family

in fact I feel more terrorised than I did on 9/11.

[smirkymonkey]

18. So do I, and I was only a few blocks away from the WTC

that day.

Like the original poster, I don't think I was prepared for a Kerry loss at all. I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. I was almost non-functional yesterday. Today is a little better, but I have this feeling like I can't catch my breath and I am still sick to my stomach.

[Generator]

24. Hey you are not alone

I kept trying to find the exact words-I was so numb-not angry not crying yesterday. Just utter disbelief.

Then today it's exactly like someone died, it's no small thing, to have your country be not what you believe it to be, to have your very reality shaken.

[dogtag]

6. The worst was the euphoria I felt all day as things

were looking so rosy and then to have it all crash into smithereens. We were right to be hopeful. We have a right to hurt like hell.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Liberal Veteran]

9. Oh please drama queen....spare us the melodrama.

And by all means find a caps lock key.

[charlie]

10. We?

The DEMOCRAT party? Next time, buy a field guide before you try to mix with the natives. You've got tourist written all over you.

[UpsideDownFlag]

11. "puff diddy"? been listening to rush, maybe?

[kestrel91316]

13. jfk2004=newbie troll

[XanaDUer]

14. Something about your post...

hmmmm...

[judaspriestess]

12. hey stopbush

I live here in vegas too.
Where you at the last rally with Clinton last Friday??

Yes, we all feel the same, all people who voted for Kerry are in disbelief...... pure bullshit!

You know I had a conversation with a manager of mine who is a Republican today and he said he voted based on morals and he did not give a crap about the environment since he wasn't gonna be around to see the ramifications of this administration. He's prolife (but practices birth control) and so on and so on. What an asshole moron.
The same evangelical protestants with "morals" are the same assholes who go to Taiwan to molest children.

[stopbush]

15. I wanted to go to the Clinton rally, but we just moved into a new

place (in The Pueblo area of Summerlin) and I had to wait for the handy man to come and fix the dishwasher instalation he screwed up.

My office is pretty much a Dem stronghold, so we were all in shock...and checking the want ads in the foreign press today.

[judaspriestess]

16. Cool

My company is split right down the middle.
Half sane people and half mindless fucking sheep.

I'm in the Pecos/Russel/Sandhill area :)

[RobinA]

17. I Don't Get the Surprise

many people seem to be feeling at this outcome. Bush was always ahead in most polls. He was mostly ahead in Ohio, sometimes by a couple points. Close, but consistantly ahead. Kerry got little to no bounce from the first debate, in which he looked like he had been president for 8 years and Bush looked retarded. He got no bounce from all three debates, all of which most people agreed he won. Lost explosives, torture, months of bad news from Iraq...nothing did much to dent Bush's small not on-going lead in the polls.

WHAT, in god's name, made people so sure that Kerry was going to win? The most optimistic postion supportable by the existing facts (number of yard signs is not indicative of amount of support) was that it would be damn close. This win by Bush, if not a foregone conclusion for months, was at least marginally the best bet in town throughout the summer and fall. I don't get the shock????

[Greyskye]

19. Those of us...

...who believed the "undecideds break for the challenger" meme were surprised. Those of us who believed Zogby in the final days - he predicted a 313 EC win for Kerry - were surprised. Those of us who were optimistic enough to believe that this wasn't a nation of ignorant nimwad sheep were surprised.

If you don't believe you can win, you don't fight the good fight. It's the apathetic pessimists who drag us down.

Which are you?

[RobinA]

21. I'm A Realist

who doesn't believe in getting carried away by wishful thinking and groupthink. That's why I think the Bush-hype is a load of crap. That's why I never believed there were WMD, that's why I believed that Kerry was the best candidate before he won Iowa. That's why I am an atheist.

That's also why it never looked to me like Kerry was going to win, although I thought there was a chance he could pull it out. You can fight the good fight without going blind. In fact, you better NOT go blind if you want to win the good fight.

"Those of us who were optimistic enough to believe that this wasn't a nation of ignorant nimwad sheep were surprised."

Did you have evidence to support this optimism? Any at all? I sure never did.

[Freddie Stubbs]

20. You can thank DU for partially for being unprepared for this

If you spend too much time is a place like DU, the only opinions you will come across are ones that reinforce you beliefs. Any poll that comes up that showed anything but a Kerry landslide was dismissed rigged by the corporate media. Everyone poting about how they don't know ANYONE who is voting for Bush. Problem is that if you are a rabid enough partisan, most of your friends, relatives, and coworkers would probably rather tell you that they are voting Democratic than get in a long arguement with you.

[RobinA]

22. Agreed

I know people from both demographics who went Bush. The upper-income white guy who just wants to keep his tax dollars, and the fundie who is afraid to be in the same room with a gay person. Both these people can answer the question that seems to be going around for the past 48 hours among the shocked and surprised - "How could anybody vote for that guy?" You may think a Bush person is stupid, illogical, racist, uneducated, narrow-minded or just plain wrong, but he does exist, and he does vote. Illogic happens.

[lithalle]

23. You weren't alone...

After canvassing and hearing so many people ready to vote for Kerry, I was stunned with the results. I've been crying off and on for the past two days.

I think my other problem is being naive. I honestly expect people to have the same level of integrity that I have. Don't get me wrong, I do believe that * and his Administration are evil incarnate and that they would try to steal the election. I honestly thought that we wouldn't let them get away with it. I honestly believed that the outrage was so strong against them that we would win. After all, we are the "good" guys. We are suppose to win.

You know, I don't expect everyone to be as liberal as I am. In fact, I'm glad that most people aren't. We need all views to have a society where all of us feel welcome. It's not good to only talk to people who agree with you. We need to be challenged to evolve our ideas.

However, I'm being to learn that the other side doesn't feel that way. They don't care what I think or how I feel. They don't care to learn from me or others like me. They don't want to grow as human beings. They want to live in their stunted reality and believe that we are all like them and if we are not that we should made to be.

Frankly, I'm a little lost right now on how to fight that, but I know that it's what all of us must do. We can't give up and let them have our country. We can't turn our backs on all the America patriots who fought for the rights that they intend to destroy. I won't let those fine Americans from the American Revolution through the Civil Rights Movement and on until today die in vain.

Right now, I'm going to lick my wounds until I feel a little stronger and then I'll to continue the fight. I don't know exactly how, but I refuse to give up.

I think all of you for being here to listen and offer support. We need to know that we aren't alone. There are others like us who want freedom for all and not a few. I know that I will find strength in that knowledge in the coming days. Thank you DU!

[Az_lefty]

25. Me too, I was absolutely floored.

I just wanted to stay in bed yesterday.