Surprise, Surprise

So it's November 3, the day after the election, and surprise, surprise- I am without the knowledge of who my next president is. The commentators seem sure it will be George W. Bush to continue his term, mostly because Ohio does not have enough outstanding votes to make up the ground that John Kerry does not have.

I do not know this, although my mathematically inclined mind tends to agree that when a lead is 136,000 and there are an estimated 140,000 ballots left out there- it is nearly impossible to overcome, and even if there were 240,000 out there, John Kerry would have to take more than 2/3 of them, which... may be possible, but it is likely the votes are split. Anyway- just me showing off my brain.

The real reason I'm writing to day- when did honor and dignity go out the door in the United States? 4 years ago, I went to sleep fairly sure that my new President was George W. Bush on election night, and then I woke up to "well, we're not sure now because Al Gore is challenging Florida." Not to blame Gore- it was a close state, but he still lost it, and the election. This year, John Kerry seems to be a bit better- because he's not insisting on a recount in Ohio, he's just betting against the odds that he will pull out a miracle (as of the time of this writing). it's strange, however, because Al Gore won the popular vote, but John Kerry isn't even close in the popular vote. But there is no concession, even though it seems that it is highly unlikely.

Not to just talk about the vote. The way campaigning on television commercials, and in speeches, and... all that is disgusting! No one takes the high road of not attacking anymore, and I would suppose that if someone did, they wouldn't win. I would refuse to particpate in mudslinging... and I would lose.

And both parties had lawyers ready to go and contest results? Argh! At least John Kerry seems to have some class and is not demanding recounts, but... What are the odds that he can win? I think it is very slim... And I do not say this because I support one over the other, I say it because the office of president should belong to someone with dignity, and if you cannot concede a race that you more than likely can't win, then you should not be there anyway. I am not sure what Bush would do- he may do the same thing, and if he did, I would complain again. But this is the way it is now, so what is the candidate doing about it?

Where is our dignity? Where is our honor? Who is our president?