I shut off the TV and went to bed at about midnight on Election Day (or the day after Election Day, I guess).  There was really no need to watch.  Whatever the outcome in Ohio—and the writing on the wall was pretty obvious even at that point—the roughly three million vote gap in the popular vote was more than sufficient to keep me from actually getting any sleep.  Ironically, I dreamt that Kerry miraculously closed the gap in Ohio—narrowed it down to just a couple hundred votes—ironic because even if Kerry were to win Ohio and thus potentially the Electoral College, it would never seem legitimate in light of such a lopsided popular vote.

My tossing and turning wasn’t just due to the outcome of the election.  It was a series of revelations and epiphanies—many far more troubling than simply losing—that left me groggy and subdued on Wednesday. 

My ramblings will flow out over the coming days as I sift through my thoughts and ramblings about this election and the elections yet to come.  They are in no particular order.

The Democratic Party simply has no soul.  In light of comments made below on the appropriate role of religion in American government and politics, it might seem like an odd complaint, I think it’s a helpful way of thinking about the results of the 2004 election.  Whichever political party (or candidate, I suppose) happens to tap into the soul of the nation at that moment—or a slight majority thereof—wins.  Clinton did it.  Reagan did it.  This time, Bush did it, and it’s hard for me to argue in my own mind that there was ever any real spirit behind the Democratic Party, its message, or its standard-bearers.  As capable of a president as John Kerry might have been, he didn’t seem to stir many hearts. 

That said, there’s no sense in blaming John Kerry—the Democratic Party seems to lack a direction, an essence, a reason for being.  Even if the Kerry ticket had eked out a victory over Bush in this election, that same problem would cast a shadow over his administration and the future of liberalism in America.  The fact that some of the most fervent “Kerry supporters” sported Anybody But Bush buttons says wonders about why the Democrats fell short.  It’s political nihilism and accomplishes just that in our present-day political landscape.  Compare that attitude to the fervor and spirit of Bush’s supporters.  Today was a day when I woke up and realized for the first time that something serious was missing from my political life, from the party I choose to support.  To win, you gotta have soul, and we don't have it.