First, the map of the U.S. all nice and Red is an illusion. Even though most of the U.S. is shaded red that doesn't mean every one in a red state voted for Bush. The geographical representation doesn't take into account population density. Sure, less blue but blue counts for more people. Second, the electoral college is (mostly) all or nothing. A state can be red or blue but it doesn't mean everyone in that state is red or blue - it's just the color of the "winner". I ran a re-count of the electoral distribution awarding partial votes based on the popular vote for each state and the results were still a Bush win but not by nearly as much. Don't be fooled. We're not a Red, Republican American. We are pretty much evenly divided.

So for Bush to proclaim a mandate that America is behind him is pretty naive. Half of America is not for him. Sure, Bush may have gotten more votes than any other election but he also got more votes against him (for Kerry) than any other president. We are a divided nation and seeing what Bush has done the past four years, the divide is likely to get greater. Nice, comforting article in todays Los Angeles Times about how all the companies that supported Bush during the election are licking their chops and making wish lists - reduced corporate tax cuts, reduced corporate oversight, open up Alaska (and other environmentally sensitive areas) for "exploration", and so on. So Bush answers to corporations and the Religious Right. Ummm, when does he listen to us Americans?

The wife and I talked about Election 2008. Already there's talk about Edwards as the candidate. I hope not. I wasn't impressed with his debate or his personality. For the Democrats, Edwards would be more of same. Wouldn't it be daring, truly daring, if the Democrats had a ticket of Clinton / Obama? Sure, Obama would be attacked on his lack of political experience but he has the charisma to sidestep the issue. For the Republicans, Bush has shown that an idiot can win as long as the party and the evangelicals unite behind him so the thought of Jeb Bush running may be right (in more ways than one) even though their best ticket might be McCain / Guilani. But McCain might not be far enough to the right to satisfy the Republicans. We asked ourselves - if McCain ran as an Independent could he suck up the middle from both parties...interesting though, especially since Kerry courted him. My wife admitted she would vote for him in that context. I might do the same though Clinton / Obama sure is appealing. All I know is that I'm sick of rich, white dudes.

I took my two older kids to see The Incredibles - what a great film! Pixar has yet another hit and another franchise on their hands. Sure it's a cartoon but it has enough James Bond - geek elements to satisfy most adults. We saw the early morning matinee and the theater was packed. But there wwere some kids there a bit too young for the film. Please! It is a cartoon but the action may be too much for little ones under 6. Get a babysitter.