Let's be brief:

Voter turnout was incredible, something of which we should all be proud. For a minute.

Ok, enough pride.

We (American progressives) simply didn't mobilize as well as the religious right. We got out the vote, we raised consciousness, we drove new registration numbers through the roof, but the other guy just did a little better. Did I say 'enough pride'? Yeah, and enough hand-wringing, too. Time to learn from our mistakes.

Clearly, web- and blog-activism didn't work. Further, I spent days searching the web for Democratic leadership following the election ("what now?" I wanted to know-), but only found that the Liberal/Progressive arm of American politics has too many heads to follow. We cannot depend on the internet anymore. It is a tool: nothing more, nothing less. We were seduced into thinking that it would solve our electoral problems, but instead we built a leadership hydra with a thousand heads. Surfing and blogging is not communication, it is not community; it is a path to isolation and social death. Put down your keyboard and hit the streets.

We need to organize. They won, because they go to church. They won, because the majority of their mobilized voters congregate every week, and talk about what matters to them. They won, because they have leaders -locally, regionally, and nationally- who determined for them what the important issues were. We lost, because we think for ourselves, and more importantly, to ourselves.

What to do now (pick one and ride it into the ground):

1) Religious extremists will have control of our federal government for the next two years. Our progressive representatives and Senators will need to be reminded to act as the opposition, and ideally thanked when they do. Contact them, to tell them what you think. Phone calls are most effective, they say themselves, followed by hand-written mail, petitions, and emails, in that order (I got that from a letter from Dennis Moore, I think). Call 'em every week. That's what they're there for, after all.
Who's my Representative? Who are my Senators?

2) Resist electronic voting, by whatever means possible. Demand a paper ballot! There is NO REASON whatsoever, to use electronic equipment to vote. Reasons NOT to:
1. Using a computer to vote amounts to handing your vote to someone you don't know, to deliver it by a secret route to a secret place at a secret time. While this might be acceptable in principle, the facts remain that elections are divisive and prone to corruption, and that the equipment is only as reliable as its -inevitably partisan- handlers, designers, and programmers.
2. Computers are expensive, and prone to technical problems that cost money to fix. No system is foolproof, but paper ballots offer numerous advantages, including easy verification, absolute security that the vote you cast was the one recorded, a paper trail, and no possibility of undetectable advance tampering, not to mention they don't cost much and the maintenance cost is very low. Counting paper ballots by hand could be performed by a board drawn from the voter rolls, as volunteers (or perhaps paid like jurors?). Participation of this kind would increase voter confidence in the process, and be a huge step toward rebuilding local communities, as people who might not ever cross paths, would be required to work together toward a common goal.
3. Voting is an act of participation; for many of us the only way we actually get involved in government. Electronic voting only promises to shuffle us through the system quicker, to reduce our involvement by making the process faster and more convenient. This is the last thing we need.
These are just my ideas. See www.blackboxvoting.org for more, especially constructive legal action.

3) Socialize and organize. Yep, this is easy: just be yourself, all over the place. We lost because we trusted everyone to think for themselves, because the corruption and incompetence of this administration is so self-evident. "How can anyone not see this?" we wondered. And, "how can anyone be so mean?"
They can only be like this, because they don't know us. They've allowed themselves to demonize the liberals, when we all really agree on most of what's really important. Who likes abortion? No one is pro-abortion, but many of us are pro-choice, believing that Life starts with the first breath.
Organize your neighborhood, or if your social circle is more spread-out, organize your circle, and encourage them to organize too. Find an excuse to get together every week, regularly, and give yourselves time to talk about what's important to you. Reach out and bring new people into your circles, your organizations; try to reach out to people you might not think of as "your kind." We have been demonized by sleepwalking religious extremists. We need to wake them up, slowly and gently.

Go on, git!

win their hearts and minds

It is 2:30, the day after the election. I've been searching Democratic websites since 5:30 a.m., looking for intelligent analysis of the election, the process, the future. Where are our progressive leaders?

We have two short years until our next chance to gain a little electoral ground. Time's a-wasting! Stop the hand-wringing already!

This happened because the regressives are organized, and they reacted emotionally. Dividing lines are clear: the rational vote went for Kerry, the emotional vote went for Bush. Emotion will almost always win out over reason.

What's important for us to do now, is to reach out. We're all humans here, we're all wanting the same things, basically: love, security, respect. Smile at a stranger, open a door for them. Be nice to someone you don't know. We need to win their hearts and minds. The rest will follow.

dirty work

Spread this one around-- it'll be interesting to see if this gets out in the US press.

What if it's a tie?