I'm going to try and write this without gloating, but I suspect my pugnaciousness will override the angels of my better nature. Bush and the Republicans did an amazing job of pulling off this election. Even the head of the Democrat National Party, Terry McAullife is quoted as saying that Bush was the "critical factor" in the Republican victories. Here in West Virginia we managed to fight to keep the first woman and Republican (Shelly Moore Capito) in the panhandle region, who was elected last time on the revulsion against Clinton, in a region that has always been Democrat. It was close, but we prevailed. And so it went across America.

Clinton and Gore and Teddy Kennedy went to Townsend's aid across the Potomac River in Maryland, and then Bush showed up and crushed them. Ehrlich winning the Governor's mansion is absolutely a stunning victory, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by 5-1. Those who would call him "Shrub", etc. cannot see that, due to some combination of times and talent, he has moved the Country. He obviously does not let the polls guide his thinking or he would have stayed nestled in the White House, keeping his political capital to himself for the race two years from now. But he went to the people, campaigned vigorously, and won.

For months the Democrats will cavil and blame, seeking reasons that were "within their control", that they "failed to seize", and that they "overlooked", to "lose the election". The biggest mistake they will make is to fail to see that they were beaten by the better man.

And to those who still see the Florida standoff as some sort of theft of the election, they need only look at the situations in Minnesota and New Jersey, to see that sometimes the best intended outcomes are messy. But as a ticket-splitting nominal Republican, who believes in a woman's right to choose, and that Constitutional rights are insured with parallel responsibilities, I am quite pleased with yesterday's results.