I'm bitterly disappointed. I think America lost today. But I offer you..

[yvr girl]

my heart-felt solace to all my friends here on DU. I cared more about this election than I have any other, including ones in my own country.

John Kerry would be elected in Canada in a heartbeat. I think that he would have been good for America. You are a country of much greatness, and so much potential but you are driven by fear and ideology.

Your job as Democrats and Progressives is not to spurn the fearful and deride those who do not agree with you. It may make you feel better, but it won't be effective. You need to change peoples hearts and minds. You need to allay their fears. You need to sell your ideas.

Most of the progressive policies that we benefit from in Canada were championed by the NDP party. They have NEVER been in power on the federal level. NEVER. They have never even been the official opposition. Yet, they changed this country.

You can change your country too, you just need to change your approach. I'm an evangelical Christian. I've always struggled in my decision on who I would support politically in the United States. I agreed with the Democrats on many issues, but social issues were a roadblock for me. My beliefs haven't changed, but I now offer unwaivering support to the Democrats. My point is that you can disagree with someone on certain issues, but still have an overall meeting of the minds.

Don't lose hope. Fight, but fight smarter.

[meti57b]

1. thank you for caring

[Wright Patman]

2. The key difference

between Canada and the U.S., among a veritable plethora of differences, is the martial outlook of the U.S. Americans are a very warlike people. What other nation has been involved in even a fraction of the number of military operations ours has since WW II?

Canada has no military to speak of and has certainly never anointed itself as the "indispensable nation" (and that was, sadly, a Democratic secretary of state named Albright who said that) and "global policeman," both of which terms are code for perpetuation of the Anglo-American empire, which is mostly about securing natural resources and opening new markets.

The role of Israel in terms of our foreign policy also cannot be ignored. The largest and most energized bloc of voters in this country are evangelical Zionists. They consider Israel their natural second home and believe that there is a biblical command for them to fight Israel''s battles for them.

Canadians, I would imagine, are not constantly lobbied by a group similar to the "neocons" of this country. The main reason is that you have no ability to project militarily even beyond Prince Edward Island, much less take over countries in the Middle East.

[yvr girl]

3. Things change

For much of your history, the USA was an isolationist country. You were even dragged into WWII. For our part, Canada played very significant roles in the world wars, especially considering our population.

I think that our histories do distinguish us. You were born through revolution and scarred by civil war. Our history is one of building consensus. But we do have our issues. Canada is very divided on some issues. East vs West, French vs English, Have vs Have Not, Pro-American Policy vs Pro Anti-American Policy.

Hell, for a time our Official Opposition was a party that's main purpose was to separate from Canada. A divisive issue. Yet, we made progress on other issues.

[Wright Patman]

4. My grandfather emigrated

to Texas from a little place called New Hamburg, Ontario (near Kitchener), in 1922, because of his marriage to my Texan grandmother whom he had met in Detroit, I think.

I have been to New Hamburg once as a child. I have to admit I every now and then think how much different and perhaps better I would feel about my life had he never left Ontario and I was a Canadian today. Even today I hit on the Canadian government immigration website link. It looks like I could get a relative to sponsor a move up there and I may even have enough of a net worth to emigrate without sponsorship. I'm not really seriously considering it, but it has to be in the back of my mind or I would not have even clicked on the link.

I have always been upset at the warlike nature of the U.S. and it is worse by a factor of 10 here in Texas. Ironically, the only reason my German relatives had emigrated to Canada to begin with was to avoid the Revolutionary War. They were German Pietists, with a pacificist theology akin to that of Quakers, and fled to Ontario in the 1770s from Pennsylvania.

So it took my grandfather 150 years to get back to the U.S. Quite a few of my other relatives have migrated southward, but there are still hundreds of Laschingers, Merners, Nashes, etc., in Canada.

[Spazito]

5. I, too, want to offer my condolences to my US virtual friends...

and raise a toast to all that worked so hard for so long, you did all you could do to change the direction of your country. It didn't happen this time but, please, keep working!

It took the Republicans 20 years to get the total control they have over the airwaves, the local governance bodies in towns and cities across your country, the method of voting, etc.

If you don't mind some advice from north of you, please take a lesson from the republicans and do what they did, build brick by brick, it won't take you 20 years because there is so many of you!

[Lisa]

6. no kidding -- the NDP would kill for a high-40s popular vote!

Never won federally -- most of the NDP campaigns I've helped out on have seen them in 3rd place -- and the BC bloodbath of 2001 saw them cut down to 2 out of 79 seats! And yet, somehow a lot of the things they initiated, like Medicare, are now part of Canadian society.

No matter how much Bush's people try to rewrite history -- they can't erase the essential decency of most Americans. What Rove and Co. are doing is wrong, and they KNOW it -- that's why they hid in the shadows and did things sneakily.

For all Bush's trumpeting of a "mandate", the world now knows that a lot of Americans .... MORE than a significant minority, evidently .... aren't going along with him.

Bush can put his dirty shoes on that Oval Office desk, and even prance around in that flightsuit in the Rose Garden every morning, for all I care. But the everyday lives of most Americans will be affected more by state and local governments -- it's always been that way -- and if Democrats reach out to those levels, they are going to help a hell of a lot of people. So don't give up! The midterm elections are 2 years away, and before then there's a lot of work that needs to be done which the feds, both parties, are unwilling or unable to do. Take back the school boards, city councils, and state offices ... then take back the House and Senate ... and by then Georgie's people will be so demoralized and frustrated, they won't put up much of a fight.