... no, not Estonian Life writer Peeter Bush, but George W. Bush. It wasn't a landslide this time either, but it was better than his victory in 2000. And this time around the counting of votes took place with a veritable flash in speed, it was over by around eleven the following day. The holdout state was Ohio instead of Florida so that must explain the speed (cold weather makes people move faster?)

Of course, this time Bush was a wartime president, and no wartime president has ever lost. But this almost proved his undoing also. More people came out to vote and the percentage of undecided was the smallest in recent history. Bush voters believed that the war in Iraq needed to be won and those voting for Senator John Kerry did not. Many believed Bush had to be stopped. All voters felt the strength of their convictions much stronger than in previous elections.

It was more than just right and wrong. It became an issue of religion. Bush's White House started the day with a prayer. The Bush people were not being political, they were more than ideological. They were saving Christianity in the Holy Land said their critics, even more than their Hebrew brothers. The Bush people never disagreed.

Kerry supporters, eqully ideologically, believed in the division of church and state. Even the Catholic Church in the US officially opposed Kerry, himself a Catholic, for his stance, supporting choice in same sex marriage and abortion despite his agreement with them on the Iraq war.

How the campaigns managed to get their message out was in itself an art form. The U.S. Presidentials are election-wise more exciting than any other form of entertainment. Their costs run up to half billion dollars in advertising alone.

Senator John Kerry ran a very respectable second but not as respectable as ... Gore - I forget his first name, he used to be Vice President to President Bill Clinton.

Already the rumour mill is suggesting that the next Democratic Presidential candidate will be Senator Hillary Clinton, wife of President Bill Clinton. She has a much more determined look about her than Kerry. Probably makes Bush grateful that he doesn't have to face off against her.

There was even a campaign going on in Canada. The numbers of American voters in Canada kept growing to 600,000 which might equal if not surmount some smaller states. That then begs the question, why don't the Americans in Canada have Senators ( not the hockey team either), Congressmen and a few Electoral College seats. But then the ex-pat Americans were voting for Kerry, weren't they ... better scrap that idea.

What will four more years of Bush mean to the Americans and the world? His critics have painted a picture quite grim wheras his supporters paint one of hope. What does it mean to Estonians ? Wiser minds than mine have told me that venerable Senators from President Ronald Reagan’s days are still in the House, and in power, and they keep a wary eye on Russia.

Good Luck America.

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