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| 'I Won't Step Into "Red States" Again!' |
| Kerry supporters are unanimous in their despondency and fury but find solace in record voter turnout |
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Jean K. Min (jean)  |
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Published 2004-11-04 10:50 (KST) |
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"I will avoid visiting or doing any business at all with the 'Red states' in the future."
"It absolutely sickens me that Bush might win the popular vote. I would have thought there were enough intelligent folks walking around to keep that from happening." As battleground states Florida and Ohio appeared they would go over to George W. Bush, U.S. Internet users who fervently supported John Kerry were unanimous in their despondency and fury.
With long lines of voters in front of polling station from Election Day morning, they were confident of victory, and with Zogby International, famous for its accurate polling, predicting a 311-213 Kerry victory, U.S. Internet users cheered.
The mood took a dramatic turn for the worse once the vote tallying began. In the end, when Kerry couldn't pull ahead of Bush even once in the electoral vote count and signs of defeat growing darker, netizens began to express disappointment and fury."I'm thinking about follow-up actions. One of mine is to avoid visiting or doing any business at all with the "Red states" in the future. I can't imagine anyone in those states or any Republicans anywhere really giving a damn about my little personal boycott." - Grover Partee of Seattle on Brainstorms.com With exit polls going astray once again, complaints about public confidence in the polling agencies were expressed here and there. "I have never known the exit polling to be that off. Four years ago polling was quite an exact science, now it's back to the days of Dewey." - Monty Monta, a librarian on Brainstorms.com Grover Partee refused to give up hope, however, saying the election had yet to be decided, and a decision would have to wait until the absentee voter box had been opened."We'll be counting absentee ballots for several days here in Washington. Absentee ballots count as long as they are postmarked by today. According to yesterday's paper, King County (essentially Seattle) sent out something like 1.2 million absentee ballots." Meanwhile, the progressive group "Beyond Voting" decided to hold a three-day anti-war demonstration throughout the United States and re-affirmed its intention to continue the anti-Bush struggle. In an announcement on its homepage, the group said it would hold demonstrations in 30 cities around the United States, including Washington D.C., San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Chicago and will debate on the meaning of democracy and post-election path of the United States.
There were also many, however, who called for people to gracefully accept the results of the election, regardless of which candidate they supported.
Seasoned media personality and renowned blogger Jeff Jarvis, who is popular among netizens, pledged on his blog BuzzMachine. "I promise to ... Support the President, even if I didn't vote for him ... criticize the President, even if I did vote for him ... uphold standards of civilized discourse in blogs and in media while pushing both to be better ... unite as a nation, putting country over party, as we work together to make America better." A post left by one housewife as a citizen journalist on the homepage of MSNBC recounting her feelings on the vote makes one guess why Bush was able to win in this election despite the enthusiasm of young people for voting and their active anti-Bush campaign on the net. "I am one of those "safety-soccer moms" whose only thought is the fact that I want my children to be able to grow-up in a world that is safe and secure and I believe President Bush is the man that can make that happen." - Cathy from New Jersey Many netizens pointed to the high voter turnout in this election, including that of the younger generation, and said it was proof that U.S. democracy was alive. "The results are still coming in and regardless of who wins the presidential election, Americans can be proud of demonstrating their interest and love for our country." - Pamela Cunningham of Philadelphia on MSNBC
"Happy anxious, wonderful, frustrating, hopeful, fearful, nail-biting Election Day. My polling place at a VFW Hall in Davis Square, Somerville, Massachusetts, was packed this morning. The line went out the door and snaked around the corner and down the block. A great sign of a re-energized American democracy -- at least for a day." - John Palfrey, Harvard Law School professor and blogger Kerry's Internet supporters are finding at least some solace in the highest voter turnout in 40 years.
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©2004 OhmyNews
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