Exit polls and Nancy

Remarkable things happened last night, the least of which was the Republicans getting spanked around as predicted - and in some ways - deservedly so.

The first is the story of the exit polls. 62% of all respondents to exit polls said Iraq was the reason they voted Democratic, regardless of their individual affiliation. That's where the mainstream media ended the story of the exit polls, and Keith Olberman and others are happy to report the story in this fashion.

However, the info from those polls is not quite the same as being reported. Actually, 40% of the respondents continued with their individual complaints about Iraq by saying it was the lack of a clear victory, the stagnant or perceived stagnant progress, and the lack of a quality end plan to get out that dictated their vote. Much like the reported polls story above, those are all legitimate reasons to vote for a change in the leadership, it's just that fine line between saying "Everyone wants us out of Iraq", and "Everyone wants a quantified resolution in Iraq" are two completely different things.

It's not semantics...Those two schools of thought are as opposite as apples and bowling balls.

Now for Nancy. In a speech given last night, Representative Pelosi was acknowleging her new role as the speaker of the house. She said, "The American people have spoken, and they want me and others to force a change. We're ready to govern".

I want you to think about this for a moment. Along with all the elections and proposed local policy changes, there were 9 more states who went to vote to amend their state constitutions definition of marriage as A union of one man and one woman. Eight of the 9 states passed the amendment, with Arizona saying "no" by a 51-49 margin. That brings the total to 26 states that have modified their constitutions.

Why do I bring up the marriage amendment after talking about Representative Pelosi? What do they have to do with one another? Hang on sparky, I'm getting there.

Representative Pelosi told us "She" was going to lead us down a new path. With all respect to Speaker Pelosi and her new position, the events of last night are very clear. Most American's didn't vote democratic because they wanted to be led by Ms. Pelosi. They voted for a change in personnel, not a change in ideology, and the marriage amendments passing is but one major example of that.

If Nancy really wants to affect change, she'll be wise to recognize this fact - as well as the fact that the vast majority of newly elected democrats are moderate centrist's - and make her moves from there. Not many people want to go down the road that Nancy would lead us, just as America is saying to the current Presidency "Your hard ass conservatism isn't doin' it for us, Mr. President, and we want a different philosophy".

So I hope in my heart of hearts there is change. But it will take foresight and intelligence to do it. I think the changes in power might be a good thing...we'll have to see.

Oh...and one more thing. I don't want to hear "It can't be any worse", because the minute someone says that - it falls even farther.

Peace.