I should let it go. George W Bush was lawfully elected to the office of the President by the majority of the People in this country. I disagree with them. But that’s the thing about democracy. The will of the people rules the day.

Oh. I know it’s not that simple. I’m stuck on one thing here. It really upsets me. Values. If you think strategically we had to do something in Iraq, I disagree, but I understand. If you believe that massive tax cuts for everyone including the very rich will help spur the economy, I see where you are coming from. I beg to differ, but I understand your position. But I am confused about how people voted for values and somehow George W Bush won because of this.

I am not trying to be divisive or condescending to anyone’s view. I am truly confused. And, frankly, quite upset. I am a registered Democrat. Would you like to know why? Too bad, I’ll tell you anyway.

I come from a Republican Family. I learned Republican type things as a kid. In high school I joined an after-school club called the Progressive Politics Club. We debated the burning issues of the day. Gay Rights. Death Penalty. Abortion. Taxes. The Environment. I loved it. I got a chance to really show off how well I knew these issues. I parroted the views I had heard from Republicans and made it clear I was quite the Conservative. Then a terrible thing happened. All the liberals graduated. The next year, first couple of meetings sucked. All of us conservatives sat around and agreed with each other.

I couldn’t take it, so I volunteered to argue the liberal position, as the Devil’s Advocate, in order to flesh out the discussion. Over the course of the next few months, an amazing thing happened. As I gave the liberal stance on the death penalty, I realized that I did not think it was right for anyone, not even the government to take a human life. As I argued the pro choice opinion I realized that the issue was complicated, and while I felt that (and still do) abortions were wrong, the reality of it was that the government, especially the Federal government is ill- equipped to legislate that. There is a lot of grey area when it comes to abortion, and setting a federal law would potentially leave a rape victim force to bear the child of her attacker or force a woman ill-equipped for mother hood to carry her child to term only to abandon it or raise it in abhorrent conditions. As I looked at the other side of these issues, I realized that my values dictated that I register as a Democrat.

The values I hold dear are: Respect for Human Life. Compassion for the Poor. Protecting the Environment so that the wilderness that I have loved since I was a child will remain forever. The Equality of all Men and Women, no matter what they think, or do. No matter where they come from or what culture they embrace or what there religion is. Honesty. The belief that we are world citizens and should abide by the same rules as everyone else. To respect others, no matter what.

I looked at my values and I looked the Bush Administration’s record over the last 4 years. I felt that they had not lived up to my values. John Kerry Embraced many of my values so I voted for him. And he lost. OK. But now I keep hearing how Bush won because of “moral values” and I don’t get it. It’s said as though “moral values” is a tangible, well-defined doctrine. I searched WikiPedia for “moral values” but it had nothing for me. I don’t see how 59,459,765 people can have the same exact morals. It seems to be tied to religion, but that doesn’t make sense to me either. The Protestants can’t even decide whether the want to have their Trespasses forgiven or their Debts. There are differences. Values are personal. My values and your values are not the same. Not exactly. And that’s OK. Hell, it’s good. But what I am hearing is that somehow a vote for Bush was a vote for “Moral Values”. Values like discriminating against Gays, Muslims and Arabs perhaps?

Like I said, I’m not trying to be flip or rude or disrespectful. (Come back later and I’ll do my best to be all of those things.) Right now I am very upset. I am a moral person. Yet, there is this notion that the only moral vote was for Bush. It sounds like the Red State people really believe that.

Having explained how I feel, I’m asking for comments. From everyone. Red or Blue. Help me with this. I can’t believe that all Red State folks are bigots. Help me understand this. I want to believe that this isn’t as polarized as it feels right now. I don’t care if people agree with me. But I don’t like having my moral fiber challenged.