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Bush's re-election good for all

mug Amanda McManus
Columnist

Considering the mood in the office—and campus in general—it is not an exaggeration to assume this is quite possibly the happiest political editorial printed this week.

Despite my unwavering faith that the President would prevail, there were definitely moments I was concerned about how.

Though anyone who understands the electoral college would realize yet another victory without popular vote for Bush as a possible but still valid outcome, it seemed to be an unspoken agreement he couldn’t afford another controversial win.

But common sense saw through a flip-flopper. And Bush’s re-election is good news for all, including his detractors. To prove that, here is a factual look into relevant Bush and Kerry policy.

1. Gay marriage.
Larry Kramer, guiding light for gay rights, told a crowd in Manhattan, “I hope we all realize that, as of Nov. 2, gay rights are officially dead. And that from here on we are going to be led even closer to the guillotine.”

Flowery words, but hardly true. After all, John Kerry told The Boston Globe he supported a ban in his home state of Massachusetts. He also added, “I think that you need to have civil union. That’s my position,” when he was asked to comment on nationwide policy. John Edwards, like Kerry, was a no-show when the constitutional amendment died in the Senate.

And equally importantly, when Lynne Cheney tired of having her homosexual daughter Mary used repeatedly by Kerry or Edwards, Elizabeth Edwards stunned even supporters by telling ABC Radio, “I think that it indicates a certain degree of shame with respect to her daughter’s sexual preferences.”

One wonders how she would have reacted to the Republicans using her deceased son Wade in the same manner she condoned her husband using Mary Cheney.

Meanwhile, Dick Cheney shocked both sides of the political spectrum when he split from GOP policy. “People ought to be able to be free … to enter into any kind of relationship they want to,” he said at a campaign appearance in Iowa, adding that he would leave it up to the states to decide. It was the same viewpoint from his debates with Joe Lieberman in 2000.

With Kerry and Edwards inconsistent and Bush unyielding, the vice president alone was willing to take a stance unlike any other. And though both diehards of the two parties disagree on Cheney’s influence of Bush, no one denies the president respects the vice president highly.

There was indeed a progressive option on the ticket, and he wasn’t a Democrat.

2. Abortion.
Bush’s pro-life beliefs are well-known. But pro-choicers voting to preserve Roe v. Wade may have gotten a surprise had Kerry been re-relected.

“I oppose abortion, personally,” Kerry informed the Dubuque Telegraph Herald in Iowa. “I don’t like abortion. I believe life begins at conception.”

When confronted in an ABC interview, Kerry muddled himself further.

“I believe life begins at conception,” he restated, “However, I do not believe this living being can be called a person until some unspecified point later in the pregnancy.”

At least Bush’s stance is undeniable.

3. The Draft.
A recent ad in The Metropolitan run by MoveOn.org asked the one question on every college student’s mind: Can you feel a Draft?

That site, funded by a Hungarian citizen who once compared Bush to Hitler, insisted it was only a matter of time before the infamous measure was passed should Bush be re-elected.

In reality, there would have been more of a risk if Kerry had been elected.

Though seemingly forgotten by the press, U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-NY caused a stir when he introduced a bill to bring it back last January, telling reporters he intended “to make it clear that if there were a war, there would be more equitable representation of people making sacrifices.”

Brought to a vote in October, it died 402-2, with only Democrats voting in favor.

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Kerry, who earned my respect for his gracious concession, had one thing right: the U.S. needs to unite. That won’t happen, however, until everyone judges based on facts, not popular hearsay.

Thankfully, we have four more years to get things right.

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