I hope TC is ready to pay out a bunch on his bets, since I’m siding with the duck and am predicting a Kerry win.
If two things happen (one decently likely, the other (sadly) not) much of the badness of this result can be mitigated:
- The Republicans hold both halves of Congress. This would have the salutatory effect of rendering most of what Kerry would like to do DOA. It would also mean fewer laws, initiatives, etc. would make it through in general which is virtually always a good thing. Grit in the gears, man.
- Someone with a cluebat find his way to Kerry and beat his super squirrel sekrit “lick the you-know-what of the Europeans” plan out of him. While Kerry’s supporters definitely want him to cut and run from Iraq ASAP, I do credit Kerry with enough intelligence and common sense to realize that would be a Bad Idea. However, coupling the party pressure with his desires to suck up overseas leaves me very worried he’ll make some “deal” to turn things over to the UN, which will be a catastrophic mistake. If you think Bush is bad, wait until useless flaks like Annan fils (or Annan pere, for that matter) and the usual crowd of America-hating NGOs are involved.