Election results

No, I'm not going to try to compete with the networks and big-time blogs in reporting who won the election and what it means for our country. I'm just going to make the observation that there will probably be as many opinions as there were votes. One of the problems with our one dimensional voting system (yes/no, up/down, in/out) is that ultimately we don't know what the election means. We only know who won and who lost.

We can't tell all the nuances of choice like whether or not people were voting for the lesser of two evils or voting against the biggest problem rather than the best solution. Nor can we know how much the public debate or the attack ads figured into people's choices. Personally, I put a lot of weight into endorsements but not the way they're usually considered. For example, when considering the California ballot initiative propositions, I look at who is supporting and who is opposing. The organizations I disagree with, suspect, or feel have a major conflict of interest - I vote the opposite of their recommendations.

But in spite of this lack of our ability to quantify voters' intent and reasoning, you'll be hearing politician and pundits alike proclaiming a "repudiation" of this and a "mandate" for that. Maybe we need more choices than just for and against.