JDG wrote: > At 09:25 AM 12/2/2004 -0800 Nick Arnett wrote: >>>> In a fair election, there are no losers. Sadly, it seems that >>>> hardly anyone is willing to look at it that way these days. >>> >>> >>> In a fair election, there are no losers? >>> >>> Consider the case of a referendum.... we had three on the ballot >>> here in Montgomery County, Maryland. One in particular was on >>> term limits for the County Council. It was defeated. Very >>> clearly, there was a winner and a loser. >> >> You really don't get the meaning I intended? Although some >> candidates lose the race, although some measures are defeated, if >> the election is fair, *we* win -- all of us. > > I must have missed the part where the 2004 election wasn't fair.... > or are you buying into David Brin's Area-51 conspiracy theories as > well? > > What I see is a minority that is apparently unwilling to concede > defeat in the last election, and recognize that some policies of the > majority will be enacted - and that indeed they should be enacted, by > virtue of having participated in the winning coalition. >
Maybe you just didn't understand what is being said. I voted for Kerry. But Bush won. But since I participated in the election, I *elected* Bush even though I didn't *vote* for him. Nick is pointing at the subtle difference between electing and voting. I was making this same point elsewhere weeks before the election and didn't have any problem being understood. And the people I was talking to agreed that this is an important distinction to understand when performing ones civic duties. When one votes one is not just responsible for ones vote, one is also responsible for having participated in the election. xponent Civil Civics Maru rob _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
