First of all, I couldn’t be more proud to be an American this week. From early Tuesday morning when I showed up to the polls to hand out flyers and monitor the action inside, there were hundreds of people in line before it even opened. People waited for 2 hours to vote at my precinct, standing patiently and diligently in line to have their say in the American democratic representative process. Most people in my precinct voted the opposite of me, but I was so proud of them for setting a record turnout of almost 75%. It was much the same all around the country. Thanks for participating, everybody who did.

For the first time in my life, I’m proud of John Kerry. Instead of using the available option of a legal battle to sue over vote-counting methods and drag this country thru a divisive quagmire like his predecessor, he calmly and gracefully stepped down as the beaten candidate. Mr. Kerry showed 100% more class than his predecessor, and I commend him for doing the right thing.

Moral Outlook: “It’s the morals, stupid.” What, you never heard that one before? Well, get used to it; because it’s the #1 issue that decided the elections this year. I’m very proud of the large number of people that showed up to support morality in America. After watching their morals and values constantly being attacked and stripped away by the media and judges, the American people took a stand on this and showed up at the polls, and had their say. More on this issue here http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,137535,00.html

Economic Outlook: This country has a very strong, positive outlook. As a result of these elections, the economy will continue to move upward as it has the past few years, but with greater vigor as individuals and businesses continue to respond to lower taxes. My prediction is that the Dow will double within the next 10 years, with the other markets following close by. I’ve never been big on handing out investment advice, but I can guarantee now is a good time to invest.

Security Outlook: Our enemies will continue to see that this is a strong nation with serious resolve. Rogue leaders with WMD may follow suit with Libya and get rid of those weapons without our country needing to fire another shot. I heard the Democrats complaining recently that Iran and N Korea are bigger threats than Iraq, and that we should have been focusing on them. This administration has been focusing on them, and they are next in line to be dealt with. With the example of Iraq, they will be hard pressed to rebel against world authorities and continue down a path of destruction. They will respond better to diplomacy now that they know the threat of force is very real.

By the grace of God we’ve managed to avoid any terrorist attack on our soil for 3 years. We may get attacked again, but the continuing global war on terror means that there are still terrorists out there that wish to do us harm. The Bush administration’s diplomacy has countries working with us on this that 4 years ago I could never have imagined: Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, for example, have been arresting and handing over terrorists at rates unheard of in the Middle East. Freedom and democracy in that part of the world are some of the most effective suppressors of terrorism. It is better to breed democracy than terrorists.

As you can see, the outlook for the immediate future of this country is very clear and optimistic. The democratic process is a beautiful thing to watch at work. Congratulations to everybody, for making this country a better place once again.

Yours in democratic republicanism,

Doug