I've been reviewing polls, looking at how the electoral votes may fall & thought folks may want to see a few interesting, related sites. The first site asks "What if the whole world could vote in the U.S. presidential election?" and tries to answer that question here: http://www.betavote.com/results/. The second site tracks electoral votes on a daily basis, here: http://www.electoral-vote.com/. Both have a slight lead for Kerry at the moment.

I enjoyed the debates tremendously. The sense that these two candidates are truly toe to toe was evident in the effort they put forth. However, as the election nears, I learn more and more about how divided this country is.

For example, on the Republican side - 2000 was about the Dems trying to steal the vote from Bush, who won fair & square. Moreover, the leadership that Bush has shown is serious and it's a serious time for the country - switching leaders should only happen if the other candidate is a shoe-in to resolve the current issues facing us. Kerry hasn't proved that he's that candidate & with the non-stop negativity in the campaign at this point - my assumption is that Republicans have seen nothing to sway their vote. Beyond that, the ongoing struggle for right to life efforts, outrage at the efforts to make marriage available for homosexual couples & indignance at the results of decades of a secular agenda that has changed the social parameters Americans operate within have backed evangelical citizens into a corner. Finding the US unrecognizable to their faith, many see the President as a rightening of a path we have wrongly tread.

On the Democratic side, Bush never won the election - His efforts to smash American Freedoms in favor of both pure economic benefit for himself & his posse are blatant -His faith based leadership begs the question of personal freedoms for those who do not follow the now 40% evangelical identification of US citizens. There is a real fear, for those who see Bush's efforts as increasingly dangerous for our nation, that his re-election will make America a lesser place to live - in the best case scenario: a money making machine with religious automatons running the show - in the worse case scenario: a destroyed culture, easily picked off by those who oppose us.

Astrologically speaking, this is a period of polarization, soap box speeches and a desperate search for the truth - which includes travel through deception. The next phase will be more practical, although whether that will manifest as facism & oppression or discipline & hard work remains to be seen. If you knew that tougher times were on their way & you could choose to put your work up to the challenge, would you do that? I'm giving that a try - discipline & hard work.