Election Day

Over here, the American election is on Wednesday, November 3rd, due to the date line. I would say that it a million times more attention than the New Zealand election got in the US, but only a fraction of the attention it got over there. It was the top story on the news, but after a few minutes they went on to more local issues. Apparently Kiwis liked Kerry by about 2:1 which means that the political climate is somewhat similar to Europe, but with the anti-Bush feeling much more muted. After the outcome was clear few took it hard, with most talking heads arguing better the devil you know than the one you don't. The story line here is that cultural conservatives focused on gay and abortion issues determined the election, and not Iraq. (Moral Issues Decide US Election) Frankly this seems a strange interpretation as for 18 months, politics has been all about Iraq. But I am in a bit of an information bubble here.