WUI (Writing under the influence)

I wanted Bush to win the 2000 election for very selfish reasons: economic freedom, more conservative social values, hope for school vouchers, etc. But there were people, much wiser than me obviously, who wanted Bush to win because they felt it would be better for this country.

By chance, I discovered a pre-election opinion piece written by Peggy Noonan. After listing a few earthly reasons to vote for Bush, she says this:

The next president may well be forced to shepherd us through the first nuclear event since World War II, the first terrorist attack or missile attack. "Man has never had a weapon he didn't use," Ronald Reagan said in conversation, and we have been most fortunate man has not used these weapons to kill in the past 50 years. But half the foreign and defense policy establishment fears, legitimately, that the Big Terrible Thing is coming, whether in India-Pakistan, or in Asia or in lower Manhattan.

When it comes, if it comes, the credibility--the trustworthiness--of the American president will be key to our national survival. We may not be able to sustain a president who is known for his tendency to tell untruths.

If we must go through a terrible time, a modest man of good faith is the one we'll need in charge. That is George Walker Bush, governor of Texas.

Unbelievable. It almost makes me ashamed that my reasons were so material. Almost, because, as it turned out, those qualities I appreciated in Bush saved our economy from complete collapse after the attacks.