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The divide went deeper than politics. It reached into the nation's psyche," said Washington Post sage David Broder, on Nov. 8. Gore won by 27 percent among voters who praised the economy. Bush won by 30 percent among those worried about spiritual decay. Broder concluded: "It was the moral dimension that kept Bush in the race."

The national psyche? This election cut America's soul. It pitted a resurgent Religious Left vs. a demure Religious Right, oldline churches vs. megachurches. It wasn't secularists vs. the religious, as the Democratic duo of a Southern Baptist and an Orthodox Jew made clear. But clearly there were religious overtones in the hot cultural issues.

This election was Hollywood vs. Nashville, "Sex in the City" vs. "Touched by an Angel," National Public Radio vs. talk radio, "Doonesbury" vs. "B.C.", "Hotel California" vs. "The Okie From Muskogee." It was The New York Times vs. National Review Online, Dan Rather vs. Rush Limbaugh, Rosie O'Donnell vs. Dr. Laura, Barbra Streisand vs. Dr. James Dobson, the Supreme Court vs., well, the Supreme Court.

It was hard to ignore exit-poll questions about "religious observance," noted conservative Kate O'Beirne. "About half of the Republicans attend church at least once a week; nearly half of the Democrats go to church seldom or never. ... Married folk in the countryside who attend church have more conservative views on abortion, gun ownership, gay rights and the role of government.

Republicans stink.

That?s what I learned as a poll watcher. The interesting thing about being a poll watcher is you get to see a line of people, eyeball them, check out their clothes, their makeup, their perfumes and colognes, and then you get to see them sign in the voting log, as a democratic, republican or other.

It?s a rare setting. I guess you could do the same thing by going to a democratic or republican meeting or fundraiser, and maybe it would be a good idea to do that too. But my experience as a poll watcher gave me ?data,? observations that led to hypotheses. So, when I say the republicans stink, I do not mean that they reek of body odor. I mean they smell from perfume and cologne. They also wear a lot more makeup, are more likely to be blonde, and they wear dressier clothing, and more designer, brand-name clothes.

The women were heavier and both the men and women seemed more grim?with taciturn faces.

Democrats were more likely to wear blue jeans, to go without make-up, to have more casual hair-styles.

Of course this is my limited sampling of one voting district in suburban PA. But it has changed the way I look at people now. There are plenty of people who I can?t tell by looking at them if they are democrat or republican, but there are more now, who I can tell are far more likely to be right wingers or republican.

Frankly, I can be civil with them, but I never really had much interest in having much to do with them. Add their characteristics up and they are stiff, fake, with masks made of clothes, make-up, perfume, rigid negative emotion expressing faces. They?re angry, fearful, looking for identity from outside themselves?from church, brand names and other authoritarian figures. Democrats and independents are so different and rightly proud of their differences.

- Rob Kall, "Republican Watching: How They Look and Smell", www.opednews.com, 11.16.04

I guess the American people have voted. And the American people are idiots.

- my sister, 11.3.04

What troubled me yesterday was my feeling that this election was tipped because of an outpouring of support for George Bush by people who don't just favor different policies than I do - they favor a whole different kind of America. We don't just disagree on what America should be doing; we disagree on what America is.

- Thomas L. Friedman, "Two Nations Under God", The International Herald Tribune, 11.4.04

Small wonder that everywhere I go, people are talking about moving to Canada. That's the kind of joke you make when you no longer recognize your country.

- Leonard Pitts Jr., "Is this the Beginning of the End for America?", The Baltimore Sun, 11.8.04

Dear President Bush:

Congratulations on your victory over all us non-evangelicals. Actually, we're a bit ticked off here in California, so we're leaving you. California will now be its own country. And we're taking all the Blue States with us. In case you are not aware, that includes Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, all of the North East States, and the urban half of Ohio. We spoke to God, and she agrees that this split will be beneficial to almost everybody, and especially to us in the new country of California. In fact, God is so excited about it, she's going to shift the whole country at 4:30 pm EST this Friday. Therefore, please let everyone know they need to be back in their states by then. God is going to give us the Pacific Ocean and Hollywood. In addition, we're getting San Diego. Sorry, that's just how it goes. But God is letting you have the KKK and country music (except the Dixie Chicks). Just so we're clear, the country of California will be pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, and anti-war. Speaking of war, we're going to need all Blue States citizens back from Iraq. If you need people to fight in Falujah, just ask your evangelical voters. They have tons of kids they're willing to send to their deaths for absolutely no purpose. And they don't care if you don't show pictures of their kids' caskets coming home. So, you get Texas and all the former slave states, and we get the Governator and stem cell research. (We would love you to take Britney Spears off our hands, though. She IS from the south, right?) Since we get New York, you'll have to come up with your own late night TV shows because we get MTV, Letterman, the Daily Show, and Conan O'Brien. You get...well, why don't you ask your people at Fox News to come up with something entertaining? (Maybe you should just watch Crossfire. That's a really funny show.) We wish you all the best in the next four years and we hope, really hope, you find those missing weapons of mass destruction. Seriously. Soon.

Sincerely, California

- Anon, got this from some email sent to me, 11.21.04