A Letter to the President
Since this is a new blog, I feel like I have to have at least a little content so people get an idea of what I'm about. Here is a letter I wrote to George W. Bush a couple of days after the election in 2004.

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Dear Mr. Bush:

Firstly, Mr. President, congratulations on winning such a hard-fought campaign for President. Though I am an independent voter who leaned toward the Kerry side of this campaign, I have many Republican friends who are glad to see their candidate win a second term. I respect their opinions as much as I respect my own and yours -- even though they are sometimes far removed from my own.

I only hope they're still this happy in another four years -- and that I share their opinion on that.

However, my letter concerns the direction of the next four years of this great country, and how they will affect the 48% of this country who voted for Senator Kerry.

I would like you to consider that number for a second, Mr. President, because it represents more than 141 million Americans who don't share your views. And though it is fewer than the 150 million who supported you in this election year, it is still an incredibly large number of people.

I ask you to consider these numbers in relation to what you have called the "mandate" you feel you have been given by the American people. And I ask you to consider that 48% of the country -- equal to 141 million Americans -- also made their desires known on November 2, and that your opponent was the preferred choice of those people.

Consider that a mandate is something you get when a vast majority of people give it to you. Then consider the actual size of your majority.

You recently said, "I earned capital in the campaign and now I intend to spend it. And I'm going to spend it for what I told the people I would spend it on." Of course, that is your right as the winner of this election, and you have to keep your promises, and any President needs to do the same.

Consider the truth of John Kerry's concession speech -- about healing the divide that exists in the United States. The truth is obvious to anyone who considers it.

Consider the possibility that you have no mandate, and that if your second term behaves as if it has one, those wounds will never heal.

Consider for an instant that maybe, just maybe, sometimes the best use of power is to not use it at all. As President, you should always look for opportunities to use your power, and look even harder for opportunities not to.

Thank you for listening, and I hope you continue to listen. Because you aren't just the leader of your own party. This is not just the land of the Republicans. It is the land of the free, and you've been elected to lead all of us. The entirety of the American people will be waiting and watching to see what you do. And in the end, you work for us, all of us... Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike.

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