Finally, some movement in the right direction! Senator Barbara Boxer of California signed the Representives' objection challenging the results of Ohio's presidential vote. Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones delivered the objection, which will now force the House and Senate to debate the objection. Watch the video clip.

A member of the House and a member of the Senate have not stood up together to object to a state's electoral college votes since 1877. Read Michael Moore's letter, "In The Clearing Stands a Boxer", reporting on the event.

My friend Dave pointed me to the Frontline interview with Frank Lutz to find out how he uses persuasion to sell both products and politicians. A fascinating interview that discusses the architecting of the Republican strategy for persuading Americans. This excerpt cuts to the heart of this strategy that uses language to persuade:

What matters most in politics is personality. It's not issues; it's not image. ... My job as a pollster is to understand what really matters. Those levers of importance -- sometimes they're called levers; sometimes they're called triggers. What causes people to buy a product? What causes someone to pull a lever and get them to vote? I need to know the specifics of that. And in politics, more often than not, it's about the personality and the character of the individual rather than where they stand, and that's exactly the opposite of what your viewers will think.

There's a very scary and depressing message here. Americans vote by emotion. Facts and the intelligence of the candidate don't appear to matter by and large to the majority of people. Their gut feeling matters. And this is why someone like Lutz is so effective at selling politicians. He can study the language these politicians use and help them be selective about chosing words to appeal to people's emotions. If you're looking for an interesting anecdote that seems to support this idea, check out Ira Glass' Swing Set show on "This American Life" where a Republican talks about why he will vote for Bush because he thinks he has integrity even though he dislikes Bush's policies.

There's a lesson here for Dems. Bill Clinton was a great communicator and you got the sense that he was passionate and had stood behind his convictions. But the biggest selling point is his charisma. It came naturally to him. We didn't have that with Kerry. Republicans scored big when they began using Lutz. He's absolutely right that Democrats have become angry and that's working against them. Take Michael Moore and Howard Dean for instance. You get the sense that they're just brimming with anger. The delivery is angry. There's no getting around it and when it comes to persuading the unconverted, it works against them. Some people think we'll need a more conservative, Southern candidate in 2008. It can't be distilled to those factors. If you believe Lutz, you need to have someone with personality who can communicate. Plus there's just that X factor that people like Clinton and Reagan seemed to have.

Politics as usual. What does any of this have to do with the issues? Nothing. In America, we're all just consumers in the eyes of politicians. And sadly, that's what works to win presidencies.

I feel compelled to say something after this week of post-election depression. My wife pointed out something she read in a local paper this week that resounded with me. In an article discussing the dissapointment in my community of Brooklyn over the election, someone was quoted as saying something like this about New York. "New York represents America to 90% of the world -- everyone except for the rest of Americans."

Although a generalization, it feels true to me. I'm sure it's been said by others already, but New York and Washington, D.C. both paid the biggest price to terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. Our cities paid in lives. Last Tuesday the majority of NYC and DC voters voted in favor of removing Bush on election day. It's clear and obvious to us that the answer to terror is not creating wars for veiled agendas for oil pipelines masquerading as crusades for democracy. But though our cities paid in thousands of lives, our voices don't seem to matter now in the scheme of things. And depending on how you see things, either the rest of America or the hands that control elections decided in favor of the other guy.

OK. Venting over. I don't feel like I'm in any position to be complacent with things as they are. I feel more compelled to be more involved in things now than ever, which is incredible for me because I am excessively turned off by politics. But for me the issue has to do with compassion for people. And the direction of our present government makes America seem devoid of it. America is not, but these wars are. Our answer to the loss of life has been to waste more life, meeting aggression with aggression rather than pausing for reflection and doing what's in the best long term interest of human life.

As someone wrote after 9/11, one of the best ways to prevent people from turning to terrorism is to make them your friends, and by that I don't mean to side with them on wars against others. Feed them. Care for people -- all people -- and they won't want to be your enemies. We need a platform based on compassion and caring for life, not one based on greed and selective care. We need.... Oprah for president!!! Sorry. I still think that's a good idea. For me, personally, I think this just means that I need to be more involved via groups like Move On, with groups of people who believe that something is terribly wrong with the way things are and who want to mobilize people to do something about it.

On the positive side of the election, the only age group where a majority voted for Bush was young voters under 30. Maybe there is hope for the future. For them, I suppose, the stakes are potentially greater. I've been reading on some email lists that the threat of a draft is in the minds of young people.

I leave you with this chilling quote someone posted on a list, to reiterate the fact that all wars are the same and that this war on Iraq has nothing to do with Sept. 11, yet here we have it.

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."
-- Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials

Let's hope this war ends soon. I'm not religious, but I'm praying for Peace.

I cast my vote this morning at 8am with a mass of people packed in a gym like cattle. I waited a little over 1/2 an hour.

CNN has a few pages that help you track the numbers:

* Poll overview and map

* Electoral vote scorecard

Just in time for today's RNC events, Alternet reminds us that Giuliani is no hero. Here are five reasons why he's nothing of the sort.

It's nice to see that corporate leaders including my company's former chairman are supporting Kerry. This recent WSJ article notes, "Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry has persuaded scores of corporate executives to go public with endorsements to prove his moderate appeal and suggest cracks in President Bush's base of business support." Let's hope this is true. Despite what the American media might be reporting, I hope it's becoming more apparent to people outside the U.S. that there is a strong movement to oust this president. The urgency can be felt more strongly than ever as Fall approaches. It's good to see that Republican business leaders are stepping outside of their parties to put a president in office who will put America's ideals before what they stand to gain personally in the way of tax cuts, etc. I'm sure some of those "ideals" are also driven by corporate interests, but at the heart, there is a real sense that many of these business leaders feel that Bush's actions have simply been bad for America . Of course, I would go so far as to say that the actions have been fundamentally damaging for life in general on this planet.

David Bonderman, A former corporate supporter of Bush had this to say about the president. "[H]e had an opportunity to bring the country together -- which was his MO in Texas. But for reasons only his psychiatrist would know, he's chosen to do just the opposite as president. He's turning out to be the worst president since Millard Fillmore -- and that's probably an insult to Millard Fillmore."

The article mentions that more than 200 corporate supporters are going to step forward for Kerry. The Journal cites the following reasons for their support. "They include opposition to Mr. Bush's fiscal policies; to his international policies that have, they argue, tarnished America's reputation in the world and, perhaps, its market share; and to environmental and social policies they call too conservative and divisive."

One day I would love to see a Green candidate who can do what it takes to get elected. But for now, Kerry needs the support and I'm glad to hear that he's getting more of it. His is the first political campaign that I have ever contributed money to. I'm getting more hopeful with each day that this campaign has what it takes to get Bush out.