Mission Accomplished!!

What more can I say. After a long and bitter political campaign it now appears we will have four more years of President George W. Bush. I am very happy with this outcome, needless to say for those who know me. Many of my past blog entries have attempted to explain what I believe to be the many virtues of “W” as the right man to continue the job as President.

This morning one of my first activities was to remove my lawn signs from the end of the driveway. Why? Well, if I had my choice I would be proud enough to leave them out there during the next four years. Instead, I figured the statement that needed to be made was before the election, and not to be continued afterwards. I removed the signs out of respect for those who may be feeling a bit down because of the election outcome.

During the past two months when I was out driving nearly every sign I drove past would catch my eye. Indeed, it was like getting a merit mark when I saw a Bush/Cheney sign, and when I would see a Kerry sign touting “Help is on the Way” or “For a Stronger America” I would mentally give that household a demerit. I suppose subconsciously, I was always hoping the merits far outnumbered the demerits. Truthfully, I’m not sure what the final tally ever was.

Like most Americans I am glad the election is over. Truth be known, while I was always confident that my candidate would pull off a victory I didn’t forget that politics can be fickle. I mentally prepared my life for the possibility of a Kerry presidency, just in case. Thankfully, those preparations were all for naught.

I guess what I was most concerned about with this election was how sportsmen were being fooled into believing that Kerry was a better choice for our specific interest. There is no credible comparison between the two candidates that would have elevated Kerry to a level of Bush when it came to protecting sportsman’s rights. And while I don’t base my whole political choice on who better protects my guns, my sport, or the lands I like to recreate on, it does certainly play a significant role in that decision.

By no means has Bush been a perfect president over the past four years and I don’t expect the same from him during the upcoming years, either. His job is very difficult, but I do feel his heart is in the right place when making all the tough decisions.

My only hope for the future is that when the Democrats put forth a presidential candidate it will not be of the Gore or Kerry sportsman-threatening ilk. I know there are lots of fine Democrats who are part of the Congressional Sportsman’s Caucus and who truly work hard to uphold the ideals for what we believe in. Perhaps when this occurs, I won’t be quite as nervous about the future as I have been during the last two presidential election cycles.

Of course I would love to use this day and gloat a little rubbing the victory in to my Liberal friends. I’m not going to do that, however, because I feel there is enough of a political divide between both parties in this country. Instead, I’m going to finish by saying that President George W. Bush has always had my full support to guide this country even during difficult times using his proven moral judgment and courage. He faces many challenges in the upcoming years, but with our prayers I am confident his leadership will prove to be one that we can all look back on and be thankful he was once again given that opportunity yesterday at the polls.

© 2004 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction without Prior Permission.