Animosity must end to move forward

Last Tuesday was a historic day for America. The Republican
Party scored the largest victory of any political party in an
American election for decades. President Bush was the first
presidential candidate since 1988 to win a majority of votes, the
first since 1936 to gain seats in the House and Senate in his
re-election bid, and his 3.5 million vote margin precludes any
credible claim that he somehow stole the election.

Many blue-staters (of both parties), surrounded by what seemed
to be universal disdain for President Bush, were shocked by his
decisive victory. Despite the best efforts of Michael Moore, pop
culture icons, coastal snobs of every variety, and the rest who
define President Bush as a simpleton, his principled moral
certainty connected with the bulk of the American people ““
something Sen. John Kerry and the Democrats could not do.

Much of the mainstream media, and for that matter, the Daily
Bruin, decried Bush’s moral clarity as simple-mindedness and
portrayed the voters as irrational, Bible-thumping bigots. Emphasis
was placed on exit polls showing large numbers of voters citing
morality as an important reason for choosing a candidate.

They were trying to delegitimize the Republican victory by
playing up the concept of a nation divided between the enlightened,
tolerant left and the irrational, bigoted right. Many of the people
who condemn the president’s moral certainty as simplistic
seem to have no trouble mustering that same moral certainty to
condemn American voters. Furthermore, the importance of security
issues vastly surpassed moral issues.

Instead, it is important to heal the real divisions exacerbated
by perhaps the biggest, nastiest election in recent memory, but
that healing spirit must go both ways. Attributing the Republican
victory to the stupidity of voters ““ while perhaps
therapeutic to some ““ has no place in bridging that
divide.

Many students responded to the election with shock and anger.
Last Thursday, extremists held a “Not My President”
rally ““ which was to be held no matter who won. Individuals
at the rally symbolically opted out of American democracy,
attacking both parties and the political system itself.

But shrill rhetoric is not the answer to healing our nations
ills; neither is opting out of the system or shouting about
revolution with futile, childish anger. By continuing to execute
programs of ideas and dialogue, like those decried at that rally,
the Bruin Republicans plan to help heal the wounds of this past
election and seek to address the problems our generation faces.

Some have misunderstood or mischaracterized the Bruin
Republicans and our events as extremist, over-aggressive, racist or
showy. This could not be further from the truth.

The Bruin Republicans have engaged in unprecedented levels of
dialogue and civic events. We reached out to the Latin American
Student Association to put on a forum regarding the potential for a
draft, and worked with the Department of Public Policy and the
Bruin Democrats to host forums on health care policy and on
international trade.

We have also continued our quarterly debates with the Bruin
Democrats. Those who view the Bruin Republicans as extremists, due
to opinions voiced in the debate, should take a closer look at the
organization and its program. One of the debate’s ground
rules was to defend the actions and proposals of a candidate and
party in every instance, regardless of personal views.

The Bruin Republicans are not racist simply because our members
oppose racial preferences. We view each person as an individual,
not a member of an ethnic group, and it took a liberal visitor to
one of our meetings to point out that we happen to be one of the
most diverse student groups on campus.

The Bruin Republicans take our social responsibilities
seriously. We played a vital role in the Voter Coalition, co-hosted
the Bipartisan Barbecue, and are currently in the process of
constructing an outreach program to give back to the community.

Difficult questions face our nation and generation in the years
ahead. Our enemies are as determined as ever, our job market is not
growing as fast as we would like, and our health care, education
and social security systems are in desperate need of reform.

We, the Bruin Republicans, hereby extend our hand to the campus
community, dedicating ourselves to raising awareness of these
problems and their solutions.

Knee is the chairman of the Bruin Republicans.