"W is still the President" Hiroki FUJITA (11/04/04) “Have you voted?” Nov. 2nd was the Election Day. I heard this conversation many times every where in the campus. I was also asked that question even though I don’t have the citizenship. But I was glad to hear the conversation concerning the election on campus, because it definitely shows the high students’ interest for politics. In addition, Iowa is one of the swing states. This would be the other reason that students get interested in the election. I started to watch CNN at 6:30pm. By that time, the poll had already closed in some states. At first, the Democrats led the vote. But gradually, the Republican retained and got the vote. According to the commentator, most votes met the expectation; Texas went to Bush, California went to Kerry. Reflecting on the mistakes that the media made four years ago, CNN’s projection was so prudent. They seemed to try to gather information as much as they can and analyzed it carefully. As a result of the careful broadcasting, Ohio was designated as a Green State; the outcome was too close to call. I went to bed at 4:30am, but at that time, Ohio was still Green State. On the contrary, Fox News reported Republican got Ohio sooner than CNN. Although that was interesting for me, it would have been an intentional leading. In the end, Bush was re-elected, though Iowa and New Mexico has still undecided. Vote rate is estimated 40 or more percent. This is rather low rate. I strongly hope that any illegal vote or action didn’t happen in this election as they did four years ago. However, I was strongly disappointed. The world won’t change for the better; it must become worse. I have never thought that the Republican would win. In terms of the world peace, conservatives will try to make America stronger both at home and in the world. They will try to solve the conflicts around the world by using own forces as they did for Afghanistan and Iraq in this four years. However, weren’t these wars supported by “the people in the world”? Nope. “The people in the world” certainly supported the President Bush; Britain, Japan, and some other “coalition of willing” countries did support. Nevertheless, obviously these wars lacked the legitimacy. It should have been approved by the United Nations. It was the violation against sovereign nation. In the next four years, there is a possibility that this kind of war will be repeated, especially for the “axis of evil.” It would influence for Japan somehow. I’m really worried about it. But I have almost no power over the politics in the United States. It is irritating.