I guess having multiple strong parties doesn't make for a good election after all.
Look at this week's UK election. The guy who won is considered to be in deep trouble, and people can't wait for him to step down. The guy who made the biggest gains has resigned. The guy who had the most to gain, well, didn't gain much, and his supporters are probably at least a little bit disappointed.
Isn't somebody supposed to 'win' an election? Isn't anybody happy over there?
Besides that bewildering state of affairs, there was the overall freakshow that showed up on CNN-International. They were showing the official announcements of the election returns in a few constituencies, and it seemed like absolutely everybody had a sour puss on. In Blair's constituency a woman, presumably a losing candidate, wore a "BLIAR" hat right next to the guy. And that Galloway guy looked like a real jerk to me, castigating the woman he had just beaten in the election. It didn't look like anybody was gracious in the least.
This being Britain, there were a few absurd touches as well. The best thing was seeing this very proper British elections official reading off the returns in the Blair race...then getting to the "Monster Loony Party" or something like that. On stage, there's a guy in a costume that looked like a cross between a Beefeater and a Miami Heat uniform. I was rolling on the floor at that scene.
I guess I was generally struck by the lack of celebration or self-congratulation you see in our elections. No interviews of proud citizens voting in their first election, no shots of rabid partisans, etc. Just the business at hand, thank you very much.
But would it have killed any of them to smile?