As many of you know, I’m happy that Bush won re-election. Congratulations to him and all of his supporters.

Some say that he won by pandering to religious bigotry. While I’m sure that some of his success was due to anti-gay/anti-abortion sentiment, I don’t think it was the major part. Most people who voted for Bush did so because they are significantly aligned with his other plans and policies.

In his statement today, Bush mentioned his commitments to reforming the tax code and Social Security. I’m looking forward to him taking advantage of his opportunity to make significant progress in these areas. He should know that many of his supporters took these promises seriously and expect him to follow through on them. I support these and other market liberalizations. I will certainly criticize Bush for failing in this area.

I’m also optimistic that Bush will nominate, and the strengthened Senate will confirm, good judges; especially Supreme Court Justices, during this term.

Mostly, though, people voted for Bush because they support his approach to the very real threats to our security. Many of us think that he and his advisors understand the threats, and how to deal with them, better than Kerry. Regardless of how much some people would like to pretend this isn’t true, the American voters have exercised excellent judgement about this; the most important criterion for choosing a president.

Congratulations to all of us on our improved chances for progress.