Political process really does work well

Now that we've all had a few days to recover from the election madness and to get our emotions back on a more-or-less even keel, it's time to contemplate some lessons learned. Here are a few that occurred to me:

• The Electoral College is a beautiful thing. I know a lot of people disagree with me on this one. But without the Electoral College, the whole character of the election would have changed.

Consider this: When the television networks discussed returns Tuesday night, they did so against the backdrop of a map of the United States. They asked various experts to explain the reasons why Ohio went one way and Minnesota another, or why Florida voted more decisively for Bush this time while New Mexico remained closely divided. We were a collection of blue and red people with defining differences.

In other words, the focus was on the states. While we all call ourselves Americans, we are still a collection of geographic and cultural regions. Indiana voted overwhelmingly for President Bush, while its neighbor, Illinois, went overwhelmingly for John Kerry. Each state has unique needs, concerns and issues, and that would get lost in a purely popular election. The Electoral College turns the presidential race into 50 separate state elections, and it forces candidates to address regional concerns.

And, yes, I would feel the same way if Kerry had won the Electoral College while losing the popular vote.

• Utahns will indeed vote for a Democrat. Am I the only one who gets tired of hearing Utah Democrats continually complain about their inability to win races in Utah, as if the people of Utah are somehow to blame? As Jim Matheson has shown, Utahns will support a Democrat who gains their trust and works to satisfy their interests. They also will support one when they feel the GOP has let them down, as with the scandals in Salt Lake County.

Overall, however, Tuesday's election was another glum day for Democrats, despite a few victories here and there. But that's more a reflection of the party's inability to market itself in Utah than it is a basic flaw in Utahns themselves. Political philosophy is a product, and voters need a convincing sales pitch.

By the way, it's also easy to make too much of Matheson's victory. Look at how the race broke down in each county. The Republican challenger, John Swallow, took traditionally conservative Washington County by an almost 2-to-1 margin. He also dominated other Republican strongholds, including the part of Utah County that is in his district. But the part of Salt Lake County in his district went to him by a lopsided 127,861 to 63,543, according to morning-after figures on the state's Web site.

Which brings me to my next point: