Election with Hunter

[R.A. Hettinga]

Last blue-baiting post, I swear. Gotta love HST, especially after the ether
kicks in...

Cheers,
RAH
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<http://www.aspendailynews.com/Search_Articles/view_search_article.cfm?OrderNumber=9156>

Aspen Daily News

Friday, November 5, 2004
11/4/04

 Election with Hunter

By Troy Hooper/Aspen Daily News Staff Writer



 WOODY CREEK - It was Bailey's Irish Cream and Royal Salute Scotch Whiskey
at the Thompson household on Election Night. A bottle of Cristal intended
for a John Kerry victory remained uncorked, chilling on ice in a backroom.

 A hungry smell of anticipation hung in the kitchen at Owl Farm, which
morphed into a makeshift Democratic headquarters as Hunter S. Thompson
hunkered down with a small group of friends and manned what seemed like a
global switchboard as calls came pouring in from some of the biggest names
in modern American lore.

 Even a few pollsters dialed up The Good Doctor in search of the most
up-to-minute score. Whether they were calling to ascertain Thompson's
classified political knowledge or gauge his gambler's instinct was unclear.
But without question, his phone was chiming more often than the Liberty
Bell.

 "I don't mean to pop the bad news on you Bubba but John Kerry is getting
beat just like George McGovern did in 1972 - or worse," Thompson proclaimed
to his nephew well before the news networks gave any hint that Bush Nation
was marching toward a second term. "The tide turned so quickly it was
difficult to breathe."

 Actor Sean Penn, presidential historian Douglas Brinkley, Kerry press
secretary David Wade and others checked in with Thompson who sat on a chair
inhaling cigarettes and stiff drinks in between bites of breakfast, which
wasn't served to the late-awakening writer until after the sun went down.

 Asked for a candid assessment of the election, Thompson put it plainly to
Penn.

 "I've got the worst possible news. Colorado has gone to hell like all the
other states," Thompson said into the speakerphone. "They must have all
voted the same way they prayed."

 The way Thompson's neighbors voted was far removed from the national
outcome. Bush mustered just 2,750 of Pitkin County's electorate while Kerry
received 6,275.

 Nationally, Bush garnered the highest total number of votes ever, winning
51 percent of the record voter turnout, which preliminary estimates have
put at roughly 117 million. He is the first president to win a majority of
the vote since 1988 when his father beat another Democrat from
Massachusetts: Michael Dukakis.

 "The news is getting logarithmically more horrible," Thompson told another
caller as the night wore on. "They're all committing suicide up in Boston."

 Thompson has always had a keen eye for politics. His best-known work on
the subject is "Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72" - an up-close
study of South Dakota Senator George McGovern's effort to unseat President
Richard Nixon.

 Over the weekend, McGovern and Thompson discussed the election: The two
old friends suggested Bush might be more dangerous than Nixon. Kerry would
make a fine president, they both agreed, as they noted the similarities
between the two eras.

 This year's Democratic presidential candidate must have seen some
similarities between now and then, too.

 When Kerry visited Aspen last June for a fund-raiser, he brought three
hardcover copies of "Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72" to have
them autographed. Thompson obliged and struck a friendship with Kerry,
serving as his unofficial Aspen tour guide, meeting the candidate on a
rain-soaked tarmac at Sardy Field and riding in a Secret Service procession
up Red Mountain, showing Kerry the sights and conferring with him on
national affairs.

 Now, five months later, Kerry has met the same fate as McGovern.

 "I feel like somebody's died," Thompson lamented as the sun was preparing
to rise early Wednesday morning. "I'm just not sure who it was."

 He deemed the election "another failure of the youth vote."

 "Yeah, we rocked the vote all right. Those little bastards betrayed us again."

 But despite his disappointment, Thompson remained remarkably upbeat.

 "Their army is how much bigger than mine? Three percent? Well shucks,
Bubba. Now is the time to establish a network and an attitude," he said.
"You make friends in moments of defeat. People in defeat tend to bond
because they need each other. We can't take the attitude that it's over and
we give up. We're still here."

 Thompson added: "I'm proud to have known John Kerry."


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R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'