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I used to believe that had 9/11 not happened, Bush would not be here for a second term. Due to a recent event in my life, I'm not so sure anymore.

Here's the story: About two weeks ago, I went to visit a friend of mine in the San Fransisco area for the weekend. This friend is a pretty religious Mormon, and on Sunday I ended up accompanying her to her church.

Church was interesting. The people in their early-to-mid twenties (like me and my friend) were cordoned off from the rest of the church so we could ogle each other freely (it is marrying age, after all). This church was essentially one big mixer. But that's not the point (though it was very interesting to me).

After the churchy section of church, there was a classroom portion where people our age discuss different topics every week. This week, they spoke of the importance of having a well-rounded education that went outside of knowing the Bible (and finding Bible passages to back it up). It was during this discussion that it happened. Some kid, still in college, raised his hand and said, "I hate to bring politics into this," (which, of course meant the exact opposite) "but I have something to share with you all." He continued to speak, and I will try to write it as accurately as I remember it. "During the last election, I was very unsure of who to vote for. I had friends on both sides, telling me to vote for Bush or vote for Kerry. On the one hand, Bush ruined our economy, and has done nothing for the environment or education, and he got us into a war that we didn't need to get into. On the other hand, he's a religious man."

As soon as he finished saying this, I knew what the end of the story. He voted for Bush. Fine.

He continued, "On election day, I still didn't know who to vote for, but as I was in the booth, I followed my heart, and ended up voting for Bush."

Then he said something that made me so angry, my friend grabbed my shoulder because it looked like I was going to charge him. He said, "And thank God I did vote for him, because I almost made a big mistake." He finished his speech there. The thing that bothered me the most about it was the semantics. He is not allowed to make that kind of statement. He has no idea what the world would have been like had Kerry won the presidency -- no matter how close to God he may be. If he had given a reason why voting for Kerry would have been a mistake, I would have let it go. If he had said, ". . . and thank God I did, because I almost made a big mistake. I really think Bush is turning things around in Iraq," I would have respectfully disagreed. But he didn't. He gave no indication that he thought Bush was the better leader. In fact, he was implying the exact opposite! He basically disagreed with everything the Bush administration had done during his first term. But he "followed his heart" and voted for Bush because he was more religous.

This was probably not an isolated incident. I mean, this was in the San Fransisco area -- not exactly the beacon of old-fashioned American values. It had never dawned on me before that people would vote for the president of our nation for any reason other than their political agenda and their ability to lead. To me, voting for someone on the basis of their religous beliefs is like voting for someone because they have the same favorite color as you. I don't see how one correlates with the other. But I have a feeling that a lot of people do. Enough to give Bush an edge in an election.

I just wanted to share this with you. Any thoughts?