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The Deflation Of Politics; Elections matter, but their reverberations are limited. Governments change; for most people, the basic conditions of life do not.(Column)

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From: Newsweek
Date: 20041108
Author:Will, George F.

Byline: George F. Will

PRESIDENT, n . The leading figure in a small group of men of whom--and of whom only--it is positively known that immense numbers of their countrymen did not want any of them for President.

--Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" (1911)

By the time most NEWSWEEK readers receive this issue, they and other voters will be choosing, or will have chosen, the man least not wanted, a.k.a. the winner. He will step confidently forward--and will, as it were, smack his forehead into some facts, which are, as John Adams said, stubborn things.

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