BLUE IN THE REDDEST STATE

Pondering the political shift in this country has become a national pastime. Have Americans become a lot more conservative than anyone imagined? Was this election an indication of where things are headed, or just the end of a pendulum swing? Do both those on the left and the right consider themselves to be an oppressed minority? Has America begun to look a lot like... Utah?

But in my Capitol Hill neighborhood, a quaint urban enclave of tree-lined streets, it's easy to forget where you are. Walking the other evening down Center Street, a charming residential thoroughfare, my terrier Leon stopped to sniff a couple of basset hounds. Maybe the man in tow noticed the espresso in my hand; maybe he guessed from the magazine under my arm. "You know," he quipped, "the next election is less than four years away."

© 2004