President’s Risks Are Rewarded at Polls: “Two years after the most bizarre presidential election in American history was decided by the Supreme Court, 14 months after the unspeakable horror of terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, the nation voted in a mood of evident disenchantment and curious disconnection from the political system.

The American public is faced with a series of potentially life-altering issues, including the prospect of war with Iraq, the possibility of further assaults on national security at home, the reality of a prolonged slump in the stock market and the uncertainty of the economic outlook.” NY Times news analysis