The Changed:

One of the key ideas driving Tuesday's election, and shared by both major campaigns, is that "9-11 changed everything." It might be more accurate to say to that 9-11 changed everyone, but it changed them in a hundred different ways. Those who had felt safe and secure suddenly felt the chill wind of fear. Those who felt a new Pax Americana was rising from the detritus of the Cold War were disabused of their optimism. Those who looked for a new enemy found one, or many. Experiences like the terror attacks of 2001 drive down deep into the collective memory, seeming to bypass history, passing straight into myth. Which myth one subscribes to will shape the Tuesday vote more than any issue or argument. John Zogby calls this "The Armageddon Election;" pundits call it both the bitterest and most important election of our lives. I play with an interactive electoral vote map every day, and pray.