There is a scene in the Jack Nicholson film, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", in which NIcholson's character (a patient at an insane asylum) asks the head nurse if the patients can watch a baseball game on TV. The nurse says that would be a departure from routine and might harm the patients. Nicholson persisted. The nurse said that if a majority of patients raised their hands to vote, "yes", she would allow it.
So Nicholson sized up his fellow patients, and tried to assess which ones were not too far gone to be able to raise their hands. Some he thought could do so, and he prodded them to. Others he looked at and realized it was hopeless, and moved onto the next one.
During this past election season, as I watched John Kerry go from one red state to another, trying to get them to vote against the Bush regime, I was reminded quite clearly of that scene in the movie. Florida has a chance, not too far gone, see if they'll raise their hands. Texas, forget it, too far gone, don't even bother. Ohio, go for it, maybe they are capable. While I say this with some humor, it really isn't a bad analogy. And I am serious when I say that I was REMINDED of the scene with Nicholson.
What do you folks think of that analogy?