There is always a bit of conflict between my political and religious beliefs. A national election like the one last week only serves to intensify that internal conflict. I look at the men and women that are put up for election by our two major political parties and wonder; Is this all there is?

In 1968 George Wallace was running for president. In his stump speeches he always made a remark about the choices we have for president. I may not be quoting him exactly, but it was "why do we have to choose between the lesser of two evils -- why can't we choose the better of two goods?" While Mr. Wallace and I did not have much in common, this remark has always stuck with me.

This year we were offered Mr. Kerry and Mr. Bush, both far from good choices. Neither man articulated a clear and convincing vision for America's future. Neither man was a choice between the better of two goods. The best description I can come up with is that Mr. Kerry and Mr. Bush was a choice between two mediocre -- not evil -- men.

There is no reason to list here all the pros and cons of each man. We should all know by now where each stood on the important issues of the day.

In several comments left on other posts I have been accused of being a Bush backer, of being blinded by White House propaganda. I have always challenged those people to show just one place on this blog where I backed or endorsed Mr. Bush. Usually the response was silence. I do not march in lockstep with any political party -- never have and never will.

Which comes back to my vote. In my state there were several down ballot races and initiatives that precluded me from not voting at all. A couple of the initiatives were more important to me than the presidential contest. They dealt with real issues of taxes and spending in my local community. I had to vote on those issues.

I waited until late in the day to vote on November 2nd. I was going to hold my nose and vote for Mr. Bush. But I just couldn't do it. Couldn't vote for Kerry either. In Nevada, on statewide races, we have the choice of "None of these." Not really a good choice -- if none of these wins the popular vote (it happened once) the election is given to the candidate with the next highest vote total. I ended up with a third-party presidential candidate. I voted, I did my duty to God and country. My candidate didn't win, but I left the voting booth feeling I had done the right thing.

Now that Bush has won the election, I will accept the judgement of my fellow citizens. My hope is that in 2008 we have better choices and less anger and hate from both sides.