Astroworld

Many other astrologers have focused on JFK's transits, so I won't do them
in this article. I will give you a snapshot of Bush, though. Bush's
transits at present indicate major trouble, and lots more to come. Pluto
conjunct the South Node is unfavorable. Also opposed to natal Uranus shows
unexpected breakdowns and transformations beyond his control. Biseptile to
natal Mars shows he's at a huge karmic fork in the road, probably more than
a little obsessive-compulsive at present. Uranus will oppose his Mars for
awhile, not good for his nervous system, adrenals, elimination, or his
health in general. Uranus is also the focus for a Yod, or "Finger of God,"
in his chart, showing multiple sacrifices that are squeezing out everything
in his life that is not true for him. A double quincunx from Pisces
involving his Mercury and Ascendant would indicate heart, blood, or
intestinal trouble, and problems regulating his internal heat/dryness.

The big deal, of course, is that George Bush is going through his Saturn
return (article at http://blogs.salon.com/0003573/2004/05/11.html#a28) As
most of you know, this is a time when people are forced to look at some
hard truths, and make critical decisions. At the Saturn return, whatever is
not part of your future integrity is out the door. Things and people are
taken away, apparent victories are tiring and often turn to ash. Defeats
look and feel worse than other times. I'm sure he's having depression
symptoms, and feels acutely a sense of worldly weariness. His Saturn is on
the degree of "a furious storm raging through a residential canyon," so his
experience of Saturn is never easy. As transiting Saturn literally SITS on
his natal Saturn for 5 months and is in major effect through next summer,
you can bet he's having a good time NOT! He may be "rising to the
occasion," but is exhausting himself in the process.

Even though it is possible to push to high achievement at the Saturn
return, it is better to turn away from old accomplishments,
responsibilities, and duties, and decrease the stress and pressures of
everyday life. This is doubly reinforced by Saturn conjunct his Sun. He has
less vitality than at other times, and overdoing it will only hasten
problems. In fact, the next year will be one of the hardest in George
Bush's life. Of course, the Jupiter return mitigates it somewhat. This
transit usually promises a sense of expansion and optimism but its
retrograde shows that things won't turn out as he assumes.

Mars is aggravation/activation. His Mars' return in August gave a boost to
his larger Mars-Sun cycle started late May. Mars in Libra activates his
Libra 3rd stellium, so he flips between agreeable, charming down-home
friendly to Saturn's hermit-like grumpy tendencies. Right now, Mars square
his Saturn embodies the Dixville Notch chart's Mars square Saturn. Bush is
the percect symbol of a fundamental flaw in American politics at this point
in history. His habits, rules, health, and ways of dealing with public
servants are all vulnerable. First responders are not all that pleased with
Bush.

I am not overjoyed with Bush's transits at the election. The Sun is
conjunct his Part of Fortune, Mercury's favorable, Venus is favorable, and
Jupiter is favorable. However, there is the overriding factor of the Saturn
return, and the election Mars square Saturn indicates the entire election
is way far out on a limb, with too much blind trust in something that can
bring the whole house of cards crashing down. It may be that the courts
will finally disallow a Rovian legal marathon, his usual tactic.

On to political factors and several important things to remember. The major
polls cannot be trusted, since they tend to favor Bush. Space prevents
elaboration on this, but it is important to measure what is being polled.
For example, Zogby shows Bush ahead nationally, but Kerry ahead in key
battleground states. Newest numbers are posted further down this article.
When we safely allot the Red and Blue states, the race is fairly close.
There are only about 10 true battleground states. Across several respected
polls Kerry is ahead, but we're just not being told that by mainstream media.

Another important thing to remember is the Incumbent Rule (article at
http://politicalphysics.typepad.com/my_weblog/2004/10/the_incumbent_r.html)
Briefly, it indicates that historically, a minimum of 80% of the undecided
votes break for the challenger, sometimes much higher. When these undecided
voters are factored in with the present poll numbers, Kerry takes a
significant lead in several key states. There is also the factor that an
incumbent with the low numbers Bush has cannot do well. In some states he's
polling below 45%. Though there are very few undecided voters left, we must
assume that those who were recently undecided have now gone Kerry and
explain his pickup of 3 points or more in recent state polls.

There are problems with massive voter disenfranchisement attempts in key
states, but only in the states with Republican judges has it been ruled
that provisional ballots MUST be cast in their original precincts. Swing
state Ohio is bad that way right now. It's another attempt to keep the
voters away, since the higher the vote, the more Dems. This may be offset
in Ohio due to coordinated GOTV efforts by Dems and very low approval
numbers for Bush. Another important factor is that Dems advanced voting is
way above Repubs all over the country.

There are already many suits filed in courts all over the country by both
parties, and you should expect more. That's how Rove wins elections - he
kicks it farther and farther up the chain, and will take it to the Supremes
if he needs to. But the Dems are in better shape to counter the effort this
year, and in no mood to concede another election given the massive fraud
and dirty tricks going on with voter registrations, absentee ballots,
provisional ballots, last minute precinct shifts, and more.

That's why getting out the vote is the most important thing. Many polls
show Bush with a lead, but then they tend to be weighted in ways that
please the powers that be. And they don't factor in newly registered voters
(where the Dems have a huge lead!) and even more importantly, the cell
phone user population. These two groups are believed to be the "Stealth
vote" for the Dems, and the turnout should be very large. A new Washington
Post poll finds a slight Kerry lead among likely voters. It also found that
independents are going 52-43 against reelection, and first time voters
oppose Bush's reelection by 58-37. The newest Zogby poll shows Kerry should
take Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio if the numbers hold. You do the
electoral math.

There is a huge early vote turnout, assumed overwhelmingly Dem. The Repubs
are scared of the minority vote, since they're overwhelmingly Dem. Dems
have picked up major support from Arab-Americans since 2000, as well as
among non-Cuban Hispanics in Florida. The huge Cuban Repub block probably
won't turn out in numbers matching 2000, due to Bush policies regarding
visitation and money shipments to Cuba. So Dem Hispanic registrations are
up, while Repub support is expected to be low. I also believe that the
military will vote more Dem than in 2000, due to not wanting to be overseas
one day longer than necessary.

Another factor is consumer confidence, which has fallen three straight
months, indicating voter discontent with Bush's economy. It is now at 92.8,
the lowest in 7 months. It is important to remember that every incumbent
prez lost re-election when the consumer confidence index was below 99 on
election day.

One thing to remember is that taking back the Senate is crucial to any
successful progressive administration. There are several contests where the
Senate seat will shift from Republican to Democrat. Zell's GA seat, not
very Dem to begin with will go Repub, along with a few open seats. Dems
will capture Illinois, and have a very strong shot to take Kentucky and
Oklahoma. They also have a good shot at Alaska, Colorado, and possibly a
few more which would put the Senate back in Dem hands, slowing House
authoritarian momentum. Final Senate call: minimum 50 seats for Dems,
likely 51 or 52 including independent seat.

There is no chance in this election for the Democrats to take back the
House, since Repubs have successfully gerrymandered several Dems out of
House seats in Texas. Though this is under review by the courts, it is
uncertain how this will affect the election split of the House.

(This is where I ended the original post. Since this is reposted, I'll
give you the punch line here.)

There is one last significant factor which you may not know about that made
me smile. Believe it or not, the kid's poll from the Nickelodeon channel
has accurately picked every presidential winner since 1988. In 2000, they
backed Bush by 55%. This year, 400,000 kids responded to the poll, and 57%
backed Kerry. The kid's vote is a good indicator, since Nick viewers tend
to mirror the same outlook as their parents.

Punch line: According to MyDD and Real Clear Politics, Bush has lost Maine,
NJ, Oregon and Washington. Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, NH, and
Pennsylvania will all go Kerry if the current numbers hold and "undecideds"
keep breaking as they have. Kerry also has a good shot at taking Wisconsin,
NM, and maybe an election day surprise of possibly Iowa, Arkansas or
Tennessee. This puts Kerry way over 300 electoral votes. Unless a
"terrorist attack" happens on American soil and elections are postponed,
suspended, or placed under martial law, or Karl Rove is able to get the
Supremes to do another "one time only judgment," America will elect John
Kerry as our next prez. Unfortunately, like Gore, the trick will be getting
him inaugurated. And it will take a while to sort it all out in the courts.
This is affirming that "Tecumseh's Curse" is dead.

A brief bio: I have been a professional astrologer, metaphysician, author,
and public speaker for over 30 years with an active national practice. I am
the founder of my astrological blog, The Aquarius Papers, at
http://blogs.salon.com/0003573/ and
Political Physics, at http://politicalphysics.typepad.com/ where I co-blog
with my friend Caleb Gilbert. I live in Los Angeles with my cat Yuri, who
always has his tuxedo on in case visitors come calling.