You, especially, should read _Exit Ghost_. It might make it easier for you to give yourself a break and laugh a bit.
Roth's Zuckerman is a self-described old-fashioned New York Jewish liberal intellectual who cut his political teeth working twice for Adlai Stevenson's campaigns.
At the part of the novel cited, Zuckerman is surrounded by thirty-somethings, none of whom were old enough to be appalled by Nixon or any of the other disappointments that constitute a political memory. For these relative sprouts and yearlings, the 2004 election is "the most important election ever." Ha, isn't it always?
As these self-centered, ambitious, and vain characters fume over Kerry's defeat, Roth records many of the same dire predictions, apocalyptic declarations, and hysterical hate-filled snipes I have heard from friends, acquaintances, and strangers in New York. As a social document goes, Roth is spot on.
Those scenes hold many unconsciously-ironic formulae, part of the orchestrated charade, which could be summarized as, "All those fascist Republicans should be rounded up and shot!"
All the best to you, Eric ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html