Kos Unimpressed With Election

It must be tough writing at Daily Kos in light of a 72% turnout* amid lower-than-expected violence in Iraq. Tough indeed. Contributor Armando 's struggling (here):

This Election is simply, in my estimation, an exercise in pretty pictures. Why? Because Elections are to choose governments, not to celebrate the day. Are the people elected capable of governing Iraq at this time? Without 150,000 U.S. soldiers? Or even with them? I have been accused of gloating by people right HERE because of my focus on the continuing violence. But my focus has been on the realities of governing a land in chaos, in the midst of civil war, with 150,000 U.S. soldiers the only force with the ability to provide security. And this is 2 years after the invasion.

So the election went better than he hoped. Now he hopes the forming of a government will go worse than expected, and before too long he'll have to deal with another false prediction and ignore another pillar of his shaky foundation falling away.

Update:

The Independent Election Commission of Iraq clarified an earlier estimate of a 72 percent turnout, saying that the "figures are only very rough, word-of-mouth estimates gathered informally from the field." (CNN)