In January George W. Bush was still competing with John McCain for the nomination. As Fray poster James said, "It is a Battle of Survivors—a POW camp survivor vs. a summer camp survivor." The most unusual anti-Bush post was titled, "Bush an Aztec death priest?"

February brought the South Carolina primary, and "my exit poll" from Fray favorite Will Allen: The sample was small-scale and local, but the results are well worth reading in full at the end of this Ballotbox.

The size of the sample was one. The vote was cast for McCain. When queried, the sample provided the issue that was most important in influencing the decision: the Bush campaign bugged the sample more often with telemarketing than McCain. In the midst of a very busy week, the sample was bothered by the Governor's posse a total of six times, while the Senator's crew only distracted the sample from pressing business once.—Will Allen

The other big event  of that week led P.Heckman to ask what was that show again: "Who wants to Elect a Multi-Millionaire?"

Remember the Washington WTO protests in April? Didn't think so. But who could forget this, at the end of the April 11 Net Election?

Kudos to the protestors. I wish I had the intestinal fortitude to stand with them and face the technocrats, the bureaucrats, the corpo-rats, scheming to make zillions at the cost of fellow billions. I faced my demons in the highlands of South Vietnam. Now it's my son's and daughter's turn to fight and bleed for what they deem is just. Activism and radicalism is good, to a point. This time, the point is good. My avid support to our urban guerrillas, the resistance fighters of today and tomorrow.—James Ignacio Warnes

Also in April: Elián. Discussed in this " The Breakfast Table" and this Fray post:

Has anyone noticed that the names of everyone in the Elian saga sound oddly fictionalized, as if they were all in a particularly bad symbolic novel? Donato Dalrymple (why didn't Agatha Christie think of that?), Elian, Marisleysis—and this is the kicker: the uncle that presumably "revived" Elian is named Lazaro. The whole thing sounds like a metadrama where the characters suddenly step off the stage and become real people. I bet Dickens is turning over in his grave right now.—Dola

The summer brought Survivor, and some very hot Frays, but it was a June Culturebox on the TV show Big Brother that produced this:

I am a 72-year-old male, and have been trying to acquire a description of my sex life. You gave it to me in your last paragraph, fourth sentence from the bottom. Thank you.—Ed Auen