It is amazing how distraught some Democrats (just a rabid few in my opinion) are about the election results. If you go to
Democratic Underground, there are conspiracy theories, instructions on how to move to Canada, and enough blame to go around. If the results were reversed, I doubt that Republicans would react that way (I could be wrong though).
Now, for my opinion on what went wrong for the Kerry Presidency bid. The first was his lack of charisma. As I had mentioned in a blog this summer, he had very little charisma and he spent much of his energy just trying to get his own party excited about him, not even mentioning the rest of the nation.
Secondly, he was too sophisticated for most of the nation. He always said he had a plan and to check his web site for his solution. That is too much work for most Americans (even someone technical like me). If you have a plan, at least give me an executive summary, then I can look at the web site for more details. The message never got across to the common man.
Thirdly, I think the 527 groups hurt Kerry quite a bit. I thought the ads from MoveOn.org, The Media Fund, etc. were very extreme and may had been out of touch with non-partisan Americans. By the same token, the ads from the Swift Boat Veterans hit Kerry right in the soft spot. He chose to run his campaign based on 4 months in Vietnam, rather than 20 years in the Senate (which really was another obvious error). He told them to bring it on, and this little 527 did.
Fourth, the normal Americans were not persuaded by the celebraties and the "Hollywood Left." Michael Moore's "documentary" did nothing to help the party other than try to energize those who thought the election was stolen. Rosie O'Donnell was busy trying to convince the gay Americans that Bush had a plan to reduce their rights. P. Diddy had his "Vote or Die" campaign. It is apparent that Americans are more conservative than these people believe they are. I would not necessarily contribute it to moral values, but I think that for the Democratic party to succeed in the future, they should distance themselves somewhat from the "help" the entertainment industry has given them.
Finally, I think the old media was finally caught for being in bed with the Democratic Party. Whether it was Rather reporting the forged documents, the "horrible" 5.4% unemployment under Bush (while is was a remarkable 5.6% when Clinton was reelected), reporting rumors as stories (the reinstatement of the draft), or continuous reporting of the bad going on in Iraq (where 90% of the country is living in relative peace, while 3 areas are getting all the attention), it was apparent that the news avenues would promote the bad and ignore the good.
