In 2004, the opposition Democratic party nominated war hero John Kerry of Massachusetts to challenge President Bush. The campaign was sharply divisive and saw the most politically engaged electorate since the 1960s. Democrats criticized Bush for handling the war poorly and a weak economic recovery, but their campaign was hampered by fears of being labelled unpatriotic, which caused them to mute their criticism on Bush's conduct of the war. The Republicans on the other hand positioned themselves as the patriotic party and Bush as the strong leader that could be trusted to protect America from terrorist attacks. In the end, Bush was re-elected by an extremely narrow margin in the popular vote and 286 to 252 in the electoral college, much the same coalition he had had in 2000.
This is a very slanted description, Beet. No doubt I could come up with one similarly slanted -- in the other direction.
Maybe, probably something unconscious on my part. In any case, I like Rob/Bob's description better.
