Dems: Did you really think Kerry would win?

[opebo]

Come on opedo.  Moderate?  With that voting record?  Well, only in  today's Democratic Party would he be considered a "moderate".

And that's the problem with the Democratic Party these days.  Too far left.  If only they didn't have to have the nominee go through that pesky damned general election.

My point was that the media-generated idea of what is 'moderate' has changed radically since the 1960's.  In those days Kerry would've been considered a moderate, not very liberal - I'd say comparable to the Rockefeller Republicans.  Since that time the national discourse has been skewed, partly by the rise of the cults, and partly by media bias.

The Democratic party hasn't moved left since the 1960's.. in fact it has moved a good deal to the Right.  But the general perception of the political spectrum has moved very far to the Right in the US.  Of course historically and intellectually speaking, both Kerry and Bush are very right wing.

[Shira]

Big mistakes by Kerry:

Not responding immediately to the attacks about his Vietnam service.
Declaring that he would have gone to war even if he had known that Sadam does not have WMD.
All his criticism over the war was about poor performance and not about the main issue – the deceit.
He probably could have done more to prevent (or at least to delay) the decision of the Massachusetts supreme court about gays marriages.
 

[agcatter]

Responding to the swiftboat vets would have been easy as pie.  Just sign the forms releasing his military records.  Nope, he didn't want to do that.  Such a phony.

[CARLHAYDEN]

Now let me see, was Kerry in Cambodia on Christmas of 1968 with the CIA man who gave him a 'lucky hat,' as he previously claimed?

[skybridge]

Disappointed as I am in Kerry, the possibility was definitely there. He came out of no where, had at least the potential to compete with Republican spending and was generally considered the winner of all three debates. However, when it comes down to it, "anybody but Bush" apparently just wasn't enough.

[opebo]

I honestly don't think Kerry tried to win.. it really looked as though he were throwing the election.

[minionofmidas]

Depends on when.

[Democratic Hawk]

I supported Kerry against Bush and would do so again. In fact, I would have endorsed a monkey had it run against Bush. He shouldn't have even made it through the primaries unopposed he's that incompetent

I predicted narrow Kerry win 291 to 247 - but deep down I had a gut instinct the incumbent would pull it off!

Dave

[TheCommentator]

There's a certain type of gaffe a candidate makes that reveals when they really, really want to win. For example-

Ford 1976: Eastern Europe is not under Soviet domination.
Carter 1980: If Reagan wins it will turn groups against one another such as Jew against Gentile.
Mondale 1984: Reagan will raise taxes but he won't tell you... I just did.
Dukakis 1988: completely stumped on the death penalty question.
Gore 2000: not a gaffe, but going sleepless the last 48 hours of the campaign and staying up to the wee hours of the morning, (then endorsing Dean in 2003...)

All these losing candidates (or tying in the case of Gore), wanted to win badly. These three I'm not so sure

George HW Bush, Bob Dole, John Kerry

I think these candidates may have simply gave up at one point and played the 'role' of candidate from then on out. Just actors play roles in plays... we do what is expected of us.

[European]

I thought that he could have won the election, infact i had a bet on that he would and lost €20. I thought that he would get ohio and florida. karl rove earned his salery.

[© tweed]

I never really thought he was going to win.

[Max Power]

Nope, due to conventional wisdom.

[Virginian87]

I thought he would win Florida and Ohio, yes.  Florida shocked me, it wasn't even close.

I felt the same way.  I did expect Kerry to make it competitive in Virginia with the addition of Edwards to the ticket but they cut funding the campaign in the state sometime in August 2004.  Likewise in West Virginia.  I was surprised when Kerry lost Ohio and failed to come close in Florida, though.  So yes, I did think he would win.

[Reaganfan]

Something many forget about things here in Ohio...the big cities make the state a swing state...75% of Ohio is country...trust me, I've driven through it. I never had a doubt that Bush would win Ohio, and I never doubted Florida. However, Bush's 5 point Florida win was a bit more than I expected.

Pennsylvania was a letdown. I always thought Kerry would win it...but, really...it sucks.

[Alcon]

Something many forget about things here in Ohio...the big cities make the state a swing state...75% of Ohio is country...trust me, I've driven through it. I never had a doubt that Bush would win Ohio, and I never doubted Florida. However, Bush's 5 point Florida win was a bit more than I expected.

Pennsylvania was a letdown. I always thought Kerry would win it...but, really...it sucks.

You never had any doubt, even when he was up in the polls?

I wish I had your stalwartness.

[Reaganfan]

Something many forget about things here in Ohio...the big cities make the state a swing state...75% of Ohio is country...trust me, I've driven through it. I never had a doubt that Bush would win Ohio, and I never doubted Florida. However, Bush's 5 point Florida win was a bit more than I expected.

Pennsylvania was a letdown. I always thought Kerry would win it...but, really...it sucks.

You never had any doubt, even when he was up in the polls?

Nope. Im dead serious. I always knew he would win Ohio and Florida.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Something many forget about things here in Ohio...the big cities make the state a swing state...75% of Ohio is country...trust me, I've driven through it. I never had a doubt that Bush would win Ohio, and I never doubted Florida. However, Bush's 5 point Florida win was a bit more than I expected.

Pennsylvania was a letdown. I always thought Kerry would win it...but, really...it sucks.

You never had any doubt, even when he was up in the polls?

Nope. Im dead serious. I always knew he would win Ohio and Florida.

I guess you have pretty high confidence in those Republican secretary of States.

[J. J.]

I was the guy who was consistently saying, "Kerry should pull out of Florida (and put money into WV and OH)."  We might have had a different result (in OH at least) had my advise been taken.

[Gustaf]

Naso, you thought Bush would win 40+ states, something you were always bringing up as a possibility. DOn't try and sound like you were a good predictor.

I figured Bush was gonna win, I actually over-estimated his win by quite a margin. On election night though, I got my hopes up, seeing the high turn-out. But it died quickly.

[Reaganfan]

Naso, you thought Bush would win 40+ states, something you were always bringing up as a possibility. DOn't try and sound like you were a good predictor.

He probably would have...until that disasterous first debate. Bush gained a large amount of poll momentum after the convention...and held it for most of September. He won 31 states....add in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire....36 states. So...not all that farfetched...considering what a phony dork Kerry was considered until October.

[Gustaf]

To get 10 states Kerry would need MA, RI, VT, NY, MD, IL, CT, CA, HI, ME. Then Delaware to reach 11. In a country this polarized, that's a ridiculous idea. You seriously think Bush would have reached 60% of the popular vote (the required swing), performing the best result since LBJ, beating Reagan? You think Bush is more popular than Reagan was?

[Frodo]

Yes, I did -up until he lost Florida and Ohio.  It was particularly heartbreaking to see that Bush won by a larger margin than he did in 2000, especially considering that we gave it our all, and this was the best that we could do in terms of voter turnout. 

[Platypus]

Yes, mainly because his opponent was Bush. I misunderestimated the stupidity of the American populace, perhaps. Then again, only 60% voted, so that's a bit unfair.

[dazzleman]

Yes, mainly because his opponent was Bush. I misunderestimated the stupidity of the American populace, perhaps. Then again, only 60% voted, so that's a bit unfair.

Not a very nice comment, hugh.  Very elitist.

[Alcon]

Yes, mainly because his opponent was Bush. I misunderestimated the stupidity of the American populace, perhaps. Then again, only 60% voted, so that's a bit unfair.

If I used that stupid eye-rolling icon, this would be the place.