Which election was more winnable for Democrats?

[slothdem]

Easily 2004. In 1988, the US really was a center-right country. But it was realigned in the 90s. There's a reason why 2004 is the only time a GOP president has won the popular vote since then, and even then by just 2.5 points. The electorate of 2004 was just far more liberal than 1988.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Easily 2004. In 1988, the US really was a center-right country. But it was realigned in the 90s. There's a reason why 2004 is the only time a GOP president has won the popular vote since then, and even then by just 2.5 points. The electorate of 2004 was just far more liberal than 1988.

ehh the nation realigned in 2008, the nation was a very conservative country from 1980-2008(relatively of course).

Democrats had to run away from the word liberal and you a Democratic President embrace Welfare Reform, Deregulation, Tough on Crime policies, capital gains tax cuts

[MT Treasurer]

While I agree that Democrats had a higher ceiling in 1988 and that they underperformed their best-case scenario much more dramatically in that election than in 2004, I’d also say that 2004 was more winnable in the end. It’s easy to forget that Kerry only lost by 100K votes, and he probably would have won if he had put more effort into turning out the progressive base and been more outspoken about his opposition to the Iraq war (and not voted for it in the first place, obviously). He should have run a less milquetoast race and attacked Bush more aggressively from the left, e.g. by adopting some of Nader's lines of attack.

[Turbo Flame]

2004: If John Kerry would have just simply voted against the Iraq War and Osama bin Laden didn't relase the video, he wins.