Personally, I don't blame Kerry

[dolstein]

I didn't vote for Kerry in the primaries. I voted for Edwards, for the simple reason that I thought Edwards had the potential to take more red states away from Bush than Kerry did.

But like Gore, I think Kerry did about as well as he could possibly do under the circumstances. He made the wise decision to opt out of federal matching funds at a time when his victory in the primaries was far from assured. This was a critically important decision in my opinion. And the fact is, even though I thought Edwards had greater potential as a general election candidate than Kerry, he simply wouldn't have had the money needed to compete with Bush during the summer months.

While I'm disappointed that Kerry didn't do better in the popular vote, the fact is, the Democrats have tended to max out at around 48-49% in presidential elections. Even Clinton in 1996 only managed to get around 49% of the popular vote.

And the fact that Kerry was nearly able to pull off a win in the electoral college despite Bush's 3+ million vote margin in the popular vote is testament to the skillful ground game they waged. They were fighting against a popular tide and still managed to nearly pull this one out.

In short, I think Kerry did about as well as he possibly could. The fact is, he couldn't change who he was. He had a lot of baggage that hurt him -- war protestor, Catholic at odds with his church, northeastern liberal, Ivy Leage grad, etc -- and despite that baggage he nearly prevailed. I really don't think he could have done much more than he did.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

1. Thanks dolstein

Hard to view Kerry as less than the ideal candidate in any circumstance, but I doubt Edwards would have done better given the "terra terra" monotony.
Sadly, Kerry was too good for most Americans to even see.
The swift boat smear was the nadir. Worst thing I have ever seen.

[The Great Escape]

8. The Terra' Thing Can Only Bite Them In The Ass Now...

if we are attacked again, then I thought only "they" could keep us safe. If we are not attacked then it should fade as an issue by 2008. Any other scenarios I could come up with probably invole LIHOP and MIHOP and I don't have that kind of energy today.

[cynatnite]

2. I don't blame Kerry at all

I blame the religious right, the repukes and everyone that supports this fascist regime.

We will reap what they have sewn in more ways than I want to contemplate.

[quinnox]

3. Agree

Kerry gave it his best shot, and against significant odds, came within a hair of beating an incumbent president in "wartime".

I don't think any of the other candidates could have done better that ran.

Clark is mentioned some here, but he was too "green" I think. Maybe next time.

[Dob Bole]

4. This was the best challenger campaign EVER....

Kerry got extremely close, despite:

-wartime
-being from Massachusetts
-being called liberal,liberal,liberal,liberal, most liberal, and liberal
-not being the incumbent
-Kerry who?

This election will serve as a model for future challengers of the incumbent.

[Maddy McCall]

5. I don't blame him either, but I am not for the "unity" he spoke of.

[JI7]

10. i think it was more of something he just had to do

i personally didn't take it seriously in that i would go out and have any hope for bush to do good and unite with them.

if i ever meet kerry i would tell him how much i loved him and supported him and am upset he isn't president. i would also tell him to continue fighting hard on issues like the environment, women's rights, jobs, etc that he has always been doing and why i supported him in the first place. i would also tell him how much i hate bush and there is no way i can unite with those other people. and i really do think he will understand. i don't think he will try to tell me to do otherwise. i think he would smile and say he understands.

[JI7]

6. wow, great post, really puts it into perspective

[robbedvoter]

7. Like Gore????!!!!Gore fought tooth and nail and hever had the support

Kerry did. kerry folded like a cheap chair after 12 hours BEFORE ALL STATES WERE CALLED.

[dolstein]

12. Your opinion and the truth are very different things

The truth is that Kerry conceded after it was obvious to any rational person that there was absolutely no way in hell that he could overcome a 140,000 vote deficit in Ohio. Just because you don't like that truth doesn't give you the right to deny it.

Kerry's situation and Gore's situation were very different. Gore won the popular vote and he was down by only a few hundred votes in Florida.

[flygal]

9. It was a good fight!

[telex54]

11. We don't need to blame anyone.

We need to fix what's broke and start to get it done for '06 and '08.

[Kahuna]

13. 100% ditto. I couldn't have said it better myself.

:loveya: