Kerry loses
Before the results started coming in last evening, I was confident of a Kerry win, and even entertained the possibility of a big win.
Instead, for whatever reason, Kerry lost.
In case you haven’t been paying attention, I’ve never really been one of those people who thought that Kerry was the best candidate the Democrats could put forward. Whatever the power of his personal convictions back in the early 70s, the John Kerry of today is a consummate Washington insider. I don’t think he’s a bad man, and he may well have made a fine President, but he followed the classic plan of the dull Democratic candidate, offering nothing to energize much of his own base (other than “I’m not Bush), and at the same time not managing to really connect with the more moderate Republicans either.
Today, when John Kerry chose to concede the race, rather than hold out until all of the votes were counted, I was disappointed because he was choosing the same path of compromise that has been the bane of the Democratic Party for the last decade or more. Maybe this time the Democrats will learn their lesson, but I’m not counting on it.
Yes, I do believe that Howard Dean would have run a better campaign. And yes, I know it’s easy to say that now that Kerry has lost, but it’s still what I believe. I just didn’t see the need to keep saying it while Kerry was the Democratic nominee.
