ELECTIONS: Whom to blame for the Democrats' loss?

Miami Herald ^ | November 20, 2004 | BRUCE FEIRSTEIN

[tvn]

``In the aftermath, the Democrats will form their ritual circular firing squad of recriminations.''

-- Former Clinton advisor Sidney Blumenthal, writing in The Guardian on Nov. 4.

Bruce Springsteen blames Jon Bon Jovi. Bon Jovi blames James Taylor. Taylor blames Pearl Jam. Pearl Jam blames the Dixie Chicks. The Dixie Chicks blame Dave Matthews. Matthews blames Michael Stipe, who blames Bono.

Bono blames George Soros. Soros blames MoveOn.Org. MoveOn.org blames Michael Moore. Moore blames Don Imus. Imus blames Howard Stern. Stern blames Al Franken. Franken blames Jon Stewart, who blames Paul Krugman.

Krugman blames Katrina vanden Heuvel. Vanden Heuvel blames Maureen Dowd. Dowd blames Graydon Carter. Carter blames David Remnick. Remnick blames Bill Keller. Keller blames Dan Rather, who blames the bloggers.

The bloggers blame Joe Trippi. Trippi blames Howard Dean. Dean blames John Kerry. Kerry blames Terry McAuliffe. McAuliffe blames John Edwards. Edwards blames Zell Miller, who blames James Carville.

Carville blames Stephanie Cutter. Cutter blames Joe Lockhart. Lockhart blames John Sasso. Sasso blames Bob Shrum. Shrum blames Mark Mellman. Mellman blames Mike McCurry. McCurry blames Tad Devine. Devine blames Mary Beth Cahill. Cahill blames Gavin Newsom, who blames Cher.

Cher blames Ashton Kutcher. Kutcher blames Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio blames Sharon Stone. Stone blames Tim Robbins. Robbins blames Barbra Streisand. Streisand blames Whoopi Goldberg, who blames Ben Affleck.

Affleck blames P. Diddy. P. Diddy blames Affleck. They both agree: It's all J. Lo's fault.

Bruce Feirstein is a columnist for the New York Observer and screenwriter of three James Bond movies.

[tvn]

Additions anyone?

[sheik yerbouty]

The 'rats are suffering from their self induced electile dysfunction.

[timestax]

soregirliemanloser

[dalereed]

They left out the biggest reason, Kerry himself!

[MNJohnnie]

Note to Dims.

It is YOUR IDEOLOGY that is to blame. Your fiscally socialists, socially libertine, rabidly Anti-American, internationally appeasement minded politically extremist IDEOLOGY.

Dims, You will be the minority for a generation. Get use to it.

[26lemoncharlie]

They are !!

[FreedomCalls]

Whom to blame for the Democrats' loss?

Um, the Democrats prehaps?

[leprechaun9]

The Democraps - any two make a pair!

[Paleo Conservative]

I think the voters had something to do with it.

[Bush gal in LA]

Its all Bush's fault!

[WuzaDem]

I have heards Democrat after Democrat sign the same refain when asked why Kerry lost:

"He didn't run a good campaign"

Clue: If he can't run a campaign, how is he going to run a COUNTRY???

[tuvals]

It is plain and simple. They should "Blame It On The Bosa Nova". (LOL)

[petercooper]

It's the message stupid! And would you really trust any of these people for advice?

James Carville

Lanny Davis

John Podesta

Terry McCauliffe

Joe Lockhart

Chris Lehane

Tad Devine

Donna Brazille

Paul Begala

Bob Shrum

Susan Estrich

Mark Fabiani

Jamie Rubin

Mark Mellman

[xp38]

Beat me by a minute or so but that is the obvious answer. W was the better candidate period and that is all she wrote.

[smonk]

---Whom to blame for the Democrats' loss?---

--Um, the Democrats perhaps?--

but, in practice, they are blaming everything and everyone except themselves.

[Pharmboy]

Is it only me or do democrats seem like they never really ENJOY anything?

So THAT'S why my mother in law is a demonrat. Fits.

[Joseph22]

Krugman blames Katrina vanden Heuvel.

I wish could have seen the look on her face when Bush won.

She always looks like she is sniffing poop.

[alloysteel]

Whom to blame for the Democrats' loss?

Mostly, Democrats. They had a crappy message, an uninspiring candidate, and they were fighting the campaign in the wrong places. John Kerry was a sacrificial lamb, and he played the part to the hilt.

Their lone shot at delivering a more resonant message, running to the right of George W. Bush on both the economy and the War on Terrorism, was given up when they could not provide a plausible alternative. But considering their base, they did not have that option. Kerry was destroyed when he chose to recount his adventures in the period between 1968 and 1970, and reminded so many people of how distressing that time in history was.

Could Kerry have campaigned more forcefully in Florida and Ohio? He was running all out there, and could not maintain his place. There was an outside possibility that through a combination of several more of the "small" states, those with relatively few electoral votes, could have been combined into enough total votes to overcome the advantage that Ohio and Florida represented, but the start there was late and lacked focus.

The outcome of this most recent Presidential race was not foreordained or inevitable, but in the end, it was convincing. The vote total for George W. Bush in 2004 would have been all but unimaginable as recently as 1992.

[KoRn]

Just blame me, I voted for Bush.