What happened - Part 1

I took a week off from the Chicken as I regrouped and rethought. It seems pretty clear that we didn't have the right combo this time. While Bush might not have the Mandate he claims, that was a pretty decisive victory.

This post will throw out some ideas about what went wrong and how in 2004, and the next post will be about what we can do going forward. I'm not one to cry over spilt milk so the next post will be longer than this one.

I think Atrios said that looking at an election result is like reading a Rohrschact Test, whatever your pet peeve was becomes the reason we lost. You can make a convincing case for a number of different issues costing us this election including (but not limited to) gays, abortion, guns, taxes, terror or that people don't want to change captains in midstream. Whatever your tendency you can highlight your cause as the deciding factor. This doesn't give us an answer.

We didn't lose for a single cause.

We didn't lose for lack of voter mobilization

We didn't lose for John Kerry. We won because of Bill Clinton, but he didn't fix the party's ills.

We lost because Democrats were the anti-Republicans.

We lost because our base isn't as strong as the Republican base.

We lost because 42% of Americans claim to be Evangelicals, and about 80% of them vote for Bush.

We lost because the rhetoric from the Right has convinced these 42% of Americans that the party of tax cuts for the rich, no pity for the weak, old or ill, destroyers of the environment, hubris internationally is the party of God. I may not be a man of the cloth, but I'm pretty sure that Jesus had pretty strong feelings about issues other than abortion and gays. The Republicans have done a brilliant job of obscuring those issues. But this is just one aspect.

Because in addition to being able to rely on his base, Bush was able to put on the moderate face in public and go after votes from Kerry's base. And that's because Kerry's base didn't have an identity. There was no unifying thought, theme or concept with Kerry and the Dems to compare to Bush's Principled Driven Leadership.

We used to have an identity. Roosevelt's party had an identity. The party of JFK, LBJ and RFK had an identity. But now, we're without an identity.

Look at the nominating process. 9 men, 1 woman. Nothing unifying among them. No victory of one 'Democratic' vision over another. We didn't pick someone who had an identity, because we don't have an identity.

An Idea

Rise up fallen fighters

Rise and take your stance again.
'Tis he who fight and run away
Live to fight another day.
With the heathen back upon de wall!
...
As a man sow, shall he reap
And I know that talk is cheap.
But the hotter the battle
Is the sweeter the victory.

- Bob Marley, The Heathen

Too bitter for a longer post right now, but we've got a lot of work to do and self pity and hatred aren't going to help us in the long run.

What's left to say?

It's the final hours...Sure, I'm a little nervous - you have to be.

I want to thank everyone who's visited me for the past 4 (5) months. I've really enjoyed being able to share my thoughts with you, and I think the fact that I've kept this blog going as long as I have is a testament to the fact that I knew you were reading. And that's a testament to all of us.

Compared to what I know now, I knew nothing back in 2000. And you all seem to have taken the same ride. Think about it for a minute...We've become a better informed electorate and for whatever this is, it is a hugely positive thing.

This isn't a going away note, and the Chicken will probably be supremely critical of a Kerry administration, but you all deserve a pat on the back - you've made the choice to be more engaged and I applaud you.