klusener
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i know, but right now his total looks pathetic...

kat said:Highest popular vote...ever. Incredible.
Quick question: what was the population of the US in 1984? # of registered voters?graphic7 said:Considering Kerry was 3 million votes shy he's also right behind Bush, shattering the Reagan popular vote count of '84, too.
Gokul43201 said:The Iowa Markets couldn't have been more wrong !
I think you hit the nail on the head.selfAdjoint said:I think the deciding factor was gay marriage and the effort to remove "under God" from the pledge of allegiance. This scared the group of ordinary citizens who believe in cultural stability above all things to get out and vote. Kerry was beaten because every voter he added due to hatred of Bush was matched and more by a pro-Bush voter added by social concerns.
So many of the things that concerned us chatterers just went by the regular folks, not because they're dumb but because political debate bores them to death. They have better things to think about, like the World Series, and Fall fashions, and layoffs at work (not connected to politics in thei minds).
Deaths in Iraq? Too bad, "Gotta stay the course".
Bush's IQ? "He's a straight shooter".
Bush's Air National Guard record? "He turned his life around".
On the other hand, Kerry could never shake the anti-war, and anti-service man role he was identified with back in the 70s. The Republicans ensured that those memories stayed fresh (as they were quite entitled to do). The Democratic elite, nearly all old war protesters themselves, didn't realize that still today, that stuff plays real sour in the midlands.
And so on.
I agree with your analysis, but want to highlight this. As I have said, I consider that Kerry's biggest miscalculation. It was a mistake to make it the centerpiece of the convention, and a mistake to not distance himself from...well...himself once the SBV thing came out. And he also missed the point of the SBV thing: no one cared about his purple hearts - that was just an excuse to keep Vietnam on the front-burner.selfAdjoint said:On the other hand, Kerry could never shake the anti-war, and anti-service man role he was identified with back in the 70s... The Democratic elite, nearly all old war protesters themselves, didn't realize that still today, that stuff plays real sour in the midlands.
russ_watters said:It was a mistake to make it [his Vietnam service] the centerpiece of the convention, and a mistake to not distance himself from...well...himself once the SBV thing came out. And he also missed the point of the SBV thing: no one cared about his purple hearts - that was just an excuse to keep Vietnam on the front-burner.