couldn't say it better myself...
ARIANNA ONLINE - November 03, 2004 - Anatomy Of A Crushing Political Defeat
from the article:
Already there are those in the party convinced that, in the interest of expediency, Democrats need to put forth more "centrist" candidates — i.e. Republican-lite candidates — who can make inroads in the all-red middle of the country.
I'm sorry to pour salt on raw wounds, but isn't that what Tom Daschle did? He even ran ads showing himself hugging the president! But South Dakotans refused to embrace this lily-livered tactic. Because, ultimately, copycat candidates fail in the way "me-too" brands do.
Unless the Democratic Party wants to become a permanent minority party, there is no alternative but to return to the idealism, boldness and generosity of spirit that marked the presidencies of FDR and JFK and the short-lived presidential campaign of Bobby Kennedy.
Otherwise, the Republicans will continue their winning ways, convincing tens of millions of hard working Americans to vote for them even as they cut their services and send their children off to die in an unjust war.
Democrats have a winning message. They just have to trust it enough to deliver it. This time they clearly didn't.
i applaud ms. huffington for telling it like it is and not sugar coating it in the consolation that it was a close race. it was close, but bush clearly won - gaining both percentages and actual numbers. unless you approve of bushes ideology as superior to that of the democrats, the only conclusion one can draw is that the democrats are failing to get their message across. they failed in 2000 and moreso in 2004. i miss bill clinton vis a vis "it's the economy, stupid."
Posted by Mike at November 4, 2004 01:48 PM