"Hello, my name is John Kerry."

"John who?"

"Don't You Know Who I Am?"

Let him retire to Ho Chi Mihn City so that he can visit his picture in the Victory Museum.

They've probably relegated him to a backbench somewhere and behind a column for good measure.

How did this man corral 56 million votes? He has nothing to recommend him. Was it the war, the economy, Bush hatred? I found this to be the most stunning result of the election. Can this be explained?

"I'm John Kerry, and I'm reporting for duty."

"Yes, Mr. Kerry, freshman orientation is up these stairs , down the hall to your left, in the small room makred "welcome new Democratic colleagues."

Ed: Inertia.

ed --

Bush-hatred goes a long way to explain it. Exit polls showed a that 25% of voters voted "Against an Opponent" (instead of "For his Candidate").

Assume 116.5 MM voters, 60 MM cast for Bush, 56.5 MM for Kerry. Of these, 25%, or 29.2 MM are "negative votes". Of these Kerry got 70%, or 20.4 MM; Bush got 30%, or 8.7 MM. Subtracting these from the votes cast yields Bush 51.2 MM, Kerry 36.1 MM.

Is this all meaningess math? Perhaps. But if we had a system with a viable third party, this is what a first pass result might have looked like -- before a run-off or an allocation of votes from others to the top two.

Moe -- By design or not, the Constitution is manifestly set up for two parties. It will not be any other way under this set of organizing principles.

It never ceases to amuse that Democrats thought we'd elect president a guy they don't elect to their own leadership.

"BUT I SERVED IN VIETNAM (TM)!!!!!!"

Seven --

Agreed, and would not want to change it. I was just suggesting a real life example in which Kerry's veneer of support would have been exposed.

Ed, for whatever anecdotal evidence is worth, I have at least a few fairly conservative friends who voted for Kerry out of dislike for Bush. Their argument was that Bush had screwed up the war in Iraq, though I don't remember them articulating how he had screwed it up.

ed:

President Bush is the most destabilizing force in American life since FDR, such men are always hated.

"though I don't remember them articulating how he had screwed it up."

For a lot of people, just asserting that "the war has been screwed up" is enough, no evidence or proof necessary. No example of what a "competently run war" would look like in comparison.

If you wish hard enough, and want it to be true, it's gotta be true.

Kerry to his valet : "What's the name of the Democratic leader in the Senate again. You know, that guy from one of the Dakotas who's always so concerned about things".

Valet : "Sir, I believe you mean Tom Daschle. He's no longer in the Senate".

Kerry : "Give me my hairbrush. And that other guy, the old one, the Klansman, is he still in the Senate ?"

Valet : "Yes sir, but his aides have to whisper his name in his ear so that he remembers it when there's a roll call".

Kerry : "Oh boy, a lot of things changed since I last visited the place".

Valet : "Don't forget the bottle of exclusive single malt for the senior Senator of our state, Sir. Some things never change".

Will any Democratic candidate at any level at any point in the future ask John Kerry to campaign with them? Has anyone ever in the past? He is a non-entity, nominated for President under flukish circumstances, and since "Anybody But Bush" is now obsolete, his moment is gone forever.

JK: "Hello folks, I'm here. I'm going to be fighting for our agends with all my energy and all the passion I brought to the campaign."

HR: "Thank you, Mr., ah, Kerry. Freshman orientation is down at the other end of the hall.

NP: "If you'll hold on a moment, sir, I've called security, and they'll help you find your way. Thank you."

HR: "That guy kind-a reminds me of Mighty Mouse."

Seven--

The Constitution was set up with no(zero)political parties in mind.