Kerry sucked

It's about time someone said it. While the Democratic party is only SLOWLY beginning to discuss "what went wrong," there has yet to be a realization that there was a party-wide breakdown this past year. It wasn't just "the gays," but the anti-gun folks, the women's group, the enviros and everybody else dropped the ball. At least in those communities, the recriminations are slowly starting to begin (in the gay community, they've begun big time).

But what hasn't begun to any appreciable level is the discussion of what share of the blame Kerry has for our loss in November? Yes, some folks have discussed it in this forum, etc., but as far as national politics goes, articles in the paper, etc., there is a definite dearth of discussion about Kerry's role in our downfall. And I want to know why.

As for my part, here's what I see as the symptoms of the problem:
- Over the past year - hell, over the past 3 years since Sept 11 - progressives, liberals, Democrats, whatever, have been afraid to fight back hard. The anti-gun folks, the women's groups, the enviros, the Democratic party, and John Kerry did not play hardball with the GOP.

Anyone remember how Daschle responded to Bush's preposterous plan for a $1.6 trillion tax cut (pre-Sept 11) by counter-offering a $1.3 trillion tax cut? Ooh, how brave of him - and this when Bush was falling in popularity and the public was overwhelming opposed to additional tax cuts. That's called a lack of balls and a lack of vision as to who we really are as a party.

As for Kerry, he seems like a nice man, but he didn't fight back. He kept trying to win this election based on the facts, based on the issues. If he only got his "plan" out to the American public they'd realize he was the better man and vote for him. Sorry, it doesn't work that way. You have to present your plan, and then fight like a bastard to destroy your opponent. Bush understood this, Kerry did not.

Now let's talk about Kerry's waffling. Yes, Virginia, Kerry was a waffler. From gay issues to abortion to the war in Iraq, John Kerry had no idea who he wanted to be. And it showed. Everyone I knew was able to present a more coherent explanation of Kerry's position on Iraq than John Kerry himself. Whether the man was a waffler in life, or simply became a waffler in trying to appease the American people, he didn't sound like he had any real opinions at all about any of these topics, and that troubled me, and it CLEARLY troubled the American people.

Face it. He was a shitty candidate. My question is why it's ok to talk about everyone else who screwed up but not Kerry?