Jonathan Chait at New York Mag:
The parallels between this year’s presidential election and the one we had eight years ago are striking. Incumbent president with middling approval ratings faces rich guy from Massachusetts with a reputation for flip-flopping. Hilarity ensues. By “hilarity” I mean, specifically, that people get extremely worked up about a series of procedural controversies, and then the two parties trade places on them the next time around.Yes, but. John Kerry was, in my view, a weak candidate. I don't think he exuded much strength or personality, and came off as a bit of a patrician as well. Romney has far more personality than Kerry, on "strength" the jury is still out, though Romney has done a pretty good job selling himself as an elitist. So perhaps the comparison is valid.