The groundhog saw his shadow...

It would seem that the groundhog saw his shadow when he poked up yesterday, and the world is doomed to another four years of mindless violence and pointless wars. Why? Just as leopards don't change their spots, I don't really expect GWB to change his blundering approach to foreign policy.

As I drove into work this morning, I found myself wondering why Kerry lost - it wasn't by a lot, so you can't assert that it was a "flip-flopper" message, nor do I think he "alienated" the voters by speaking too loftily.

My thought is that unlike Bush, who was eminently consistent in his message (like it or not), and was able to repeat it constantly in the face of both opposition, and supporters, the Kerry campaign seemed to flail around for a bit, and changed both direction and message a few times.

If Kerry had come out with a simple message like "You were lied to", and hammered at it constantly, he might have come out ahead in a few of the so-called swing states. I suspect that the inconsistent messages (and a less than definite plan for extricating America from Iraq) played against Kerry's overall success.

On the whole, I think Kerry did quite well, especially considering that he was far from the strongest candidate that the Democrats could have put forward.