Whaddaya gonna do?
TONY SOPRANO, at funeral of his mother, who had tried to have him whacked, kept saying to those offering condolences, "Whaddaya gonna do?" After Tuesday, whaddaya gonna do?
Michael Moore-istan. John Kerry, like failed Democrats before him, succeeded in Northeast, Great Lakes, and Left Coast. Election night maps on TV exaggerated Bush's victory. He won lots of land but only 51 percent of people. Some mandate.
Moral values edged out economy and Iraq as No. 1 reason for vote in exit polls. But moral values was offered as choice to voters; it wasn't volunteered. "If you put moral values on a list," Andrew Kohut of Pew Center said, "it's hard for many people to say they weren't thinking of moral values when they were making their decision." Among white conservative religious voters, Bush got 96 percent of vote. You 4-percenters are in big trouble -- John Ashcroft knows who you are.
Stumbled out of gate. Kerry tied his shoes together on Oct. 11, 2002. That's when he voted to let President Bush attack Iraq. Kerry couldn't explain vote because he didn't believe in it. Campaign manager No. 1, Jim Jordan, had convinced him that opposing war would be political suicide. (But Jordan couldn't cast vote in Senate.) If Kerry had followed his true North, Howard Dean wouldn't have been threat. And Kerry could've campaigned against war months before he finally opposed it -- at NYU speech on Sept. 20, 2004, two years after he voted to go to war.
Master of concession speeches. Speechwriter Bob Shrum oversaw Kerry's boring, mediocre TV spots -- $150 million worth -- and Kerry got nothing from them. Shrum got bundle. His losing streak now 0-8 in presidential races. Need concession speech? Call Shrum.
Slogans `R' Us. Kerry campaign never had overarching theme. But loads of slogans: Real Deal. Fighting for you. Let America be America again. Bring it on. The courage to do what's right. Together, we can build a stronger America. Hope/Help is on the way. A stronger America begins at home. A safer, stronger, more secure America. A lifetime of service and strength. A new team, for a new America. Stronger at home, respected in the world. W is for wrong. America deserves better. A new direction. And inspirational favorite: We're coming, you're going, and don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Bush shorthand for Kerry was that he was elitist, French-loving, flip-flopping, big-spending liberal. Kerry's for Bush was, er, I give up.
Forget unity crap. When Republicans lose, they set out to challenge, undermine, and overthrow Democrats. Some DC Democrats will try to work with Bush. But hinterland Democrats are as united against Bush today as they were on Election Day. Stay on Bush's case. And put some money into it. As Leon in beer commercials says, "Leon can't cook without that dough, baby."
New DNC chair. LA Times nominates "slightly raffish, smooth-talking Southerner, a statesman with a strategic mind who delights in outsmarting his opponents." (Add, with Kennedy-like magnetism in African-American community). Of course he'd have to quit if his wife Hillary runs for president in 2008.
Shrinkage in coalition fig leaf. NY Times reports Hungary about to pull its 300 troops out of Iraq. Joins Spain (1,300 troops), Bulgaria (483), Honduras (370), Dominican Republic (302), Nicaragua (115), Philippines (51), and Norway (155 military engineers) in leaving. About to go: Poland (2,400), Netherlands (1,400), Thailand (450 troops), New Zealand (60 engineers), Singapore cut its force from 191 to 33. Moldova is down to 12. Moldova?
Wartime president. American military deaths now at 1,124. Wounded in action, 8,120. This out-of-control war is going to topple Bush. All-out assault on Fallujah is beginning of end.
Voted their Bibles, not pocketbooks. Most prescient book of season was Thomas Frank's "What's the Matter with Kansas?" GOP has convinced poor, blue collar, and rural white Americans to follow their church not their economic self-interest.
Five things Democrats should admit. 1. Candidates from Massachusetts should never be allowed to run for president. 2. Karl Rove, Bush's brain, outfoxed us. Got 11 anti-gay-marriage questions on state ballots, won 11 -- all but two were in Bush states. 3. Trying to woo moderates, Kerry fell into Rove's trap. Democratic base, where turnout was up, didn't match Bush's base. 4. We no longer have edge "on the ground." Federal largesse to faith-based organizations paid off when evangelicals outperformed Democratic allies on Election Day. 5. No-Bush-bashing at convention in Boston was big mistake.
It's been real. I've put Armchair away for season. Whaddaya gonna do?
Dan Payne is a Boston-based Democratic media consultant who worked in John Kerry's Senate campaigns in the past but was not affiliated with his presidential campaign. He has done campaign analysis for NPR and its Boston affiliate, WBUR, and written a column for the Globe.
