When Democrats lose an election, in their minds it has to be because something is terribly, terribly wrong. They can't accept anything else. Some excuses you can expect to see:

"Bush spent more money than Kerry."

(Money buys elections – why do you think GWB has been so assiduous in collecting his tithe from the tax break?)

An old reliable. We're hearing this one already
.
"The voters are idiots who don't know what's good for them."

(What did you say when Clinton got elected, TWICE, which is once more than two Bushes put together.)

"The mysterious computerized voting machines stole the election! Nobody really knows how they work, right? Probably Microsoft has something to do with it. I know software is involved. Or prions, maybe. Just concentrate on the word 'mysterious.'"

(Nope, that's a real threat. Given we have a President who was only appointed by Scalia stopping counting ballots, it is safe to assume they will steal an election any way they can. And no paper trail is their dream, and maybe their best chance. After all, 500,000 more people voted for Gore than Bush.)

A LOT of groundwork is being laid for this one, even now. Get ready for a major push on this. It's one reason the Democrats pushed these things on us in the first place.

"NADER! NADER! NADER!"

(I think a vote for Nader was considered to be a protest, that Gore had it won. This time around I think Nader will be surprised. Now, what would you think if it could be proven that official Republican committees paid for Nader ads in the last election?)

"Our voters couldn't vote!"

Fact. Florida. Face it.

"The damn economy didn't go in the crapper, like we'd been praying for all year."

The economy is in the crapper. It's a bit like a guy who has jumped off a 20 story building. He's passing the 10th floor, saying, “Hey, I'm just fine!” The dollar is sinking, the stock market is propped up by foreign investments, the balance of payments is scary, and the debt is unmanageable. Clinton had to come in and rescue the country from 12 years of Republicans, and the same will have to happen after only 4 years of Bush, Jr.

Screw the unemployed, we have an election to win.

(Right out of the conservative handbook.)

"That damn Bush caught bin Laden!"

(It's taken him so long it won't matter. And, according some, he's caught and just waiting for another stage-managed entrance. Those guys can't play anything straight.)

Screw national security, we have an election to win.

(Again, right out of the conservative handbook. After all the billions and billions spent on a country which wasn't a terrorist threat, we're even less safe than before. Not a great leader, would you say?)

There will be many other excuses, maybe even more creative than these. The one reason that will never, ever, be given is that the voters just wanted Bush to be President more than Kerry.

(Heh, heh. Bush's support is soft, and there are a lot of Republicans who don't like the way the country is going. The hardcore conservatives like him, of course, but the middle is weakening. In my opinion. And the reality is that even with a strong, motivated Republican party in 2000, and a weaker, less motivated Democratic party Bush lost the popular vote, and would have lost the election if the votes had been counted in Florida.)

And this time the Ds are energized, and the Rs are lackluster. Except for money. The tithe. He's getting that.

Arf (PS. I volunteered for the local Kerry committee. Have been involved in politics before, but in a different life on a different level. This one is serious enough that I'd hate myself if GWB won narrowly and I hadn't done what I could. And if I'm doing it, a lot of folks are.)