To put into perspective, what was your emotional state when Kerry lost?

[msallied]

On election night, I was angry. So, so angry. I cried, in fact. Not specifically because Kerry lost (because I admit that I was not a big-time Kerry fan, but did happily cast my vote for him) but because I couldn't believe America could be so stupid as to vote for a second Bush term when his own father couldn't get re-elected after a comparatively more benign presidency. I went through a grieving process like most people. I was in denial, I was angry, I bargained, I accepted. I did hold out hope that Ohio wouldn't be certified, that some giant anomaly would be discovered or that something would happen when the EC cast their votes, but I knew deep down it was over and I had no choice but to accept defeat and move on, knowing that there would be more elections, that we would somehow get through.

My final question is, when will Hillary supporters get to that point? When will they realize that their ardent passion is not only damaging to our party, but it's also just counter-productive? It's okay to be sad, angry, and disappointed. But you suck it up and get OVER it, by god! What is the matter with these people? Honestly??

[casus belli]

1. I suspect some of them didn't share our disappointment with the 2004 results. n/t

[msallied]

3. Great point.

I keep forgetting to remember that a lot of these people were never really Democrats, at least of the liberal variety.

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Eric Condon]

6. Their candidate sure as hell didn't. nt

[XemaSab]

10. Word

n/t

[crankychatter]

2. My eyes were on Ohio, Voter purging and caging.... Diebold etc

these issues are still unaddressed at the Congressional level... and WILL HAUNT US in November

[VolcanoJen]

4. I was in Ohio.

And honestly, it took me about three months before I felt normal again. That election absolutely wreaked havoc upon my soul. I actually felt guilty, like, the election was stolen in my own back yard and I was helpless to stop it.

:-(

[msallied]

5. My eyes were also on Ohio. I was sad about my home state.

If so many of them hadn't voted against their own interests (i.e. for Bush), election fraud would have been much more difficult to achieve, I think. But at some point, you have no choice but to bandage your wounds and move on.

[helderheid]

78. Me too. I had hope, but I knew they'd steal it. I sobbed when they did.

[StevieM]

7. I voted for Kerry...what more could I have done? (eom)

[babylonsister]

8. I was devastated. I still don't believe he did. nt

[Punkingal]

9. Absolute frustration....

I knew he won and it was stolen in Ohio. I turned off the television news about 2am (pacific) and I didn't watch it again for over 2 months.

We were supposed to believe the exit polls were wrong, AGAIN? We were supposed to believe that massive turnout on Ohio was to re-select Bush? It was disgusting, and devastating to see another stolen election just happen with no one questioning it.

I was a Kerry fan, and I still am. He would have been a good President.

But Obama will be a great one.

[Raine]

11. Sad & hopeless

I remember as the early returns came in (I'm in CA) I could see how it was going to go. I turned off the TV and went into my room and went to bed. I couldn't stand to sit and watch it happen so I escaped into sleep. :cry:

[bhikkhu]

12. About the same as when Gore lost,

but really worse, because I knew better what the next four years would be. Anger, despair, bitter anger, disillusionment...there may be a limit to how many times a person can go through that, but I have high hopes that it will never be reached. It never seems in advance that it is possible to suck it up and get over it, but things go on. After 2004 I could hardly imagine another Democratic controlled congress, or serious run for the presidency. Things change, and patience and conviction and holding to one's sanity does pay off.

[cliffordu]

13. I seriously eyed leaving the country.

I'm proud to be an American this evening. I want to weep with joy in November.

[VolcanoJen]

20. Me too, me too!!!!

I wept with joy the night of the Iowa Caucus. I wept again when he lost New Hampshire and delivered the best goddamned speech I've ever heard. I wept with joy again after Obama's "race" speech. I wept with joy one more time when Bill Richardson joined the fold.

I'll weep again when Obama delivers an historic nomination speech on the 45th Anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech.

And I really do believe I'll weep with joy one more time on Election Night in November.

[Why Syzygy]

14. I was not surprised. I was glad we at least got some House seats for a change.

[truedelphi]

15. Instead of being so stubbornly attached to the tremendous "wrongs" that

They think are happening to Hillary, why don't they reflect on how wrong it was for Rendell to tell delegates in his state that they better vote for Hillary or else not expect the state government to hand out any monies to their district. To me, that sounded like extortion, and anyone serving in the Pennsylvania legilslature who was so threatened should try and see if RICO applies.

[nebula]

16. Wasn't surprised in the least

the Kerry campaign just sucked ass, which is why it became close enough for Repukes to steal.

[LooseWilly]

17. ironically

So has HRC's campaign.
I like Kerry.
I liked HRC.

If she ran such a shitty campaign that a near unknown like Obama was able to whip her ass... does anyone really suppose she could actually win the GE?
Or, is everyone just taking the electoral college maps put together by Karl Rove at face value to think that she could indeed do so?

[VolcanoJen]

21. Why everyone buys "the map" as-is, cheap-by-the-nickel Rovian-style...

... baffles me to this day.

[MercutioATC]

37. Agreed. Kerry was another example of us snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Horrible campaign (even in the primary). Uninspiring, dry...and even I thought he seemed "elitist".

[blm]

57. No one who KNEW THE TRUTH believed the spin against him or the media's portrayal.

CONCERNED CITIZENS who bothered to KNOW their nation's actual record of governance the last 4 decades knew that Kerry would have the entire DC powerstructure lined up against him and the corporate media would be tapped to distort Kerry and his true record.

Those who only recently became involved in politics chose to side with the lies of the media as long as they were being told against Kerry - of course, they only recognize media distortion when they saw it used against THEIR OWN HEROS.

Some of YOU are to blame for not having the focking DECENCY to stand for the truth because of your own GAWDDAM IGNORANCE about your own country and its FEW truly courageous lawmakers.

[MercutioATC]

62. I didn't believe the lies...I just thought he was an incredibly weak candidate.

...and I still voted for him.

[blm]

65. He wasn't. Incredibly weak candidates fold after the first media attack on them and can't recover.

Incredibly weak candidates don't have to have elections stolen from their voters.

Incredibly weak candidates don't decisively win every debate.

Incredibly weak candidates don't bring in more votes than any candidate in history.

The REALLY incredibly weak candidate had the incredibly strong RNC steal that election from an incredibly weak DNC that had its party infrastructure collapsed for years earlier in crucial states all over the country.


The REALLY incredibly weak candidate had the incredibly strong RW message machine dominating the media as the incredibly weak left media had little influence on the daily media battle.

The strong candidate and honest Dem voters were focked over by the DNC who refused to do its job for us in the four years after 2000s theft.

The strong candidate had to be distorted 24/7 by a corporate media who has been proven to be in the tank to protect a Bush second term, as Dan Rather has admitted corpmedia expected favorable rulings on ownership expansion from a Bush second term - something they KNEW would not happen from a President Kerry's FCC as he had been dead set against that expansion in the senate.

Being distorted by a complicit media doesn't make you weak. If every news network refused to report Obama's speech where he addressed the Wright issue but continued to give months to replaying the tapes of Wright, would that make him an incredibly weak candidate, or would you see that the media was afraid of a very strong candidate and needed to distort him to protect BushInc?

Do you really think that Dean, Edwards, Obama or any Dem nominee would have escaped distortion from a media targeting ANY opponent of Bush's in 2004?

Do you really think that the DNC would suddenly have become a force to counter the RNC's vote suppression and vote stealing tactics in states like Ohio if only Dean, Edwards or Obama headed the ticket in 2004?

[MercutioATC]

68. I believe we had this discussion four years ago. Kerry was a horrible choice.

He was wooden, aloof, and insincere...or at least that's the way a lot of voters perceived him.

That said, I held my nose and voted for him in the GE.

[blm]

87. Because the media LIED about him. Dean was seen as 'crazy' - do you repeat that media lie, too?

Would Obama be 'seen' as an elitist if he ran in 2004?

You really give credit to the whore media, don't you?

[blm]

38. BULLSHIT - McAuliffe's DNC set up the loss by collapsing Dem party in crucial states like Ohio

just as the DNC in the late 90s collapsed the Dem party infrastructure in states like Florida.

Clintons were working to keep 2008 free for a Hillary run and that meant making sure Bush had all the room he needed to steal it and keep it.

You think Bill went on his summer2004 book tour for 3 weeks repeatedly defending Bush's decisions on terrorism and Iraq war because and never once supporting Kerry's strategies because he wanted Democrats to win?

Some of you sure love to REVISE what actually happened in 2004 and let TeamClinton's sabotage of Kerry and Ohio Dem voters completely out of the equation.

[Independent-Voter]

106. Indeed. Kerry was a horrible, horrible candidate. That he couldn't beat a retarded chimp speaks

volumes. He'd be fine as an AG, but god damn he was a shitty candidate.

[sandnsea]

18. Some people still aren't over 2004

Letting go of it means letting go of it 100%. No, there is no evidence Howard Dean would have done any better than John Kerry. No, John Edwards wouldn't have been able to fight in Ohio because there was no evidence to fight with. Etc. Etc.

No, Hillary has no better chance of winning than Obama. Her supporters need to let it go, 100%. Only then will thy be able to unite behind Obama in a way that will really help him win. If they can't, I'd just as soon they worked on local elections and just kept their mouth shut. I think half-hearted support is worse than none at all.

[kevinmc]

19. This Mag cover told the story for me .....

[RoyGBiv]

22. Like this ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=2590286&mesg_id=2590286

[SeattleGirl]

23. I was angry that the pukes had once again stolen an election.

Was home, watching the election returns, and I knew to keep my eye on Ohio. Had the TV on one of the local stations, and the two newsies said, "Oh, Ohio goes to Bush." I started yelling that the R's had stolen it, that people should not take the results at face value, and that there was something seriously wrong.

I'm still angry at how the R's got away with it.

[cboy4]

24. Boy, your post started out so promising but ends in a threat

A big :thumbsdown:

[Gore1FL]

25. What was the threat?

The advice to suck it up?

I had to do that when Edwards left.

[cboy4]

28. Telling people to suck it up is not a good way to start down

the path of unity.

[Gore1FL]

29. As I said, I had to suck it up when my candidate left the race

less than a week before I got to vote.

17 electors were handed to Clinton on Saturday that, by party rules were not supposed to be. She netted as many Saturday as she did from OH, PA, and IN combined. If 1/10 the level of celebration was exhibited today that was exhibited about any of those contests there would have been dancing in the streets.

To have the expectation that the RBC was going to hand the nomination over (which would have taken more delegates total than the mandatory 50% reduction of the entire delegate slate of each state) is a little ambitious. To not accept anything less is a little scary, frankly.

DO you think giving Clinton 100% of MI and FL (with the mandatory 50% reduction of the delegate total) and none for Obama a rational outcome for this?

[cboy4]

31. Well I personally voted for Edwards in the California Primary

after he had dropped out of the race.

And I would not have appreciated anyone telling me to suck it up.

Whatever happened at the meeting is fine with me .. I'm looking ahead to Tuesday when there won't be any debate about whether the votes will be counted.

The situations in Florida and Michigan were a disgrace.

[Gore1FL]

26. I played Grand Theft auto fora couple of days straight

A little imaginary carnage did wonders.

[BklynChick]

30. outraged

[undeterred]

32. Shock, then two days of crying,

then three and a half years of activism. I will never get over the last 2 presidential elections being stolen from us, and the fact that nobody fought it hard enough at the time.

[LiberaI]

33. Delighted

A lot of the people around me were angry. Some were bitter, disillusioned, depressed, or any other myriad of negative emotions. I wanted Kerry to win. I even gave the man money.

But I realized even if Bush won, that the Republican party would be destroyed by another 4 years of his rule. And I was right, they have been. As many have said, a refrigerator could beat McCain this year.

[NC_Nurse]

48. I was upset, but I do remember consoling myself with that fact. I knew

4 more years of Bush would be a disaster, and that the blame would have to go to the Repubs
since they had been in power for so long. If Kerry had won, and all the shit had hit the fan with the economy
and the war, etc. The Repubs would have tried and maybe succeeded at blaming the Dems.

[Benhurst]

34. I was one of the dummies who responded to the last minute call for

money so that Kerry could wage a big fight if the election was stolen.

I guess I felt angry that yet another election had been stolen, and disheartened that I had fallen for a scam.

[quaker bill]

35. Angry

because I knew it would happen. I argued here in January 2004 that Kerry would lose by 3 percent and that he was the candidate best qualified to lose to GWB. I voted for Kerry, me and my entire family worked for his campaign. I sent the cash I could. He still lost just as I understood he would.

Barack Obama will win.

[Exilednight]

36. I braced myself the day he was nominated. I never got that excited about him because I knew .......

he wasn't going to win. Kerry was dealt from the middle of the Democratic Party Deck. Instead of getting an Ace, we were dealt 9 of hearts, and the rethugs were playing the same old joker.

[blm]

39. Horseshit - the RNC had to STEAL that election for Bush and McAuliffe's DNC let them do it.

Kerry is the best lawmaker of the last 35 years, and uncovered more government corruption than any lawmaker in modern history. People who claim otherwise are clearly unread when it comes to the most serious issues of our nation's governance over the last few decades.

I do NOT forgive ignorance - ignorance of these matters helped allow Bush2 and 9-11.

[Exilednight]

42. Bullshit argument ........

I don't forgive ignorance either.

Kerry was not a person to inspire the masses to want change. He should have had a landslide victory, instead he conceded Ohio at lightspeed when compared to Gore conceding Florida.

Whether you like it or not, the most effective - not always the best - are those that communicate effectively with the people. Raygun's policy was horrible, but he was effective at pushing the neoconservative agenda.

People who claim otherwise are clearly unread when it comes to the ability and effectiveness of the President.

[blm]

54. GORE CONCEDED ELECTION NIGHT w/ a smaller vote difference than Kerry had when he conceded next day

and it is amazing that so many of you put up BULLSHIT completely avoiding the FACT that Gore UNCONCEDED only when the MATH CHANGED for him.

Gore conceded election night when he thought he was 50,000 or so short in Florida. Kerry waited till the NEXT DAY to concede when there was a 137,000 vote difference that the provisional ballots could NOT change (after Carville tipped off WH to the provisional ballot challenge JK planned to make when he thought there were 250,000 votes there).

You all never rely on FOCKING FACTS to make your arguments.

Gore wouldn't have unconceded if the math didn't allow to. Kerry wouldn't have conceded if the math had been there for him. To compare the two is ABSURD. And if you compared point by point, Gore conceded faster with less evidence to do so and with a tighter math difference.

[fedupinBushcountry]

79. What BS

Maybe if others like you really gave a shit about the candidate things might have been different. Maybe if we as citizens went to the streets , things would be different. But after reading your comment I see that you sat on your ass because it was more about your ego then country. That is sad and IMO one of the reasons that we are still stuck in this mess.

[politicasista]

95. Thank you

Looks like some (not all) of Obama's supporters bought into the media spin about one of his best surrogates. I doubt Obama himself would appreciate some of his "supporters" believing media lies about his friend and fellow Democrat.

[Exilednight]

109. He's not a guy who wanted to make me get and go to the streets and fight for him. I didn't buy ....

into the media spin about Kerry.

Kerry wasn't the guy I would fight for, he wasn't my first choice for the Democratic nominee. In fact, he wasn't even my second. I knew he would lose the election, and I was right.

Don't me get me wrong, Kerry is an admirable guy, but he doesn't strike a cord with common Americans. It seems I was right, he lost the election.

Just for the record: When you're in the military, like I was in 2004, you're not allowed to go to the streets for a candidate.

[fedupinBushcountry]

110. In your opinion, not mine

I am a common American and could give a shit about politicians , it was John Kerry who got me involved again. I didn't listen to media spin and thank God I didn't or I would be spewing BS like you. Oh and by the way I am a retired military wife and met many military people in '04 and as long as you don't wear your uniform you can participate and speak as many did at Kerry Meet-ups.

If yu paid any attention and turned off your TV you might have found out what a great candidate we had in '04, I feel sorry for those who refuse to find out for themselves and listen to the MSM for their info, which I know you did just by your BS.

PS: By the way I found out about John Kerry in spring of '03 right here on DU was researching all the candidates by going to their websites then I searched C-Span and made sure I watched all the candidates at their townhalls etc. The media played no role whatsoever in my choice and they play no role in my choice this time. You see after the '04 election I believed the 2 most important things we as Americans had to work to improve was election fraud and the media. As you see we haven't done either and people are still falling into the trap.

Thank you for your service.

[eleny]

40. angry over the shaningans of Ohio and at the Kerry campaign for not going after it

One of the things I like about Obama is how he made it clear that his campaign was being vigilant during the primaries and sending crews of watchers where problems were anticipated at the polls. I expected that of him since I read that he taught a class on voting rights.

Kerry and company dropped the ball when they threw in the towel immediately.

[blm]

58. BIG FOCKING DIFFERENCE - McAuliffe's DNC let the RNC steal those votes and that there'd be no

evidence for Kerry to access.

Dean's DNC has strengthened party infrstructures in the states that had been long collapsed by Clintons' DNCs since the mid90s.

If Obama had run in 2004 you want to believe that McAuliffe's DNC would have somehow miraculously secured the election process?

The nominee TAPS INTO the Dem party infrastructure AS IT EXISTS when they become the nominee.

There is no comparing the collapsed party infrastructure that both 2000, 2002 and 2004 Dem candidates were stuck with and the Dem party infrastructures Dem candidates in 2006 had and 2008 have.

[mod mom]

75. Yep. Could it be that McAuliffe saw a Kerry win as a threat to Hillary's coronation in '08?

It will be a glorious day for the party when these self serving people exit stage right.

[blm]

89. Could it be? There were witnesses who managed to get some of the story out. Not that MSM would

ever dare tell that side of the story:


Put these events together and the story becomes pretty darn clear:
http://www.depauw.edu/news/index.asp?id=13354

Bill's summer2004 defense of Bush booktour was the most cynical display by a past president ever.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/06/19/clinton.iraq/

We're supposed to believe Carville was NOT working for Hillary2008 when he sabotaged Ohio Dem voters.
http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2006/oct/07/did_carville_tip_bush_off_to_kerry_strategy_woodward


They make me sick!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk1k0nUWEQg

And it's been going on for more years than most Dems realize.
http://consortiumnews.com/2006/111106.html

[mod mom]

93. YEP. Facetiousness doesn't always come across in posts. I hope newbies will spend

a little time reading your links to understand why so many well informed net roots are adamantly opposed to furthering the Clinton agenda.

[blm]

99. Because it is apparent to anyone who studies the actual record that Clintons' agenda = Bush's

agenda. They only put a smiling donkey face on to bring around those most likely to be fooled by those masks.

[politicasista]

96. Good point n/t

[Zavulon]

41. I took a couple weeks off and went on a minor bender.

I knew it wasn't productive, but it's what I wanted to do. Very therapeutic, actually.

[Lady-Damai]

43. I wasn't really surprised. American voters are easily manipulated.

Anyway, Obama is the first candidate I have ever passionately supported. :bounce:

[AZBlue]

44. As you said: "So, so angry. I cried, in fact."

But accept it and move on I did.

[Coexist]

45. I was numb and depressed for a couple weeks, I think

it was hard.

[quantass]

46. I've called every election since Carter and knew Kerry lost the day he begun the GE run

This years prediction is: Obama baby!

Being Canadian and all i know this message just wasted valuable dbase space :shrug:

[EmeraldCityGrl]

61. You're perspective is valued.

I worked hard for Kerry even though I felt luke warm about him as a candidate.

I saw it coming, yet spent three days under the covers after he lost.

Obama is going to win this!

[izzybeans]

47. Devastated. I eventually found this place.

[Connie_Corleone]

49. I stayed in bed the next day. ALL DAY.

I cried when Kerry gave his concession speech because I knew we would have 4 more years of HELL. I cursed the idiots who voted for Bush.

I got over it.

[tabasco]

50. Disbelief.

Utter disbelief.

[harun]

76. Ditto. It was how could those kind of policies motivate 59 million

people to go and vote for more of the same. My country was not the country I thought it was.

[PurityOfEssence]

51. Frustrated. The party had shoved a crappy candidate down our throats, and he fulfilled his destiny.

How times have changed...

[blm]

59. Kerry was the ONLY ONE who performed highly. The DNC let the RNC set up that steal

in the four years after 2000s theft. And the left media barely even existed as the RW media machine kicked their asses to the curb daily. Fer chrissakes, Keith Olbermann was still subdued in 2004 - his special comments didn't debut till summer 2006.

And let's not forget what Dan Rather said - the corporate media HAD to protect Bush for the favorable rulings they expected in a second term.

And McClellan is proving that corpmedia was bending over for Bush, corroborating Rather's claim.

And what Dem nominee EVER had the last Dem president on a 3 week booktour defending Bush in HIGHPROFILE interviews against the very criticisms the Dem nominee was making?

You all seem to have had a major case of amnesia about 2004.

As if ANY ONE of your preferences would have had a different DNC in charge than the Clinton loyalist DNC Kerry was stuck with in June 2004.

If Edwards or Dean or Obama was the nominee in 2004, there would have been a secured election process the moment they became the nominee?

The press wouldn't have been in the tank for Bush if only Edwards, Dean or Obama were the nominee in 2004?

The left media would suddenly have grown muscles and dominated the airwaves if only Edwards, Dean or Obama were the nominee?

Bill Clinton would NOT have used his book tour to defend Bush on his terrorism and Iraq war decisions if only Edwards, Dean or Obama were the nominee?

Carville wouldn't have sabotaged Ohio Dem voters if only Edwards,Dean or Obama were the nominee?

Get focking real. 2004 was stolen in the FOUR ENTIRE YEARS after 2000s theft - TeamClinton and their DNC made sure of it.

The big difference now is that more Democrats have opened their eyes to the Clintons and their betrayals because they are SEEING it done openly. They weren't CAUGHT sabotaging 2000 and 2004 more often because they were doing it behind the scenes.

[FlaGranny]

82. It was not until afterwards

and way too late, that I realized the Clintons' hands in losing that election. Guess that's why they are so angry right now, setting it all up for Hillary like that and then to have her lose the primary. So carefully planned, but so poorly executed - and so many dead soldiers.

[blm]

88. The great thing for Obama is that Dems like Kerry and Daschle who KNEW what Clintons did

by then, used Kerry's national political network and their alliances in the party to get behind Obama early and since Clinton team was in full swing, their loyalists were more easily identified and no longer part of the process for the good Dems willing to work against Clinton wing of the party.


Daschle, Kerry and Durbin took a risk and with the benefit of a Dean led DNC instead of a Clinton led DNC, they worked every angle possible to get Obama the better shot at the nomination.

Some day the back story will become more public. Unless they opt to let the Clinton machine off the hook with the public which is something that statesmen like them would consider in an effort to unite the party.

Personally, I believe the Clinton-Lieberman wing of the party deserves a full vetting for the decades of protection of BushInc. I would prefer accountability for ALL of them.

Breaking their stranglehold on the party and its powerstructure was STEP ONE, as far as I'm concerned.

I wish they were held accountable for their years of betrayals:

http://www.depauw.edu/news/index.asp?id=13354


http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/06/19/clinton.iraq/


http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2006/oct/07/did_carville_tip_bush_off_to_kerry_strategy_woodward



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk1k0nUWEQg


http://consortiumnews.com/2006/111106.html

[Inuca]

83. How the HELL

do you shove somebody down VOTERS' throats???

[rox63]

52. I was f***ing destroyed

I was totally in despair. Kerry is one of my Senators, and I've been a supporter of his for many years. So it was a double blow here in MA.

[OzarkDem]

53. Disappointed but not surprised

The worst was Al Gore's loss, when it really dawned on me that after 8 great years of the Clinton-Gore administration, the core of our DC Dem leadership was still as clueless as they were during the Dukakis/Mondale years.

[RBInMaine]

55. SPOT ON !! Grown adults get over things , ACCEPT reality, and MOVE ON !!

[senseandsensibility]

56. Kerry's "loss" was very difficult for me as well

but I guess I just don't see Hillary supporters as having as much justification for their anger. There is just no way to compare the prospect of an Obama presidency to what we faced in 2004: another * term.

[jesus_of_suburbia]

60. I was VERY upset. I thought he was going to win. I was devastated.

[ruby slippers]

63. I landed in the ER....and then sought counseling for a few weeks....

Seriously....

And, what about the guy who went to Ground Zero and killed himself? Shocking!

[dailykoff]

64. It was like 911 all over again.

I'd gone to bed early thinking he'd won and woke up and found out there'd been a little surprise, which I understood immediately to mean the usual fraud. That was a very bad day.

[saltpoint]

66. I questioned the judgment of citizens who believed that George W. Bush

was the better choice, when clearly he was not.

They'd had 4 years to sober up after Bush/Cheney cheated Gore for the White House, and I felt that was plenty of time to make an informed judgment.

I didn't feel very connected to my country that night.

(Answering for the GE and not the primary season. 'Thought Dean was on the ascent, but when Kerry won in Iowa and Gephardt finished with only 11%, it looked to me as if Kerry would be the nom.)

[MrSlayer]

67. I was pissed but not surprised.

I knew they had it in the bag.

[union_maid]

69. I was never, ever so devastated by an election result

Kerry never would have been my first choice. I had nothing but admiration for him but I thought he'd be a poor candidate. I wasn't torn up when he won the nomination, though. I didn't necessarily assume my first choice was going to prevail there. But the GE - I was a mess. I felt that we, as a nation, could no longer claim we were cheated or lied to. We elected the cheater and liar knowing who and what he was. I don't know if it's comparable. I don't know if there's ever been anything comparable to that.

[BlooInBloo]

70. Drunk and deflated.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

71. did your vote and support for Kerry damage the party?

[Inuca]

84. ??????????? n/t

[Yotun]

72. To put into perspective- when Kerry lost, after how much time did you turn and support Bush?

Never? You guys are crazy if you think Clinton supporters will turn around and support Obama after Clinton has lost. Would you EVER support Bush? This is what Hillary has done. She has turned Obama into a villain in their minds, somebody who is 'stealing the elections from her, using hatred and misogyny. Why not take them at their word, that they;re going McCain? they will. They are stupid people! They can't see through her spin! They believe that stuff.

[livetohike]

73. I was a "basket case" for several reasons.......

I was in my Dad's hospital room on election night. He was dying from pancreatic cancer (died on Nov. 8). He was a die hard Dem and even had a "Kerry/Edwards" pin on his hospital gown. He was still conscious enough to argue politics with his oncologist and nurses :-). Really it wasn't much arguing because we are in Dem. country here in W. Pennsylvania.

We watched the returns together - it reminded me of when he and my Mom let me stay up late to watch the JFK returns come in (I was 8 at the time).

The next day, the oncologist was testing my Dad's lucidity and she asked him who won the election and he said "DUMBO". That's what my Dad always called Bush :-).

[AngryOldDem]

74. I got sick for the first time in about 10 years.

I had a lot invested in that election, and I think I was worn down to the point where I was open to anything. The day after Election Day I came down with one hell of a bad upper respiratory infection, and I don't think it was a coincidence. And I also cried on Election Night.

But I got over it. What choice, really, did I have?

I think most HRC supporters will go through the same grief process and then move on.

[Tesha]

77. Completely unsurprised.

I felt the election had been lost the moment that Dean
was MSM'd into oblivion after "the Dean Scream". I *NEVER*,
ever, from well back in 2003, felt that Kerry would be
able to pull it off.

I nearly didn't vote for Kerry, but at the last minute
decided to. He narrowly carried my state, but it was for
naught.

My overall mood didn't change, because it had been set
on "maximally awful" since December 12th, 2000.

This time, with Clinton's elimination, I'm "guardedly
optimistic" although I think Obama was definitely *NOT*
the strongest candidate we could bring to the General
Election. But at least we finally eliminated a sure,
sure loser.

Tesha

[mod mom]

80. I blamed the DLC for not fighting for the votes in OH. I was mad and on Nov 3 I became a ER activist

I made the decision to close may business and fight for our Democratic win. We may not have been successful in getting Kerry into office, but I do believe we were successful in making others aware of what occurred. I believe the silence on the part of the corporate Dems on what occurred and their failure to fight for our votes was the reason that Democrats rejected Hillary.

[blm]

102. DNC. The Clinton led DNC of 1993-2005 made sure states like Ohio could not perform

for any candidate in 2000, 2002 and 2004.

[FlaGranny]

81. Pure and simple dispair.

I cried. Knew more young people would die, knew price of oil would keep rising, knew the economy would tank, and knew our place in the world would continue to deteriorate. I couldn't believe Americans were so stupid. Still can't.

Going back to 2000, I had the same feelings when the Supreme Court decided the election. What in the world can you expect when you hire a brainless oil man with strings that operate his mouth like Howdy Doody. (You young folks know who that is?)

[goldcanyonaz]

85. I was traumatized when Gore lost, but was not surprised when Kerry did.

I sent the Kerry campaign money for the Ohio recount and we all know how that worked out, I still wonder what happened to all the recount donations

[blm]

100. Terry McAuliffe and Carville made SURE there'd be no evidence for Kerry to access - and you support

them still because they were always working for Hillary2008, and have been since she decided to run for senate in 1999.

[truebrit71]

86. He didn't. It was stolen from him....and I was fucking furious...

..because it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO obvious to anyone with even half an eye open...

[SoCalDem]

90. Truthfully? I did not expect him to win..

Between his droll nature & lack of charisma, and the proclivity of republicans to cheat, I expected a "key state" to have "irregularities" that would assure a Bush repeat.. I was not wrong..

Kerry had the same air of "it's my turn" that Hillary had, and that does not work...

Candidates that shake things up and are different, are usually the winners (Nixon & Bush1 excepted)..

Kennedy...shake-up
Johnson-does not count, since he became president the way he did
Nixon-see above
Ford.. see Johnson
Carter...different
Reagan...different
Bush....see above
Clinton..shake-up
Bush2...shake up

The "it's my turn" candidates usually do not fare well..Bob Dole comes to mind too..

[blm]

101. Kerry's 'turn' should have been 1996 after Bush1 was impeached based on Kerry's years of work

uncovering IranContra, BCCI and CIA drugrunning operations.

What a far different world we would live in to have the top open government advocate lawmaker in the White House instead of what he have been stuck with for decades.

No growing global terror networks. No Bush2. No 9-11 would have been possible.

[Imagevision]

91. Being that FOXnews announced (over) cbs,MSNBC-CNN that Bush won, very skeptical

[LanternWaste]

92. The night Kerry lost I simply bowed my head in resignation.

The night Kerry lost I simply bowed my head in quiet resignation.


"But you suck it up and get OVER it, by god! What is the matter with these people? Honestly??"

But yeah-- when will I just suck it up and get over it? What the hell is wrong with me? It's stupid of me to support a candidate and maintain that support. I should know better than to maintain my convictions and just give my support to the popular flavor... and simply bow my head in quiet resignation-- again.





And I'm afraid that I simply don't subscribe to the premise that this primary is hurting the party-- far from it. I think it's strengthening us, hardening us, making us in the long run a much better party.

[Occam Bandage]

94. I turned off the television, and I told my girlfriend,

"You know what? I'm just...I'm just going to pretend Kerry won. I'm going to act like Kerry is going to be President."

And then I did, for two weeks.

[Barack_America]

97. Sobbing uncontrollably...

Threatening to never again step foot in a red state, which I honored for 6 mos. until my mother demanded I visit her.

Seriously looking up Canadian immigration requirements and the feasibility of moving over there.

I didn't go to work the next day, but frankly, nobody here had expected me to show up anyway.

One of the worst days of my life.

[politicasista]

98. Unhappy, sad

I didn't hear the concession, but heard about it. I didn't want to go to class that Wednesday. It was a very, lowly day and feeling. The same feelings felt when Gore had to end his run.

[Buzz Clik]

103. Not exactly shocked.

[TexanDem]

104. Mad - I felt it was a crooked and another stolen election - still do

[AspenRose]

105. I was pretty depressed, but I was also 6 months pregnant at the time

So I'm sure pregnancy hormones were a contributing factor

[EnviroBat]

107. I put a picture of George Bushe's face on a wall in my apartment.

and punched a hole into it. I knew they had stolen another one. I was angry.

[demokatgurrl]

108. I cried my eyes out. I thought we were doomed, as a country

and I think I was right. I think this is our last best chance to save ourselves. We have to get as far away from Bushco as possible. Elect a blue dog if he's on the ballot as a Democrat. We cannot afford to do anything else, and even that may be too little, too late.