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Although Kerry ran from the word, most Americans didn't really seem to care. Polling showed people thought he was a liberal, but they weren't worried about what traditionally bothers them about liberals - very few were swayed by Bush's "tax-and-spend"-theme the last few weeks.
So the word didn't hurt him.
What hurt him was the perception that Republicans are stronger on national security, and, to a lesser extent (not nearly as much as the press said right after the race), the fact that rural voters don't trust Democrats and see us as culturally permissive and insensitive to religious voters.
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