Claymore and I are on opposite ends of the political spectrum, but we may agree on something, and that is that the Democrats   underestimated Bush and his people, both in the presidential election and in this one--They unfortunately believed, and continue to believe that, as a politician he is stupid and inept, and, if history teaches us one thing, underestimating your enemy is fatal--

If the American people supported the people who best protected their interests, Conservative Republicans would never win anything, but they
have continued to be a dominant force in American politics because they talk to the people that vote, as opposed to the Democrats, who have a bad habit of only talking to each other--

As to Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, she sealed her own fate early on, when she failed to choose a a representative of the black community as her running mate--you can't alienate one of your primary constituencies and expect to win--

As to stupid mistakes, Rick Kahn,the fool who turned the Wellstone Memorial into a political rally, thereby embarassing and offending many Minnesota voters, turned the lead (and the election) back from Mondale to the Republican candidate--that stunt cost the democrats control of the Senate--

Claymore is overstepping when he says the Dems were beaten by a better man--they were beaten by a better politican, but those are two very different things--