# Convince Me that John Kerry Is Electable
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-that-john-kerry-is-electable/226032
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [January 25, 2004, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-that-john-kerry-is-electable/226032 "2004-01-25T19:49:50Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 8
### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2004, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-that-john-kerry-is-electable/226032/141 "2004-02-10T19:55:27Z")
**snag** , not to nitpick, but did the Republicans really do a brilliant job getting out the vote in 2002? I thought it was just the opposite: I thought the Democrats, with their brilliant strategy of generally agreeing that Bush and the Republicans were doing a bang-up job, absolutely failed to get out the vote at all in 2002. In fact, wasn’t 2002 one of the worst years for voter turnout in recent history?
I could be wrong on this, but I always figured the Democrats were to blame, not the Republicans were to credit, for what happened 2 years ago.
Daniel
---
### Author:  [@annaplurabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/annaplurabelle)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2004, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-that-john-kerry-is-electable/226032/142 "2004-02-10T20:23:35Z")
From Brain Glutton’s cite:
> [@](#):
>
> … so John Kerry won the Abe-Lincoln-look-a-like contest. Kerry is the Democrats cartoon Lincoln. Maybe that’s what a cartoon republic deserves.
It’s spookily ironic, considering the demarcations of the sharply polarised electorate. Is another civil war so far-fetched?
---
### Author:  [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-that-john-kerry-is-electable/226032/143 "2004-02-11T21:28:18Z")
[The Myth and Math of Kerry’s Electability](http://slate.msn.com/id/2095311/)
Vote for Edwards. It’s not too late.
---
### Author:  [@Snag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snag)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2004, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-that-john-kerry-is-electable/226032/144 "2004-02-12T00:17:05Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#):
>
> **snag** , not to nitpick, but did the Republicans really do a brilliant job getting out the vote in 2002? I thought it was just the opposite: I thought the Democrats, with their brilliant strategy of generally agreeing that Bush and the Republicans were doing a bang-up job, absolutely failed to get out the vote at all in 2002. In fact, wasn’t 2002 one of the worst years for voter turnout in recent history?
>
> I could be wrong on this, but I always figured the Democrats were to blame, not the Republicans were to credit, for what happened 2 years ago.
>
> Daniel
I think it was a little of both. Perhaps from my perspective, I saw a lot of outrage at how things were being run (and here in CA, it was the one place where the Democrats flat out won everything in sight). Thus I was surprised when the Republicans did so well everywhere else.
The difference as I’ve heard it analyzed is that the Dems had no concise message for voters, while the Republicans did, and that got their party fired up enough to do very well.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/convince-me-that-john-kerry-is-electable/226032.md?page=7)