Why did the American voter choose Bush over Kerry? Or, did they?
Numerous "sour grapes" reports from lefty-conspiratoriasts cite the early exit polls as evidence that the electronic voting machines were rigged before the election. How else can we explain the discrepancy between the exit polls and the final outcome? I don't (necessarily) believe this hype, but the fact remains that there is no way to prove it's false. There are no hard copies we can look back to for verification, it's all just 1's and 0's on somebody's machine. It seems to me that the paper ballot with a pencil is the best way to cast a vote and it's simple...we should have figured this out by now. We need a federal standard for the ballots, and we should have figured that out four years ago.
But since we probably can't accurately blame the voting machines, what explains Bush's big win? All the pundits agreed that the more voters who turned out, the better it would be for Kerry, but it didn't work out like that. 120 Million voters, the high end of early estimates, turned out and over 51% of them voted for Bush. Was Kerry that bad? I don't think Kerry's completely at fault here. Unexciting he may be, but he was certainly a credible candidate.
Given the voter turnout, credit for the win must be given to Karl Rove and the Republican party machine. Rove did his best "throw mud at him till he's unrecognizable" routine on Kerry and it worked, at least until the debates where Kerry won back a few. But that was a big hole to dig out of, and it cost Kerry in the long run. And playing on fear of a Kerry presidency, that it would be a victory for the terrorists, that ultimately kept many Americans from voting Kerry.
But the main reason W won is because the Republican party got up off their duffs and brought supporters to the polls. Not content with just big checks, the Repubs did what Dems have been doing for ages, reaching out to their base to turn out on election day. 120 million voters and Bush wins? There can be no other conclusion, the Republicans turned out in droves.
I guess I should have seen it coming, what with all the "W" bumper stickers that have replaced the American flag on many SUV's. "W" is a brand now....Bush could start selling shirts, luggage and perfume with that "W" logo on it and make a fortune. He IS a brand.
And the American people just bought it, even though there was a better, similar product right next to it. Advertisers take note...