Up 32% Thanks to the Democratic Party

The Democratic Party lost despite the following facts:

• Americans disapproved of his [George W. Bush's] handling of the economy, foreign affairs and the war in Iraq. There has been a slight increase in the number of Americans who believe the nation should never have gone into Iraq. A majority of Americans continue to believe the country is going in the wrong direction, traditionally a warning sign for an incumbent (Adam Nagourney and Janet Elder, "Americans Show Clear Concerns on Bush Agenda," New York Times, November 23, 2004)


• [W]hen allowed freely to name the issue that was most important in their vote, [only] 6 percent chose moral values, although smaller numbers named issues like abortion and same-sex marriage. On a separate question in which voters were given a choice of nine issues, 5 percent chose abortion, 4 percent chose stem cell research and 2 percent chose same-sex marriage (Nagourney and Elder, November 23, 2004)


• Americans now have a better opinion of the Democratic Party than of the Republican Party: 54 percent said they had a favorable view of Democrats, compared with 39 percent with an unfavorable view. By contrast, 49 percent have a favorable view of Republicans, compared with 46 percent holding an unfavorable one" (Nagourney and Elder, November 23, 2004)

So, what did the Democratic Party accomplish in the 2004 elections exactly? Raised the perception that Bush "legitimately won" by 32%: "Still, in a telling contrast with the 2000 election, 82 percent of respondents said that Mr. Bush legitimately won on Nov. 2. Just before Election Day, 50 percent of respondents said they considered Mr. Bush's defeat of Al Gore in 2000 a legitimate victory" (emphasis added, Nagourney and Elder, November 23, 2004)!