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SanAndreasX 6 days ago
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Wman1996 said:
OlfinBedwere said:

Thinking back to John Kerry's loss twenty years ago, I'm reminded how pointless it actually is at this stage trying to determine with any degree of certainty precisely what the Democrats need to do in four years time (beyond the obvious thing of just finding a good candidate). After Kerry's defeat there were many people talking about how the Democrats needed to be more socially conservative, friendlier to big business, and more hawkish on foreign policy in order to ever have any hope of winning an election again. Of course, by the time 2008 actually rolled around, those would have been the absolute last things Obama wanted to do.

It still blows my mind that George W. Bush won two terms. 

Barack Obama won two terms largely because of charisma and some policy proposals. Donald Trump won largely because of charisma even now in 2024 with the insane baggage he has.

George W. Bush didn't seem charismatic at all compared to most presidential candidates. Unless people found the Bushisms endearing compared to Gore and Kerry and their more straightforward approaches. 

Gore did win the popular vote and probably won Florida based on recounts that continued after the Supreme Court handed the presidency to Bush. 

Obviously, charisma doesn't always determine the winner. Joe Biden wasn't charismatic in the slightest, at least not in his late 70s to now. 

Gore was always depicted as a monotone Democratic version of Ben Stein. He actually showed some comedic chops on Futurama, where his daughter was a writer. It's too bad he didn't show those while he was in office or running.