Have we EVER had such a heartbreaking loss?

[liberalpragmatist]

I'm devastated.

I'm sure everyone is.

That was my first vote. For John Kerry.

We even got out the youth vote - actual youth turnout surged. But not as much as people expected. And everyone else turned out too, so the overall proportion didn't change.

I'm trying to think back through history. Clearly, Democrats were probably devasted when Carter lost, and unexpectedly big. Of course, despite many democrats' personal liking of Carter, many felt he was incompetent (unfairly or not) and most thought Reagan would win in the final days.

1984 and 1972 were never even close.

1968, there was no energy. Nobody thought we'd win and it came as a surprise that Humphrey came as close as we thought.

2000? I thought we could never have suffered a more heartbreaking loss.

But we did. We truly thought we were going to win. There was so much energy. We had a strong candidate. We were winning on the issues. The trends in the polls were favoring us. The early exit polls had all the pundits and everyone in the Bush and Kerry camps convinced that Kerry was on his way to a 300+ EC victory. My friends and I were celebrating. Prematurely.

It all came crashing down so spectacularly.

People older than I can probably answer this question better than I can. Do you think this was the most heartbreaking loss for the Democrats? It sure seems that way to me.

[i_c_a_White_Ghost]

1. NO n/t

[NYCGirl]

2. Nixon got a second term and won over 500 EV against McGovern.

Of course, we know what happened after that.

[Walt Starr]

3. 2000 was worse, IMO

537 votes was the difference and we won the popular vote!

[shelley806]

24. That's what makes this election worse...Same corrupt guys..Cheney, Rove

and the rest of thier ilk have been ruining the country for 4 years, and they are re-elected? after all of that?

[snacker]

4. It is heartbreaking...

so many of us worked so hard. So many of us were never this involved and energized before. I still can't believe this happened.
I have lost my hope for America today.

[TwilightZone]

5. I never thought I could ever be angrier or more disappointed than 2000.

I was wrong. This is ten times worse.

I've been a political junkie since the 70's. This is, by far, the worst one of them all for me.

[Neecy]

6. 2000 was worse for me (so far)

Gore had won the popular vote, there was a tiny margin in Florida, and the Rethugs stole it in broad daylight - brazenly, openly, with full swagger and bravado.

This one, while probably stolen under the cover of darkness, was probably not the same shock because I expected thuggish and nefarious behavior from the Bush team. I guess I was better resigned to it, although that doesn't make it less disgusting or infuriating.

[mzmolly]

7. Yeah 2000, MLK, JFK, RFK, Wellstone ... but this one hurts real bad.

:cry:

[MrBenchley]

8. Try 1972...

That seemed to me far worse....

[Big Blue Marble]

9. No the dems held both houses of Congress in 72

and the Supreme Court was moderate to liberal. I am 61. I have seen many political seasons come and go. Trust me this is the worst by far that we have ever seen.

[BlueNomad]

10. 2000

was horrible....this was more of a shock to me and I actually adore Kerry so it's heartbreaking--but 2000 was so close and blatantly stolen and protracted..... I also watched Dukukais slide into this hellish nightmare --it was painful and ulgy...

[cjbuchanan]

11. Must agree with others

2000 was worse for me. Actually, 2002 hurt even more. Not sure why. I think the death of Paul Wellstone just hurt me more then anything else.

[Demi_Babe]

12. never in my life and it has made me madder than hell and more determined

than ever!!!

[Cheswick2.0]

13. 2000 was worse

because Gore won and the party stood by and allowed Bush to take the office. They seeled our fate 4 years ago.

[sandnsea]

14. We just lost the country and destroyed the world

And if people think 2000 was worse than this, then they never got what this election was about either.

[Contrary1]

15. 1968 was a horrible year for me...

Something died inside me the day we lost Bobby.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

22. This one is a lot like '68. McCarthy, RFK. Kucinich, Dean.

In '68 we got stuck with Humphrey (I didn't vote for him) another "moderate". This time we got stuck with Kerry (I did vote for him).

Same results.

[high density]

16. I was kind of ambivalent in 2000

This time it stings because America just endorsed the garbage of the last four years and the four years to come.

[QC]

17. Every loss hurts.

My first election was in 1984--I worked on the Mondale campaign, proudly cast my first vote, and then stayed up that night and watched us lose 49 states.

It hurt, but I'm still here and I'm still a Democrat. Take some time to cry and then get ready to fight some more.

[Jersey Devil]

18. Yes, but in a very different way - California - 1968 - Bobby

I was crushed and Richard Nixon became president.

[Nashyra]

20. 2000

It was worse for me because they did not count the votes

[RinaJ]

19. Nope

Right now I'm thinking more as an opportunist. Bush is going to fuck up spectacularly. He hasn't done his worst damage yet, and he's going to screw up in a way that even his "religifying" isn't going to save the Republicans who support him. Just like the love for Clinton didn't necessarily translate over to Gore in 2000, I'm firmly convinced that the love for Shrub is NOT going to carry over to the Republican nominee in 2008. And that person is going to carry the burden of Bush's policies.

My thought process, anyways.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

21. Yes. McGovern and Dukakis

But, this one came as no shock to me. Weak candidate running on a weak platform.

[Borgnine]

23. In retrospect...

...2000 was it, because unknown to us at the time, it was the last shot we had. Once they got away with stealing the vote in Florida, it set us up to where we are today.

We'll probably never know how badly it was stolen last night. But the days of fair elections are over, and it all comes down to 2000. I'm even more heartbroken over that loss today than I am last night.

[rniel]

25. Next Strategies

A message of Hope is no good.

A message of Fear is much more effective.

Never talk about your plans or policies, never be specific. Never try to be smart. Just spend all your energy attacking your opponent.

Negative politics always works.

[Hubert Flottz]

26. No!

The magnitude of the heartbreak is yet to be revealed! Before Bush is done even the blindest of the blind will see their mistake! But by then it will be FAR too late!

[Phoonzang]

27. Really bad

In 2002 the Democratic party was crushed. In the last two years it managed to build itself up, start a huge movement....then it was crushed again. All that hard work done by progressives....for what?

I don't see how any positive came out of today. We lost the presidency, we lost even more seats in the House and Senate. Yeah, Obama got elected....so what? He's not going to be able to do anything because the neo-cons will tighten their grip on the country in the next 4 years.

[robbedvoter]

28. Several. 2000. 2001 - mayor NYC (right after 911). February 2004

Clark dropped out. July 6 2004 - Kerry demonstrated how soft he was. That at least helped with today - I expected him not to be able to fight.

[magnolia]

29. For me...

McGovern loss was huge because I was so young and naive. Carter was hard too because I adored him. Gore, of course. This is the worst because in all the other cases my hurt was for the one losing. I wasn't afraid of the "winner". Nixon was bad but I wasn't afraid of him. Reagan was Bonzo after all. In 2000 we only suspected that Bush would destroy our country...now we know it. This is the worst because the contrast between what might have been and what we are stuck with is astronomical!

[bagnana]

31. I agree. It is the worst because of what we know Bush

will do. And because we have no balance in our government.

[MsAnthropy]

30. Try living in Minnesota when Mondale carried ONLY Minnesota

at least this election isn't embarrassing, it's just infuriating.

[magnolia]

32. I forgot Fritz!

...I hurt for him too!

[newportdadde]

33. This one is much worse for me personally.

I was much more educated about the issues then I was in 2000. In 2000 I thought nobody is going to elect this idiot. In 2004 I thought that nobody could reelect a person who have proven himself to be incompetent beyond all measure but I was wrong.

It hurts doubly worse for me because its like an endorsement of 2000 decision.. just disgusting.