Okay, we take full responsibility for Kerry’s defeat. Turns out these Karmic calculations are more complicated than they appear at first glance. John Kerry gave it a good run, looked less like an overmatched non-starter than poor Al Gore, but in the end lacked the kind of vicious political blood lust that Karl Rove and the rest of the Bush Posse have raised to a fine art.
Despite the stealth edge, the cell-phoned first time voters, the record-setting turnout and the exasperating series of gaffes on the part of the incumbent, the smart money was on the President all along, and never wavered. Smart bettors always play the odds, unless of course they have inside information, in which case all bets are off, except theirs. The odds were on the King, as they usually are, until and unless the challenger proves to be more than a fluke.
Oh, sure, once in a while they let a long shot win, and a few lucky fools made small fortunes betting the Red Sox when they were down 0-3 to the Yankees. But these were just the high profile, fantasyland payoffs that keep the cookie jar money flowing in and funding professional gambling in the United States. Great marketing for the sucker bets, nothing more.
The smart money was with the Yankees, and will be again next year and every year until the Red Sox establish a consistent record of success to counterbalance that of the Evil Empire. Same goes for the poor Democrats.
Unfortunately for Kerry, not only the smart money was riding on Bush, but a lot of the dumb money as well. The sheer weight and power of the economic interests backing Bush proved impossible for the Democrats to overcome. On of the lessons of this election is that the Old Economy power centers – the Oil Industry, Pharaceutical Industry and Insurance Industry (to mention only three prime examples) are still inherantly more powerful and entrenched than the New Money of the Media Conglomerates, the Technology Industry and the Entertainment Industry.