This is my own theory on why Bush was able to pull off a victory in the recent election, and why the world just can't understand:

Why Bush Won the Election

              The 2004 US Presidential Election was one of the closest in history.  Bush won by only 1% of the popular vote, and the electoral vote was decided by one key state: Ohio.  I feel the democrats could of easily won this election had they fought bush on key issues (War, Economy, Patriot Act), but do to no fault of either candidate, the campaign became about arrogance and slander.  The world was in shock after the election. Cries of “American stupidityâ€ÂÂ� reigned out from almost every modern nation.  How did Bush win the election and why is he rest of the world so outraged?  The answer to both questions is perception.

To answer why Bush won we need to go back to the pivotal moment the 2004 election actually started.  It wasn’t the democratic primary, or John Kerry declaring his candidacy, the real election started over two years ago at Paul Wellstone’s Memorial.  What started off as a tribute to a great American quickly declined into a pro-left political event.  Republican senators such as Trent Lott, and even independent governor Jesse Ventura, were booed and eventual had to leave.  It takes a lot of arrogance to turn a memorial into a political rally, and definitely did not bode well in the realm of public opinion.

The Wellstone rally was just the start of what I feel were big mistakes.  Over the summer, the movie “Fahrenheit 911â€ÂÂ� was released.  During the 122-minute documentary, the director bashes the Bush administration.  While some people believed this documentary as the truth, many claims 911 presented did not pan out.  The real arrogance was Moore thinking the American people were stupid enough to blindly believe what ever he presented as fact.  Moore alone would not be a hindrance to Kerry; however, the republicans were able to tie Moore to the Democratic Party.  Support by a radical such as Moore turned off many voters.

    There were more events that led to Kerry’s defeat.  Celebrities one-by-one came out in favor of Kerry, which did not help.  After all, what does a celebrity know about politics? Why is a celebrity’s opinion more important than my own? Do they have to work 40 hours a week to support a family?  I feel a Celebrity endorsement actually hurts a candidate, and the “Concert for Changeâ€ÂÂ�, which may have got some young voters out to the poll, did more to hurt Kerry, then to help

The final nail in Kerry’s Coffin were the forged documents at CBS.  Many Americans trusted Dan Rather to deliver the news straight.  That all changed when this story aired. As the story progressed, it turned out that the documents were not only forged, but were provided by Lt. Col. Bill Burkett, a former Guard officer with a history of self-described mental problems who has denounced Bush as a liar with "demonic personality shortcomings."

During a recent study, the majority of Americans think that they are smarter than Bush.  Look at the debates:  Kerry was well rehearsed and got his point across, while Bush stuttered, pause between phrases, and may have even used a hidden microphone.  Kerry comes off as an intelligent politician.  So if Kerry won the debates, has a higher intelligence, and is better looking, why did Bush win?  The answer is simple; Bush is the considered by many to be the underdog. A not-to-bright candidate that had all of these various groups conspiring against him.  A vote for bush was not just a vote for the Iraq war, or the Bush economy. Instead, it was vote against arrogance, a STFU to Michael Moore, a Message to CBS that you better be damn sure your stories are valid in the future, and it told Celebrities to keep their opinions to themselves.  It was almost as if a vote for Bush was giving the wimpy kid at the schoolyard had a chance to defeated a group of bullies all in one swoop.

The rest of the world does not receive as much US media, so to the rest of the world bush is not an underdog, but instead a war-mongering bully.  He took the most powerful, nation to war twice in two years. The world has a different perception of bush than Americans do, and that is one of the reasons America is disliked in the world right now.

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing!  :)

Tanya

As with the deceptive manner in which the right-wing media covered the Wellestone funeral, the right-wing media is now conveniently neglecting the complexity of the scheming, intimidation, and fraud in Ohio.  You can have all the theories you want...

The final nail in Kerry’s Coffin were the forged documents at CBS.  Many Americans trusted Dan Rather to deliver the news straight.

It's funny that there were an incredible number of out-and-out lies broadcast about Kerry in the run-up to the election, nearly all fully debunked beforehand... but one Dan Rather incident and suddenly it's all even - the Dems are just as bad as the Repubs...

I also can't help but wonder what sort of person wants to be represented, even more to be led, by someone more stupid than they are.

But there's a lot of truth in what you say, certainly... but (as with election frauds) whether 'tis enough to sway the election... who knows?

I have a much simpler explanation. And I never thought I'd live to see the day this would happen, but it has. The South has risen again.