Who is John Kerry? Where Did Senator Kerry Go Wrong?

This article analyzes why President Bush won the 2004 presidential election, or perhaps more appropriately, why John Kerry lost the election. After much analysis, we are left with a question: Who is John Kerry? Interestingly, this question gives us great insight into the question: Why did Kerry lose the 2004 election?

The "Who are you?" question is vital in an election. Voters generally don't know extensive details about a candidate's policy stances. Kerry, for instance, had an ambitious healthcare plan that voters knew little about. Instead, voters focus on the answer to the "Who are you?" question, which is much easier to comprehend. Kerry did not answer the "Who are you?" question well enough, and consequently lost the election.

So who is John Kerry? Is he a heroic military veteran? Kind of. Is he against the disastrous war in Iraq. Maybe. Does he support the war in Iraq? Partially. Is he a devout Catholic who feels strongly about moral values? A little bit. Is he a champion of civil rights who will defend a woman's right to choose and a homosexual's right to marry? Sort of, but not too much.
Almost a year after the election, we still don't quite know who John Kerry is. This is because Kerry never told us. Kerry couldn't even maintain a consistent campaign slogan. A survey of Kerry's bumper stickers only confuses us more. Kerry did not maintain a clear message, and never really defined who he was.

It is a mistake to define yourself too late or to change your definition. However, it is fatal to never define who you are. Kerry never defined who he was, which made it difficult for voters to identify with him. This led to Kerry losing the election.
Now who is George W. Bush? Well that's an easy one. Bush refers to terrorism in virtually every speech he gives. Even if it's a speech about social security, Bush finds a way to talk about terrorism. Virtually everybody knows that Bush is on a mission against terrorism. Bush cares strongly about defense, and makes safety a top priority. Bush also touts his religiosity and his desire to protect traditional moral values.

In the 2004 election, it was absolutely clear to voters who George Bush was. This made it much easier for voters to identify with him. Bush gained many loyal supporters because he was so easy to relate to. Interestingly, this also made Bush hated by more people, but this was not a problem. In an election, a person who hates you is only worth one vote. A person who cannot identify with you is also worth one vote. Presumably, more people voted for Bush because they couldn't identify with Kerry than voted for Kerry because they hated Bush. Bush gained votes from many centrists and undecideds since he was the only candidate to identify himself. Overall, this led to more votes for Bush.

The quicker a candidate can answer the question "Who are you?", the better. As a candidate, it is smart to establish oneself early as a strong, competent candidate.

First, this gives voters a positive impression of the candidate. Kerry could have done better with centrists, but he never gave them this positive impression. Kerry did not do well with the centrists, although he could have won their support just as easily.
Second, this makes it difficult to use negative tactics against the candidate. Because Kerry didn't answer the "Who are you?" question, he never shielded himself from negative attacks. Consequently, Bush labeled Kerry as a weak person. Bush made people believe that Kerry could not protect America's safety, which was ironic because Kerry had the stronger military background. However, Kerry hadn't established himself positively, and could not defend against Bush's attacks. Kerry was vulnerable to attack because he didn't tell Americans who he was. Bush capitalized on Kerry's vulnerability, and had tremendous success with negative campaigning.

The Bush campaign was not free of mistakes, but they made fewer mistakes than the Kerry campaign. Likewise, the Kerry campaign did some things well, but neglected the big picture and did not answer the "Who are you?" question. This proved to be the biggest blunder of all, and cost Kerry the 2004 election.

We still don't know who John Kerry is. However, if we did know who he was, then maybe he would be our president.