I am glad John Kerry lost the election

Don't get me wrong, I think John Kerry would have made a fine president, and I think Bush is horrible on many levels. But, in the long term scheme of things, it is worse for the Republicans that Bush won a second term. Here's why I think so, and it's all about Iraq.

Cross posted at Our forum

No matter who won the last presidential election, the situation in Iraq wasn't going to get any better. Maybe Kerry would have been able to internationalize the effort, he certainly would have had a better chance, but I doubt it. We bought it, and we own it. If I were the French, I'd LOL if the US president came to me for help after we renamed our french fries and pouring our beaujolais down the drain.

The fact is we have alienated many countries. Perhaps if we had rejected George Bush at the polls it would have helped us in the international community, but perhaps not. Now, with Iraq in the shitter, and no end in sight, Bush gets to wear that around his neck like a burning tire. With the Republicans as brand W, they wear it along with him.

If Kerry had won, the folks on the right in this country would blame him for the inevitable failure in Iraq. Twenty years from now they'd still be singing from that same playbook - Kerry lost Iraq. "The liberals wouldn't let us win it."

What we're witnessing now is the great Bush blowback. Bush gets the blame for the problems Bush created - instead of Kerry.

Today Republicans and conservatives are at each others throats. The script is no longer clear to them. They have no cohesive strategy for the mid terms, and there is no debth on their bench. The Democrats are in good shape - particularly if they opposed this war from the beginning, because their opposition is so clearly correct - opposing the war in Iraq was the best interest of America.

Democrats have a good chance of taking back the house or the senate, and with it the power to investigate. Finally we will have oversight, finally we can turn over some of the rocks and see what's been hiding underneath them, and it isn't going to be pretty. The manipulation and lies which led up to the war, the energy task force, the Abramoff bribes, the domestic spying - they will no longer be able to sweep these things under the rug with a compliant Republican congress.

In the long run, Democrats (and America) are better off that Kerry lost, because the blow back will be stronger and more long lasting. And they can't blame Kerry for Bush's mistakes.