If We Keep Blaming "Diebold" For Every Loss, We Learn Nothing

[ruggerson]

I think John Kerry is a brilliant man. And I agree with him on almost every issue.
If I had my druthers, he'd be President right now.

I also think he is an inartful and inept politician, who does not understand hand to hand political combat nor how to relate to the average American voter.

I am sure there were election irregularities. There have been in almost every election since the beginning of time.

But I do not think Diebold or anyone else "stole" the last election.

John Kerry lost the election.

And I worry that by chronically solely blaming election fraud for our losses, we will not learn what we need to learn about how to win elections.

Every single thread about our prospects in '06 and '08 is heavily laced with comments like "doesn't matter what we do, they will steal it."

That kind of defeatist thinking is an impediment to us strategizing and focusing and nominating candidates who can win. It is the kind of thinking that dismisses the reality of the work we have to do to reframe the debate.

Eliminating or minimizing election fraud is an important task, and we have brave, committed, dedicated souls who are leading the fight to ensure that we have honest elections. I in no way mean to minimize that struggle.

But, it must go hand in hand with us learning how to be better strategists and more focused politicians.

We have the angels on our side ideologically. Our task is to learn how to effectively make middle America fully understand that the angels who dance with us are standing on their shoulders as well.