The best thing that happened for this country (and for the Democrats) in '04 is that Bush won. And here's why.
In '04 a lot of the country was not sold on Iraq being a disaster. Part of the reason is that Kerry and the Democrats in general did a poor job of selling that view. Part of it was that many people were still hopeful. But the bottom line is that it was not viewed by most as irretrievably lost.
Now if Kerry had won, we would still be there today (he would not have started an immediate pullout). The right wing would blame the disaster there on Kerry's incompetence, not on what Bush did up to '04 to totally poison the well.
And the country would see validity in both arguments. So to the giant middle of the American populace the loss in Iraq would have been placed on both parties.
And the right wing, neo cons, etc. would "know" that it would have been successful if they had been left in charge. Just as Cheney and Rumsfeld used this time to "do it right" after they were "stopped by the Democrats" in Vietnam, the Republicans would in the future "do Iran right."
But none of the above works. Bush as president still has full control of the military and foreign policy as the President. Iraq is still 100% a Republican operation. Until January even congress is still Republican. And come January only congress switches.
So for '04 - '08, as it becomes clear to everyone, absolutely everyone, that Iraq was horribly incompetently prosecuted. That it was arguably the biggest mistake this country has ever made with the possible exception of our own Civil War, it remains 100% a Republican responsibility.
And so John Kerry's loss in '04 was a gigantic blessing for the country. The neo-cons cannot come back and say this time they'll get it right. By '08 neo-con will be the most poisonous political term in the country.
And it was a gigantic blessing for the Democrats. The Democratic party today is a much more robust and self-confident party than 2 years ago. And it bears no significant responsibility for the mess in Iraq. It has also started to discover a new paradigm for what being a Republican means today - in a world that is more global, has fewer unions, and faces different challenges.
So what should the Democrats do over the next two years? First, oversight. Take a look at everything the White House is doing. Don't oversell the possibilities or upcoming results. Don't worry - you'll find things - lots of things. Just do your job and look at everything going on.
Second, investigate the big mistakes of the past 6 years. Don't do everything - just the biggies. The things the public will see as legit. Did Halliburton and others bill properly. Was Congress given the best intelligence at the time about Iraq.
And don't talk impeachment. Don't talk revenge. Don't even get into pissing matches. Use the next 2 years to expose the facts and let the facts speak for themselves. Because the most important result for the future is that the people of this country see in great detail what happens when a bunch of crazies are given unsupervised control.
And it will take all of the next 2 years to get this story out.
And once it is - if you thought running as a Republican was bad this past election, imagine what it will be like in '08...
