It's the personal economy, stupid!

An election is a bloodless revolution. Each voter gets one bullet to shoot, i.e., one ballot to cast. This year the MSM spent hours predicting a huge “anti-Bush” vote was lurking in the weeds and provided numerous reasons why “core” Democrat constituent groups like blacks and young voters would show up en masse to “re-defeat Bush.” Yet, in the end, what materialized was an “anti-Kerry” vote. Were these Bush voters motivated by moral issues?

For many reasons they were. However, from a purely political perspective, there is an overarching explanation. Voters this year were motivated by one basic issue: “collective greed.” I believe the vast majority who cast votes for Bush simply did not want their taxes raised. In the end, they voted their pocketbooks. [...]

Fortunately, Democrat leaders continue to “misunderstandestimate” (Mr. Bush’s word) the effect taxes have on an aging population. Even though I have been providing Joe with these facts for years, his party still fails to understand the boomer’s “collective greed” motivation. From the day John F. Kerry began talking about raising taxes, he never stood a chance.

But here’s the kicker: had Dems nominated Joe Lieberman, they could have won the election. A fiscal conservative who is strong on defense but socially liberal, Lieberman would likely have grabbed sufficient Iraq-weary Republican crossover votes to win by a narrow margin. I suspect Lieberman would not have touched the tax issue. (source)

I too agree that, in the end, it was “collective greed” that determined the election. But, it the writer thinks that Joe Lieberman, an out of the closet Jew would not have issues in this country being the Vice President of the United States, I think he’s naive. There is a lot of anti-Jewish sentiment out there among the voters. I believe it would be an issue, perhaps not as openly as gay marriage or Kerry’s past military issues, but it would have shown itself at the ballot box.

My problem with Lieberman isn’t that he’s Jewish (because I have zero problem with Jewish people), it’s just that every time Joe Lieberman has a decision to make, he puts his finger up in the air to see what direction the wind is blowing. Then, he makes his decision. I’ve sometimes wondered, does Joe have any original ideas that he’s willing to stake his political career on? That is what I want in my Vice President. As far as finding that quality in a President, I’ve given up on looking for it.