We can all say it together now: he wasn't the right guy. It's true, and you know it. When you're running against a wartime incumbent, you can't put up someone who is less unacceptable. You have to put up someone who you can actually like on his or her own merits. The public does not like to change horses midrace, and with good reason.

Kerry was never clear about his differences with W on Iraq- sure you're going to build a coalition, but how? By not being George W. Bush?- and his promotion of healthcare and education sounded after awhile like the things mealy-mouthed politicians say only because no one will be able to disagree with them.

We ran a bad campaign. You know this, too. There was all kinds of nonsense about getting out the base, only the base did not get particularly out last night- the demographics indicate that the large numbers last night were due to intermittent voters going to the polls en masse. It doesn't work. The base isn't good enough. And I don't think swing voters work, either. It's all about the marginal constituencies with parochial interests: Cuban Americans in Miami-Dade. Farmers in Ohio. There's no more appealing to wide swaths of Class or Gender or Religious Affiliation, not unless you're the problem and not the solution.

The youth did not come through as we'd hoped, to say the least. And why should that surprise anyone? Each generation gets more apathetic, less conscious of its own citizenship, or so it seems. Generation X makes the Me Generation look like Mother Teresa. They kept talking about Rock the Vote and stuff, but raise your hand if you live in a swing state and you ever heard about any 18 to 22-oriented voting events happening near you. Me neither.

The DNC relied on the moral high ground to take care of suspicions about Kerry's wartime record. But the I'm-not-even-going-to-respond-to-that thing does not work. It's American politics. You have to Always Be Closing.

The DNC also relied on the Carville formula: change vs. more of the same. That meant that they had to bank on the economy not recovering starting almost a year ago, and assumed they could either change lines of attack midcampaign if it did (which it did, marginally; spinnably enough, at least.)

There's more than enough blame to go around. It's always tougher to run for office as a realist than as an ideologue.

Don't be fooled, though. It doesn't matter that Kerry lost by 2%. That was the RNC's ballgame from the outset, once they figured out it didn't matter whether they had any kind of popular mandate. All you need to do is squeak by.

Somewhere, perhaps even outside my circle of friends, is the bright and courageous person who will fix the damage George W. Bush is going to inflict on my country over the next half-decade. That person may be in school or flipping burgers or serving coffee or teaching or spending all day tapping out HTML.

Please let me know where you are. We need to talk.