It has nothing to do with values. It has more to do with George W. Bush, or should I say, his inability to run for president again. Poll after poll tells us that the president of the United States was probably one of the most significant rallying figures in this last election. Folks either loved him and rallied behind him at the polls, or they railed against him and in turn converted that into votes for Kerry. We know for a fact that the Democratic base turned out in record numbers to oust Bush, not to elect Kerry.
That point gets trivialized somewhat until you consider that Bush will not be around in 2008. He'll be around in 2006 but what gains will we make then? Will the Democrats be beaten into submission by that time?
The challenge for Democrats leading into the next presidential election is that we have to convince people to buy-into our principles not just our principals. The Democratic base and that elusive brand of swing-voters must be convinced that Democratic candidates -- notwithstanding their likability -- are always more concerned about the people who need help the most, when compared to their GOP counterparts. But we must be able to communicate that through our beliefs and our policies.
We ran an election against George Bush. And, truth be told, if Kerry were a little more likable, we would have done it. We can't make that gamble the next time, because I'm sure the Republicans will go out of their way to merge the likable and so-called values themes into one solid candidate. I had friends who were undecided during this last election because they just didn't "like" Kerry. We have to take that issue off of the table, in my opinion.
Folks tell the story of an African-American cleaning woman meeting segregationist George Wallace in a hotel. She went home brimming to her family about how nice George Wallace was in person. As if he personality would diminish his rampant racism and negativity. We must frame the debate the same way the next time. It's not about likability, conversely, it's not about your hatred either. It has to be about your support in Democratic values (there's that word) and your belief that the Dem. candidate will fight for those values.
Just my opinion, though.