…and nobody (or almost nobody) showed up?
The 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, Senator John Kerry, was in Madison, Wisconsin, where Ann Althouse notes, he came to campaign for Barack Obama. Kerry drew all of 250 people. This, Althouse points out, stands in stark contrast to the 80,000 who came out to see him when he made his own bid for the presidency in 2004.
What gives, apart from the fact that Kerry isn’t running for president? I mean, shouldn’t the man who received more votes than any Democratic nominee in history–and lost–expect a bigger turnout than that?
Sadly, the answer to the latter question is no.
For good or ill, John Kerry is yesterday’s news. Obama is the new kid in town. For example, it’s unthinkable in today’s political world that a person could be renominated as were Democrats in bygone eras: Grover Cleveland (nominated three times) William Jennings Bryan (nominated three times), and Adlai Stevenson (nominated twice). Lose an election in the America of today and, even if you nearly won, you’re tagged as a loser.
Besides, with the interminable and hyper-mediated campaigns we have these days, people grow weary of Presidents and would-be Presidents. Overexposure throws you up and down the pop charts in a hurry.
[My personal blog is here.]