What went wrong?

The Democrats must now appeal to the religious right-wing, argues Nahla El-Okdah*

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John Kerry seemed to be doing everything right. The consensus was that he had come out ahead in two presidential debates and at worst had drawn in the third. Major newspapers and periodicals, including The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Economist, backed him. The elections witnessed the largest voter turnout since 1968, with many analysts believing that this would work in Kerry's favour. So what went wrong?

Was it an increased conservative Christian voter turnout? Was it Kerry's perceived lack of charisma? Or narrow, sectional interests of the kind found among conservative Cuban-Americans in Florida who believe that George W Bush will somehow get rid of Cuban President Fidel Castro?

In his victory speech Bush said that America had spoken and that he was "humbled by the trust of his fellow citizens". Indeed, the popular vote gave Bush a winning margin of 3.5 million votes.

Two issues must be examined in order to understand what happened on elections day. According to exit polls Bush won on two counts -- "the war on terror" and on the moral vote. Voters who cited moral issues as their top concern voted for Bush by a margin of four to one while those who said terrorism was the main issue voted for him by nearly five to one.

Kerry's defeat cannot be reduced to a matter of personality. The Democrats' problem was less to do with a candidate who did not sufficiently appeal to the public than with a party that has lost the support of its core constituency.

Americans have changed since 9/11. They feel vulnerable, and it is this vulnerability that has made them susceptible to Bush's aggressive militarism. The Democratic Party's less rabid foreign policy approach appears, for many, no longer an option.

Nor has the Democratic Party yet learned to appeal to the religious right, which turned out en masse in support of Bush. Although Kerry attempted to attract such voters in his later speeches, going as far as using Biblical quotations, his efforts failed. The religious right did not perceive Kerry's latter-day brand of religious jingoism to be as convincing as his opponent's genuine "good old boy" version.

The Democratic Party is in urgent need of a re-assessment of its priorities and a revamping of its image. The alternative is decades spent in the political wasteland.

* The writer is a senior lecturer in business administration at the American University in Cairo.