Martin Peretz on John Kerry:

good riddance. A particularly apt bit:

Oh yes, he helped to re-establish America's relationship with Vietnam. A good thing, but not exactly an issue that affects people's lives or expresses their hopes. In fact, Mr. Kerry's repetitive recitation of this achievement (really shared with John McCain) foretold the narcissism of autobiography in his presidential campaign: A man who came into public life on the infamy of the Vietnam War aspired to crown it by deploying for political purposes his service "in defense of country," the very proposition that he had, after all, denied and sullied for decades. But no one -- save Mr. Kerry himself and his immediate circle -- wanted to revisit Vietnam. It was the country's great nightmare, divisive, tormenting, politically paralyzing. This was the first of his great mistakes, the defining one.

My god, how could the Democrats seriously have thought they could get this guy elected? I as a voter was ripe for their plucking. I was looking for any excuse to vote Democratic, just like I have done in every election I've been old enough to vote in. I was just waiting for them to give me anyone, anyone, I could get behind, even if only on one issue. And they had the gall to offer me this? From beginning to end, the Democrats were so blinded by visions of their own superiority that they thought they could get a piece of dryer lint elected president. And so they decided to go with John Kerry, who maybe wasn't as charismatic, but sure was electable. As James Carville said, Democrats have to come to terms with the fact that they are now the opposition party, and not a very effective one at that. (Via InstaPundit)