OUT: Camouflaged Hunting Jackets
Perfectly symbolizing his dishonest campaign, Kerry tried to hide his contempt for Middle American values beneath the brand-new camouflaged jacket he wore hunting at the end of the campaign IN: Flight Jackets
Democrats tried to use Bush's dramatic visit to the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln after the ouster of Saddam Hussein to inspire Americans to choose a new commander in chief. A majority of voters decided the job suited Bush perfectly.
OUT: Hairdos
John Edwards' boyish looks and coiffure were supposed to help the Kerry campaign in the South and elsewhere. They still got clipped. IN: Baldness
The Democrats hammered endlessly on stoic Dick Cheney and his former company (Halliburton), erroneously believing he was the weak link - rather than the solid foundation - in the Bush White House.
OUT: Tom Daschle (and Left-wing Filibusters)
As Senate Democratic leader, Daschle repeatedly used filibusters to deny confirmation to conservative judges. South Dakota voters denied Daschle reelection. IN: Tom Coburn (and Right-wing Filibusters)
As a self-term-limited member of the House, Coburn fought Republican leaders when they strayed from conservative principles. As a senator from Oklahoma, he is expected to be a Midwest version of the great Sen. Jesse Helms.
OUT: George Soros and MoveOn.org
Financier Soros gave millions to 527 groups such as MoveOn.org to attack George W. Bush in hopes of destroying his presidency. It was a bad investment. IN: John O'Neill and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
Vietnam veteran O'Neill authored Unfit for Command-Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry (published by Regnery, a sister company of Human Events), and was a courageous spokesman for Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, whose anti-Kerry TV ads were the most effective of the campaign.
OUT: Michael Moore and Osama bin Laden
Moore produced Fahrenheit 9/11 a "documentary" that floated conspiracy theories about Bush and accused U.S. troops of murdering Iraqi civilians. Osama bin Laden released an anti-Bush pre-election video seemingly inspired by Moore. IN: Carlton Sherwood and Stolen Honor
Vietnam veteran and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Sherwood produced Stolen Honor-Wounds That Never Heal, a documentary that showed how former Vietnam War POWs were affected by Kerry's anti-war testimony.
OUT: Bruce Springsteen
Springsteen campaigned with John Kerry to pump up crowds in the waning days of the campaign, disappointing many of his own fans as Kerry still went down to defeat. IN: Toby Keith
Singer-songwriter Keith backed Bush and attended his last campaign rally in Dallas, doing no damage to his largely conservative country-music fan base.
OUT: Harold Ickes and the Media Fund
Former Clinton deputy chief of staff Ickes led the Media Fund, a 527 that reportedly squandered more than $100 million trying to tilt the election to Kerry. IN: Karl Rove, Ken Mehlman and GOTV
Bush political director Rove and campaign manager Mehlman conceived and executed the best get-out-the-vote campaign in the history of U.S. presidential elections.
OUT: Reverends Jackson and Sharpton
Democratic activists and clergymen Jackson and Sharpton failed to energize the African-American vote as it showed less enthusiasm for Kerry than for previous Democratic candidates. IN: Archbishops Burke and Myers
Catholic Archbishops Raymond Burke of St. Louis and John Myers of Newark issued hard-hitting exhortations urging Catholics not to vote for pro-abortion candidates. Bush ended up defeating a Catholic pro-abortion opponent, 52% to 47%, among Catholic voters.
OUT: Dan Rather
Dan Rather disgraced himself and CBS News as he tried to take down President Bush with a phony story based on forged documents. IN: Laura Ingraham
Laura Ingraham emerged as a national conservative radio star as she, and other conservative radio hosts, daily debunked the nonsense issued by Dan Rather, the New York Times and the rest of the liberal media establishment.
OUT: The New York Times
The New York Times joined CBS in trying to bring down Bush by hyping as its October Surprise a dubious story about missing explosives in Iraq. Earlier in the campaign, the Times hyped the Abu-Ghraib-prisoner-abuse story day after day on its front page. IN: Human Events Online
In addition to its regular stream of high quality conservative content, humanevents.com was first to break the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth advertisements, which had a major impact on the campaign.
