Dumbest argument?

There were a lot of silly things said in the recent campaign, but there was one claim that still shocks me in its stupidity. This was the idea that Kerry would win because, after all, who'd vote for Bush who didn't vote for him last time?

The facts have since settled this issue, but the claim was always foolish. First, the reason Bush lost the popular vote to Gore was millions felt him unproven and not personally up to the office. The Democrats masterfully preyed on this fear by releasing information on his DUI just before the election. After serving a term, obviously those voters wouldn't feel Bush was too green.

Furthermore, at least a few million who hadn't liked Bush would have to feel his record in office was impressive enough to vote for, almost no matter what he did.

Then there was the little matter of 9/11 and Bush's prosecution of the war on terror. While not everyone approved of his actions, there were clearly tens of millions who did.

Yet, amazingly, even some poobahs in the media (famously ABC's The Note) repeated this silly meme. There was never a guarantee Bush'd win, but get new voters? That was a gimme.