Foxes in the Henhouse How the Republicans Stole the South and the Heartland and What the Democrats Must Do to Run 'em Out

Chapter 1 HOW IN THE HELLDID THIS HAPPEN? November 1, 2004. Election eve in the world's greatest democracy... Let's make sure we got this right: America was in a brutal, nasty war in Iraq, a war that its president, George W. Bush, had convinced Congress and the nation to enter -- under false pretenses. Although the threat of "weapons of mass destruction" served as the justification for America's starting the war, no weapons of mass destruction were ever found. America's fighting men and women lacked body armor and sufficient troop numbers. Over 1,100 Americans had been killed in Iraq -- most of them after Bush declared "mission accomplished" there. There was no end in sight. There was no real international coalition helping the United States, and there sure as hell wouldn't be any willing guinea pigs should Bush be reelected. The war was costing the country $200 billion a year. On top of that, the guy who was responsible for 3,000 deaths on American soil on September 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden, was running free and seeing his terrorist empire grow exponentially. At one point in the campaign, President Bush inexplicably said he didn't give bin Laden much thought anymore. Polls showed that America's esteem in the world community had never been lower and that voters' stomach for the war was tenuous at best. America's economy was shaky as hell. Unemployment was high -- particularly in states considered swing states. For the first time ever since records had been kept, this president had lost jobs. Over 3 million Americans had become unemployed under George W. Bush. Jobs that Bush was creating were, for the most part, service industry jobs at one-quarter the pay of the jobs lost -- and they offered no benefits. Forty-four million Americans lacked health insurance -- 4 million of them added since George Bush had taken office. Thirteen percent of Americans, a total of 36 million people, were in poverty. Let's repeat that one -- 13 percent, or 36 million, of Americans were in poverty, one-third of those children. More than 1.5 million people watched their income fall below the poverty line on W's watch. As a consequence of misguided and suspect tax cuts, the greatest redistribution of wealth from the middle class to the wealthiest Americans in history had taken place in less than four years. There was a projected $7.5 trillion debt, after Bush had inherited a $2 trillion surplus from the Democrat Bill Clinton. More money had been spent in debt under George W. Bush than under any other president in American history. Think of that. But it was actually worse: In his first four years as president, George W. Bush had spent more money in debt than all previous American presidents combined. America's deficit spending spree sat at a whopping $412 billion for fiscal year 2004 alone. Interest rates were threatening to explode. Storm clouds were gathering. This dismal record and all its attendant uncertainty occurred with Bush entrenched in the White House and Republicans firmly in control of both houses of Congress. Democrats were hungry, and smarter than ever. They shortened their 2004 presidential primary calendar to ensure an early nominee to compete with what would be the incumbent's money advantage. They generated millions of new activists and donors of the Internet variety. They were unified in their disdain for W and careful not to beat the hell out of each other in the primaries. It worked. The Massachusetts senator and war hero John Kerry secured the nomination barely three weeks into the primary campaign season. Fallen Democratic pretenders jumped into his open arms. Kerry started raising money faster than Republican lobbyisJarding, Steve is the author of 'Foxes in the Henhouse How the Republicans Stole the South and the Heartland and What the Democrats Must Do to Run 'em Out', published 2006 under ISBN 9780743286510 and ISBN 0743286510.