And speaking of John Gard

John Gard seems to be totally clueless as to why he lost his election. The American public had just finished a complete election day rejection of the Bush Administration's tactics of trying to convince the public that it is just too dangerous to vote for Democrats when Gard busted out this (from WBAY):

Gard says he isn't shocked by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's abrupt resignation. His concern is what impact it will have on terrorism.

"The enemy is watching, and they see how people react, and they realized that if you can mess with American public opinion you can weaken their resolve, and that will allow a terrorist, our enemies, to gain strongholds where they shouldn't. That's my belief."

"I just hope with the gang that's going in there now that they remember that we are living in a dangerous world, and I just hope they are committed to standing with the troops and committed to realizing that America is not a guaranteed thing. It requires nurturing, it requires caretaking. And you got to understand, you take the fight to the enemy, you don't let them take the fight to you."

John, put down the Bush talking points and slowly back away. Really, it's time. Junk like this help swing the 8th CD into the Dem column. No one bought it and even President Bush has changed his tune dramatically in the last week.

Perhaps I shouldn't expect more from a candidate that couldn't understand the national polling showing just how unhappy the people were with President Bush. Approval ratings in the thirties for President Bush didn't scare John Gard. No sir. He brought the president into Green Bay for some good ol' boy backslapping when the AP had the president's approval ratings at his lowest level of 33 percent. Some might call that loyalty. I'd call it ostrich-like devotion.

Just a few days before the election, the Republican that won the governor's race in Florida blew off the president for fear of what it could do to his poll numbers. When Bush came to a rally for the candidate, the candidate went elsewhere.

But not John Gard. He paraded people the public disapproves of through Green Bay like a starstruck teenager and then had to wonder why he lost the race. Even Vice President Dick Cheney's approval numbers in the teens didn't scare John Gard. He brought the vice president not long after he shot a guy in the face.

And now John Gard is letting everyone know he is going to run for something else. His thank letter to his supporters included this line:

Ultimately we narrowly lost. . . this time.

and this line:

Get ready: the future is right around the corner

I can't wait to see who else is around the corner to campaign for Gard next time. Tom DeLay probably has some free time...for now. Better snatch him up quick before the word "time" means something else to DeLay.

The John Gard that ran the Joint Finance Committee was an ok guy. If that guy had run for Congress, he might have won. But the John Gard that was the Speaker of the Assembly ran for Congress and he lost. As he gears up for another election, will Gard reconnect with that little farm boy from Lena and emerge a better candidate next time? We'll see.

In the meantime, are there bets on what office Gard will run for next? He left his "John Gard for Congress" website up with just a post office box listed. Is he leaving the up for a reason? Or does he have his eye on something else?