From a reader:

“a bit to my surprise a few folks came proudly to the defense of Senator Kerry.” Jonah, I’ll just reiterate the reader’s point that 48% of the country – 57 million people – voted for Kerry. So why would this surprise you? I guess because you reside in the intellectually insulated world of right-wing punditry, in which the idea that Kerry could ever have been president is completely ridiculous.

Me: This sounds plausible but I think the reader misunderstands my shock. I know that 57 million people voted for the guy. And I realize he almost won. And, indeed, I may be insulated. But I’m no rightwing Pauline Kael.* The fact is I know tons of people, including many professional liberal journalists and Democratic party stalwarts, who voted for the guy. But, I have not once met anybody who actually, affirmatively liked Kerry or considered him to be their first choice for President based on his qualifications, character or personality. I’ve known scads of liberals who gush about Gore, swooned over Clinton, rhapsodized about Edwards, but I have never met this mythological person known as the Kerry-lover. In 2003-2004 liberal journalists told me how much they disliked Kerry — arrogant, elitist, intellectually unimpressive etc — but they much, much preferred him to Bush. Sure, during the heat of the campaign some convinced themselves that Kerry wasn’t that bad, but it was so obvious they were making the best of bad hand. During the primaries they had varying levels of contempt for the guy. It was only when they had no other choice that their language changed. The same dynamic was at work in my email, or at least that’s how I remembered it (in other words maybe I missed or forgot a few gushing pro-Kerry emails from liberal readers amidst hundreds or thousands). It wasn’t until I wrote that Kerry column, that I encountered real enthusiasm for the guy. And, frankly, such enthusiasm still baffles me because the guy is so awful.

*Pauline Kael, you might recall, was the woman who allegedly said that she couldn’t believe Nixon won because she didn’t know anyone who voted for him. The authenticity of the quote is discussed in her Wikipedia entry .