[Drew]

The outcome should be entirely clear on what's going to happen in 2004. I'll break it down very, very briefly:

Republicans: Bush, of course.

Democrats: Lieberman. Why? Name recognition. People are stupid. They'll vote for the most popular person. Even in the primaries.

Independants: Nader. He's the only well-known independant.

The Race: Bush hands down, barring some sort of amazingly huge fuck-up where he decides to not even run for re-election. There are a few reasons Lieberman has no chance, a few I don't like, but it's facts. First of all, he's jewish. That sounds terrible, but that will very adversely affect him against a staunch Christian, being that Christianity is the main religion by an overwhelming majority. He also will be seriously disadvantaged by his stature. Joe Lieberman comes across as very "soft" to many people, including myself. In times like these, "soft" simply is not going to cut it. The American people want safety, and I think a large majority of them find that in Bush's mannerisms. Another thing hurting Lieberman is Nader, his fellow liberal. Last election, Nader fell just shy of the percentage required to receive federal funding, but he isn't giving up. Look for Nader to come back strong this year. He got a lot of air time and name recognition from the role he played in the 2000 elections. Expect him to take a strong 7-10% of the vote. Unfortunately for Lieberman, that 7%-10% chunk is going to come almost entirely out of his demographic, and destroy and already crippled candidate.

Other scenarios: The American people may actually think, and go with Kerry or some other Democrat shooting for the top spot (please, if there is a God, not Al Sharpton). Unlikely as it is, this would present a more considerable challenge for Bush, whose success in the economy and his wars would become much more vital to his re-election. Still, expect to see Nader crush Democratic hopes for the White House in the end.