It is Sunday and I listened to Meet the Press guests, (Carville, Begala and Maralin), discuss the Democratic party and the 2004 election.

President Bush won re-election because he had a very simple message that resonated emotionally with voters: "Vote for me or a terrorist will kill you", put another way way, "We are at war and you dont change commanders in the middle of a war". Simple, emotional, effective.

In contrast, Kerry's message was "muddled". He tried to explain the nuances and complexity of the problems we face, including terrorism and Iraq.

As political tacticians, I understand their criticism. They think in terms of marketing and simple&emotional always sells better than complex&realistic. As people study the lessons of the 2004 election, I expect the Democrats to come back with equally simple and emotional campaigns over the next few years.

And that worries me. I would argue that President Bush's years in office show that when you dumb things down too much you just act dumb. President Bush succeeded in his elections but his policies are a total failure. His administration has created one mess after another that the next President(s) will have to face and fix.

The war in Iraq is hardly a "mission accomplished" and is likely to end up costing us over $1 trillion dollars! Our trade deficits continue to rise and our national debt is through the roof. They bungled hurricane Katrina and New Orleans continues to suffer. The medicare drug plan is a mess and every month there is another high-level Republican indicted or under serious investigation. I can go on and on but suffice it to say that unless you are in that top 2% of the income bracket, Rome is burning.

It is dangerous to think that dumb & dumber is the right course to follow because it will win the election. The world IS complex and nuanced and I for one want the smartest, best educated and most capable people running my country and my military.

It may take years for people to acknowledge the damage caused by this administration, (and some people will always blame someone else), but I think it is worth the wait to do it right. If we want to be respected abroad, we need to start with respectable leaders at home.