A long, long time ago -- the Democrats swaggered into 2004 supremely confident they were going to throw the bums out.

The Primary process was a series of compromises and shrugged shoulders. Ok, so maybe John Kerry wasn't the candidate they'd hoped he'd be. Maybe he was a flip-flopper. Maybe the Democrats couldn't figure out what they stood for.

But it was all good.

Kerry would win because he was a Democrat, and after 4...