another letter writer points out something that many forget:

what did george w. bush have that john kerry didn't have? he had all those republican radio talk shows that saturate the country behind him. for instance, rush limbaugh is on the air for three hours every day, five days a week, 52 weeks a year from one election to the next. that's full-time campaigning, and rush is only one of many republican talk-show hosts. i would be willing to make a small wager that limbaugh alone has won many a convert to the republican party.

so one has to wonder, what with alll these advantages (non-stop, suffocating radio, red-biased cable, twice as much campaign money, false smear ads), bush still came so close to losing (i actually think he did lose, since ohio was basically stolen)