If you were John Kerry's campaign manager what would you have done different?

[Nym90]

Actually the Electoral College didn't favor the Republicans this time. Kerry would have won the election if he had won Ohio, which he lost by 2.11% He lost the national popular vote by 2.46%, so it would have been easier for him to win Ohio than the national popular vote. So looking at it that way, the Electoral College actually biased towards the Democrats this time.

The candidate who wins the popular vote almost always does better in the electoral vote than in the popular vote (yes, 2000 was an exception), and ends up magnifying the margin of victory to make it look larger than it really was.

[Nym90]

Have him back off of abortion entirely.

P.S.: Kerry won PA by 2.5% exactly.

Or maybe he should have refrained from gratuitously mentioning Mary Cheney's lesbianism during the debate.  He was trying to send a signal to vociferous gay rights groups who hate Mary Cheney because she hasn't condemned her father's politics, but I think it backfired.

I always figured he was trying to do the opposite, and hope that the GOP base would sour on Bush/Cheney since Cheney hasn't condemned his daughter for her homosexuality. But yeah, in any event it was a stupid and not so nice thing to do; someone's personal history in that area should have no relevance on a Presidential campaign. Unfortunately both sides tend to revert to that kind of mudslinging in every election campaign.