Vorlon's point is absolutely true...the Democrats were much more focused on swing states and swing voters, and it worked...despite a big gain for Bush in the popular vote, they held on to almost all of Gore's close states in 2000, and in many of these states, won independents by double digits. Kerry just couldn't quite overcome the strong nationwide turnout by Republicans.
This demographics of this election bode well for the Democrats' Electoral College hopes in the future. But they bode extremely poorly for their hopes of retaking the Senate. Bush won 26 states by more than 6%, although these states have only 222 electoral votes.
The Democrats do not have any chance to take the Senate in the foreseeable future. The Reps won all heavily Rep states. There were only two real contests this time, in FL and in CO. Remember that the number of predefined Rep states is much greater than the number of predefined Dem states. The Democrat senators in ND, WV, MT and NE could be the next ones. On the other hand, Rick Santorum of PA and Gordon Smith of OR could also be removed.
In the house the Democrats have a better chance.
Gordon Smith is well-liked in OR. He works well with the state's Democratic Senator and the people of Oregon seem to like that arrangement. He won by over 10 points in 2002.
