Where Did We Go Wrong?

One distraught man with long hair lofted a sign that read, “Democracy doesn’t work!”

A woman wearing pink tennis shoes carried a poster that read, “Time to secede, not concede.”

“When you feel that the issues are on your side and you don’t win, you have to look at what happened,” said John McCormally, a spokesman for the Iowa Democratic Party, whose state Mr. Bush appears to have carried — the first Republican to do so in 20 years.

“I’m convinced that our side is right on the issues,” he said. “But maybe we’re selling it the wrong way.”

Many other Democrats agreed that Democrats didn’t flub the issues; they flubbed the marketing.

“This election was not about issues,” Democratic strategist Chris Cooper said. “If it were, clearly we would have won.”

Matt Farrauto of the New Mexico Democratic Party blamed the loss on deceptive Republicans.

“When it comes to having a moral compass, our values are more in line with the American people,” he said. “But it’s very difficult to combat the deceptions of the GOP. They don’t seem to have any compunction for honesty.”

Mr. Farrauto said it was “ironic and disingenuous” to portray Mr. Kerry as weak on defense.

Asked whether Democrats were guilty of any such similar attacks, he replied: “We launched attacks, yes. But our attacks were based on fundamental truth. Our attacks were not out of context 100 percent of the time.”

Don Morabito, executive director of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, said Democrats must come to grips with losing the values issues in this election.

“The Republicans don’t have any more authority on moral values than we do. But if they have laid claim to that with voters, we have to deal with it, and find a way to counteract it,” he said.

Boston voter Robyn Miller, who held the sign urging secession, said American democracy needs to be revamped. Of the more than 59 million voters who voted for Mr. Bush, she said they’re “misinformed.”