I couldn't believe Obama continued or doubled down on all of Bush's worst policies, and the formerly anti-war Democrats went completely silent. Michael Moore dropped off the face of the earth in 08.
This frustrated the fuck out of me when it happened. In fact, it was a big disappointment all around, since Hope and Change was not at all forthcoming. In my own case Obama's adherence to Bush doctrine and refusal to move the status quo much was what drove me from liberalism to the far left, and Bolsheck choruses have been following me around ever since.
How in the literal fuck did the United States of America [re?]elect him in 2004?!
He was the stupidest, most vengeful, evangelical-pandering yokel who cared nothing about the moral costs of expanding the American Empire. He taught me how to not lose my shit as much when almost a quarter of American adults voted for Trump in 2016.
Incumbents tend to have an advantage in elections. People fear change and keep voting for the same people in power, which is why term limits are so important. John Kerry wasn't the most charismatic candidate to field against Bush either. He wasn't great at communicating his stances or demonstrating consistency, so people turned to the incumbent.
People back then were still deluding themselves that the US was doing good work in the Middle East. 9/11 was more recent to 2004 than the start of COVID is to us today, and so a lot of voters wanted to keep it going until it yielded the results they wanted.
I'll add to that George W. Bush squeaked by in 2004 thanks to the incumbent vote, running against John Kerry, the most boring neoliberal candidate the Democrats had to offer, and Bush's campaign had to invent swift boating and utilize it against Kerry (showing the GOP will gladly throw veterans to the elements for power) to gain Bush's second term.
