DEJA VU all over again.

It never fails. Every time an election result disappoints liberals, it turns out to be due to scandalous methods, underhand tactics, duplicitous charges, and fear.

Fear of what, you may ask? Nothing too serious. Fear of threats that turn out to be baseless (the Soviet Union, for instance), fear of the modern, fear of the other, fear of the new.

It's never because the liberals did anything wrong. It's always because they were made to have seemed to, by someone who tapped subconscious fears of something quite different – most often that old standby, race.

Liberals are never wrong. It's always that they didn't work hard enough. Or didn't spend enough. Mostly didn't spend enough.