Best of the Web lists a roundup of predictions that, alas, did not come to pass.::snicker:: Excerpt:

"A clear theme in this administration's policy is that the United States neither needs nor particularly wants the good opinion of the states it dominates. It is indifferent to the legitimacy provided by the respect of other peoples. It is content to rest its claim to international leadership on the exercise of its power. That certainly is not what the electorate voted for two years ago. It is why Bush will almost certainly be a one-term president."--William Pfaff of the New York Times' Paris edition, Oct. 26, 2002

"He has canceled elections in Iraq. He will probably cancel them in Afghanistan. Will George W. Bush put the kibosh on elections in the United States next year? . . . It's easy to come up with a scenario in which canceling the 2004 election could be made to appear reasonable. Imagine that, a few weeks before Election Day, "dirty bombs" detonate simultaneously in New York and Washington. Government, media and political institutions and personnel lie ruined in smoking rubble and ash; hundreds of thousands of people have been murdered. The economy, already teetering on the precipice, is shoved into depression. How could we conduct elections under such conditions?"--anti-American columnist Ted Rall, July 17, 2003

"Elections that feature a sitting president tend to be referendums on the incumbent--and in recent elections, the incumbent has either won or lost by large electoral margins. If you look at key indicators beyond the neck-and-neck support for the two candidates in the polls--such as high turnout in the early Democratic primaries and the likelihood of a high turnout in November--it seems improbable that Bush will win big. More likely, it's going to be Kerry in a rout."--Chuck Todd of The Hotline, in The Washington Monthly, May 2004

"I take it as a given that virtually no Gore voters from 2000 will pull the lever for Bush. But how many lightly-committed Bush voters from 2000 will hold him to account if they believe he gambled big and gambled unwisely with America's honor and safety, and came up short? I think more than a few. And since there were more Gore voters than Bush voters last time anyway, well . . ."--blogger Josh Marshall, June 29, 2004

"One day last May, I assigned the election to John Kerry. I said it early, and often. As I looked more, I saw that it shouldn't even be close. I said that in this space more than once. Now I am so sure that I am not even going to bother to watch the results tonight. I am going to bed early, for I must rise in the darkness and pursue immediately an exciting, overdue project. Besides, if I was up, so many people, upon seeing every word I said of this election coming true on television in front of them, would be kissing my hands and embarrassing me with outlandish praise."--Newsday columnist Jimmy Breslin, Nov. 2, 2004

"Regular readers won't be in any doubt about who I want to win, though New York Times rules prevent me from giving any explicit endorsement. (Hint: it's the side that benefits from large turnout.)"--former Enron adviser Paul Krugman, implicitly endorsing George W. Bush, Nov. 2, 2004

"This is the best election night in history."--Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe, Nov. 2, 2004, just beore 8 p.m. EST
*Note: So long, sucker!

"I know it's hard to believe there was once a time when even a politician would put the country first. But when Eisenhower urged Nixon to challenge the suspect election results in '60, he refused to put the nation through it. Nixon showed a lot of class. [pause] Did I just say that?" "What a difference a half century makes."--Garry Trudeau, Doonesbury, Nov. 3, 2004

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