As for Kerry winning wothout the crash? I doubt it. Putting aside that the seeds for the crash were planted as far back as Jimmy Carter, Kerry was a trainwreck, everywhere from his handling of Katrina to Afghanistan. Not to mention he was a rapid fire gaffe machine.
At the end of the day, he was a deeply unpopular, uncharismatic President running against a successful Governor who was the son of a beloved former President. He was going to lose badly, the economy was just kicking the man while he was on the mat.
True. A lot of my friends, people who voted for him back in 2004, say that he was trying to much to be like Mario Cuomo, but ended up biting him in the ass. He tried so desperately to capture the energy of the Cuomo administration because Democrats were trying to run Vice President Ann Richards as the first woman presidential nominee, but couldn’t due to her ongoing health problems. However, he failed to distinguish himself as a unique candidate with unique ideas. He just kept going on and on about carrying on Cuomo’s legacy. It’s no wonder he lost Democratic strongholds like Washington, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota during his re-election bid in 2008.