MEDIA REACTION ON THE U.S ELECTIONS, NOVEMBER 5,

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 002510 SIPDIS FOR WHA/PDA (OHILTON),WHA/CEN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OIIP PREL KPAO PGOV KDEM HO SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON THE U.S ELECTIONS, NOVEMBER 5, 2004 ¶1. Editorial in Tegucigalpa-based moderate daily "El Heraldo" on 11/5, entitled "Democratic Defeat." "Not even the active support of several Hollywood stars, the most influential media outlets, academics, organizations of all kinds, including relatives of 9/11 victims and soldiers who died or are still fighting in Iraq, or the failures and mistakes of President Bush were enough for the Democrats to regain the White House. To make matters worse, they got even weaker in the House of Representatives and the Senate." "Their bet on the vote of young people and a massive turnout that the experts on Kerry's side saw as their key to success, didn't yield the results expected. Although young people voted mostly for Kerry and this election had the largest turnout in history, the Republicans exploited to a great extent the fear of terrorism, and they relied on Christian conservatism, mainly in the rural areas and the mid-size cities in the Midwest and South." "Besides, the Democrats stressed too much the defects of Bush rather than the virtues of their candidate. They were also unable to grasp the idea that their opponents were firmly rooted in the ideological dogmatism, and against it, not even the truth is an effective tool." Palmer