Reply #82: Yeah, that's what I'm sayin' [View All]

[maha]

In the case of an incumbent, unless the incumbent has done something completely beyond the pale -- like maybe cannibalism -- it's not enough for him to be disliked to lose the election. The challenger has to be more palatable than the incumbent, or people are often inclined to keep the incumbent.

A good example might be last year's re-election of the recently unelected Gray Davis, who won re-election over a right-wing challenger. Lots of Californians really did not like Gray Davis but they found the challenger more disturbing, so they kept the devil they knew (until the recall).