I felt one of the major blunders Kerry made was to not openly expose the issue of peak oil and how we will never see low energy prices again. 

For those of your who are unfamiliar with this issue I will put some urls at the end of this post so you can read up on it.  The basic concept is that the world will not "run out of oil" but rather run out of cheap oil because not only is demand high but geological conditions can not be argued with.  Think of all of the oil in the world being on a bell curve.  At the top is the highest useage with the highest extraction.  Once that top is passed demand exceeds supply and prices skyrocket. 

We've had such prosperity in the USA mainly based on cheap energy.  Until about 1970 the USA's oil supply had not peaked.  We were in fact a top exporter of oil in the 50's and 60's.  Since then imported oil has kept us artificially on the lower end of the curve where supply exceeds demand and prices are cheap.  Now the world supply is peaking so there will be no means by which to import oil to keep energy cheap. 

Kerry was very foolish to suggest ending dependency on foreign oil simply because it is not possible with the consumption based lifestyle we have going.  He should have exposed the Bush-Saudi relationship at the debates and convinced the voters that the GOP stands to gain by this friendship. 

Think about this....in 1999 oil was $11 per barrel.  Now at about 50 the Saudis are making about 5 times as much revenue while Iraq is having hell to pay for it.  Who stands to gain is the question here and instead of exposing this Kerry chose to "expose" the wood business fronts Bush set up for tax purposes. 

Anyway, you will never hear a mainstream political party talk about this issue because the reality is that the days of 99 cent gas are forever gone no matter who is president.  If consumption and the growth of China and India stay as is we will see gasoline go to 5-7 bucks a gallon.  This will occur gradually but it may be our salvation since conservation will not just be encourgaed but become necessary to survive. 

I urge you to read up on these sites and spread the word. 

http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net 

http://www.dieoff.org

http://www.peakoil.org

http://www.peakoil.com (great forums)

Download a free copy of the life after the oil crash e-book at their web page.  If they have disabled it email me and I'll send you a copy as long as it is for educational non-profit purposes.  texan_176@yahoo.com