- The myth of the all-seeing, all-knowing polls: The polls were wrong in the month leading up to the election; the exit polls were broadly wrong, as well.

- The myth of the impartial press: The Establishment Media, lopsidedly for Kerry, failed to discuss in much detail either Kerry's undistinguished Senate record or to demand he authorize the release of all his military records. Dan Rather, who epitomized the bias, will not have to apologize now.

- The myth of higher turnout - that it would help Kerry, that notably the young would turn the tide. Higher turnout generally helped Bush. Fewer than one in 10 voters 18-24 voted - about the same dismal performance they have been showing right along.

- The myth of the role of Ralph Nader. Many Democrats blamed Nader for Gore's loss in 2000; this year the Kerry camp worked sedulously to keep Nader off the ballot in many states - with but rare success. As it turned out, Nader was not a factor in a single state that Kerry lost.

And:

- The myth that Kerry was the palatable Democrat, the plausible Democrat who could win. Howard Dean - he of the primal scream - was the early Democratic primary leader. In challenging him and ultimately defeating him, Kerry had to out-liberal Dean - an easy thing for Kerry to do, given his 35-year record of championing leftist causes and becoming the Senate's most liberal member. Yet having reminded the voters of his abiding leftism, Kerry never could overcome - never could successfully occupy the middle ground he had to have to win.

George Bush has culled more votes than any president in history and rolled to a convincing mandate - contrary to the conventional wisdom from pollsters and from talking heads who spend most of their time massaging one another's egos.

We heard there would be fraud, that the voting system would bomb, that independents and undecideds would break for Kerry, that for Bush the debates were a bust. We heard about the inevitability of another terrorist attack, that Kerry - self-appointed master of the how - had a better way for success in a war he termed a "distraction," in a war in which he said we are joined by "the bribed and the coerced." We heard that Kerry is the truer moderate, the smarter candidate against the dunce, the more nuanced and genuine candidate of compassion and family values. And we were reminded of the risks inhering in Bush's re-election by none other than the dread Osama himself.

The American voters, good and discerning, saw through it all to the heart of the matter. They concluded Bush is the more honorable man, the preferred leader, the more compassionate unifier, the more trustworthy and resolute.

At last it's over. God bless the voters.