John Kerry in his speech at the DNC showed his nuance and brilliance when he said, "Let's not forget what we did in the 1990s. . . . We just need to believe in ourselves and we can do it again."
That is truly a person living in a world inside his head. Like Dorothy in 'The Wizard of Oz' clutching Toto, closing her eyes, clicking her heels three times and saying, 'There's no place like home...There's no place like home.'
Just say it enough and you make it so. Not true.
We can fight the enemy over here on their terms and in their timing (pre 9/11 world view: Kerry) or fight them over there on our terms and our timing (post 9/11 word view: Bush).
It all comes down to world view.