Monday challenge

Harry's Place indulges in some creative thinking and comes up with five reasons to be thankful that the hapless Dubya won (sorry, "won") in 2004. Some (it meant the Democrats avoided a hit on the economy, increasing their chances of being in for two straight terms) are more convincing than others (it gave Bush the chance to push the "surge" through in Iraq, in the face of opposition from both sides).

Can any of JMP's impeccably liberal readers come up with any more?