I imagine Fred would rather be viewed as the captain of a ship taking water than a flopping fish. :-))
Seriously, his lackluster campaign has been a disappointment. I'd wondered if he would be the white knight to rescue us from a field where every major candidate has some problems, but it looks not to be so.
Truly.
I don't even bother much anymore to claim that I was hopeful about Fred early-on, but I was. Early to skepticism, I admit, but still hopeful in the beginning.
It is a bitter time for those who have invested all their hopes with Fred and repressed all doubts. I guess that that is a proper thing to do when you are preparing for battle. The battlefield -- either military or politcal -- is no place for second guessing.
Still it is not much fun when you have chosen your candidate, put him on a pedestal, and gone to war for him, and then reality starts to batter you. I've already trod the path from hopeful about Fred, to disappointed, to angry in my disappointment. I really should do better at being gentle to those who are somewhere else along on that path.