It is not surprising that every new election in South Korea's young democracy brings fresh lessons.
Thursday's presidential vote was a cliff-hanger to the end. The eventual winner, Roh Moo-hyun, lost a key political ally on the eve of the poll.
The reason popular soccer chief Chung Mong-joon gave for withdrawing his support was Mr Roh's increasingly fierce anti-Washington rhetoric, particularly the claim that South Korea may have to intervene to prevent a war between North Korea and the US.
It was merely the latest jibe from a leader who is a keen proponent of the 'sunshine' engagement with Pyongyang pioneered by his predecessor Kim Dae-jung.
Anti-American sentiment had been reaching fever pitch across South Korea in the lead-up to the poll, with commentators providing an array of reasons why the old ally should be proving so recalcitrant.
Many younger South Koreans drew considerable hope from the now threatened sunshine policy and were less than happy at US President George W. Bush's grouping of North Korea among his self-described 'axis of evil'.
Mr Roh certainly showed himself to be abreast of the popular mood as he rode the anti-US tide.
