Tuesday, November 09, 2004

The Comeback...

...well, hardly a kid. John Kerry will be 64 in 2008, but hey, that's really not that old, is it?
Kerry fueled talk about a 2008 bid during remarks at a Washington restaurant Saturday night. He provoked a thunderous reaction by reminding about 400 campaign aides and volunteers that Ronald Reagan twice sought the Republican nomination for president before winning it in 1980.

"Sometimes God tests you," Kerry told the crowd at H20, a restaurant on the Potomac waterfront, according to an aide. "I'm a fighter, and I've come back before."
It's early to make an endorsement, of course, and we're still waiting for a field to develop. Kerry's ability to hold public attention by taking a more prominent role on the Senate floor, though, creates an opportunity that isn't always available to unsuccessful candidates, and it seems that there's some encouragement from important places...
Kerry confidants said in interviews Monday that key members of the campaign's finance team were planning to remain loyal to the 2004 nominee — even as potential 2008 contenders such as Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and John Edwards of North Carolina begin building support — in case he decides to run.

Those sentiments differ significantly from the attitudes expressed after Democratic losses in 1988 and 2000, when pressure mounted on nominees Michael S. Dukakis and Al Gore to step aside after what many party leaders considered error-plagued campaigns.

"After 1988 and 2000, there was a different sort of tone in the fundraising community," said Robert Farmer, who was campaign treasurer for Dukakis in 1988 and Kerry this year. "They felt they had been let down. I don't get that sense now."
His brother Cam makes some interesting points in the Boston Globe...
"He's in a position of national leadership," Cameron F. Kerry told the Globe. A Boston lawyer, the younger Kerry said he spoke with his brother several times in person and by phone about the senator's political future since the candidate conceded defeat Wednesday. "He's going to exercise that role and be a voice for the 55 million people who voted for him. The position he's in gives him a bully pulpit."

He added, "One of the things that John brings out of this campaign is a tremendous number of people have gotten organized, and that's something we've got to build upon."

Asked whether that might include another run for president, the younger brother replied: "That's conceivable. . . . I don't know why that [last week's loss] should necessarily be it. I think it's too early to assess. But I think that he is going to continue to fight on for the values, ideals, and issues this campaign is about."

And that's the bottom line. I still think John Kerry has the intellect, the integrity, the experience, all the qualities that convinced me years ago that he could be a great President, likely the greatest of my lifetime. Another shot, though, is going to be largely dependent on the strength and quality of that fight for those 'values, ideals and issues.' There's a gap in our party leadership that he's in a position to fill. The auditions are over, the stage is set and he's been cast in a starring role. How long the show will run depends on how much he impresses the reviewers.

I wouldn't be surprised to if he's a box office smash.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home