Spring Break
Democrats begin planning for 2004 elections
Associated Press
Some Democrats already are auditioning for the role of party nominee.
The big question is when will Gore, last year's nominee, clarify his plans about the presidential race. The betting is later this year.
Democrats around the country say Gore would be a formidable candidate and probably the party's front-runner if he decides to run. But they acknowledge his unsuccessful 2000 presidential race left some lingering questions.
“There are people who think if he wants the nomination, he should have it,” said Barbara Flynn Currie, House majority leader in Illinois. “There are others who think he blew it.”
Gore won the popular vote by half a million votes in 2000 and barely lost Florida — and the election — in the now-famous recount. Some Democrats say he let an election slip away that he should have won because of the strong economy and popular Democratic issues.
“He'll be considered a front-runner just because of his experience and fund raising and people thinking he was cheated out of the election,” said Ark Monroe III, a Little Rock, Ark., lawyer, who was a fund-raiser for Gore.
Gore may have to finally declare his independence from former President Clinton, some say.
“The biggest hazard for Gore is to finally make the cut from Clinton and he has the perfect opportunity to do that over the Clinton pardons at the close of the administration,” said Scott Reed, a Republican political consultant in Washington.
The list of people lining up to provide an alternative to Gore is growing steadily, though few will publicly admit they are running.
Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut are names that come up frequently in discussions with Democrats. Lieberman is out testing the waters and raising money, but has made it clear he would base his own plans on Gore's decision whether or not to run.
“What we're seeing is everybody who wants to increase their profile and visibility doing so,” said nonpartisan political analyst Stuart Rothenberg. “They can't just wait for a signal from Gore.”
Other names mentioned are former Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, now a university president in New York; Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware; former Sen. Bill Bradley — a candidate in 2000 — and Govs. Roy Barnes of Georgia and Tom Vilsack of Iowa.
Candidates face the tough challenge of raising their profile enough to be noticed, Rothenberg said, without raising too many expectations.
When Edwards, a first-term senator, went to Iowa in early March to speak at Drake University Law School, some Democrats expressed annoyance at the move by a Democrat relatively new to the national scene. Gore allies have been clucking about how Edwards recently approached a small handful of up-and-comers from the Gore campaign and, without success, offered them jobs in his Senate office.
The former vice president is splitting his time these days between his home in Arlington, Va., and teaching assignments at Columbia University and two Tennessee universities, Fisk and Middle Tennessee State, in which he is emphasizing families and community building. Gore also is working on a book with wife Tipper.
Gore also has thanked his supporters and contributors with calls and letters, periodically holding appreciation dinners.
“Those thank you opportunities are about 2000, not about 2004,” said Kiki McLean, a Gore spokeswoman.
