This is NOT encouraging! Kerry doesn't sound like he is

saracat

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Tue Dec-21-04 08:20 AM
Original message

This is NOT encouraging! Kerry doesn't sound like he is

Edited on Tue Dec-21-04 09:19 AM by saracat

working on overturning 2004 and Will Marshall's statement just proves his disconnect ( what do I expect from a PNACer? ). I hope this is just spin! I know it is faux news but it is an AP story, not that they are credible either!

IGNORE THIS! I just saw the date. Sorry!. I am asleep!
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,139564,00.html

Kerry Won't Go Gently Into Good Night
Friday, November 26, 2004
By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos
PHOTOS

Click image to enlarge

WASHINGTON � John Kerry (search) was not able to break the frustrating record of senators failing to get elected president, but that doesn't mean he's going to fade into history or even give up on his dream of higher office.

snip

"He has a lot to be proud of, and I hope he'll find what I did � that it was great to have the U.S Senate to come back to," said Sen. Joe Lieberman (search), who lost a vice presidential bid when he ran with Al Gore in 2000.

Just two weeks after a disappointing election outcome, Kerry's first day back as one of 100 senators included sharing the spotlight with newly installed Minority Leader Harry Reid (search), R-Nev., and suggesting that he would consider a second attempt at becoming president in 2008.

Snip

But will Kerry's bright star guide his party through its troubled times, particularly as the minority party in both chambers on Capitol Hill, or is his mind to continue campaigning for another run in 2008?

Kerry told a Fox News affiliate the day of his Washington return that "it is so premature to be thinking about something that far down the road. What I've said is I'm not opening any doors, I'm not shutting any doors."

Will Marshall, president of the Progressive Policy Institute (search), the think tank of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council (search), said it's way too early to speculate, and Democrats will certainly have varying opinions about whether Kerry is the best man to run in four years.

"John Kerry is a fiercely competitive guy and he doesn't like to lose," Marshall said. "He could well be thinking about it, but right now is not the time to think about that. He understands that and that's why he won't say anything on that score."

Marshall said Kerry will have to decide how and whether he can use the clout he earned on the campaign trail to lead the party, and it will be up to Democrats whether to follow him. One thing going for him is "there isn't a sense this time that our candidate let us down, as there was from certain quarters in 2000," Marshall said.

"We need a nationally prominent spokesman to convey the message and I think he should be the person who does that," he said.

Juan Williams, correspondent for National Public Radio, said Kerry may have trouble with that. He was roundly criticized for "not connecting" to people in the election, and the Democrats don't appear to have a coherent message to sell yet.

"Kerry is not Bill Clinton," Williams said. "I just think he lacks the charisma, that sense of connection to the very vote that won President Bush the election," Williams said. "He plays very badly to the very audience the Democrats need to attract to get back on track."

Simon Rosenberg, president of the New Democrat Network (search), said Kerry will likely be one of "a series of leaders" who will help shape the ideas and advance the causes of the party in the next four years.

"He won't be alone, but has certainly earned the opportunity to really help develop a voice," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

RESPOND TO EDITOR E-MAIL STORY PRINTER FRIENDLY FOXFAN CENTRAL

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