The Boston Globe informs us that Democrats are split on the idea of a second run for the presidency by John Kerry. Aside from a few far left folks, the rest of the party appears to indeed split. One camp thinks Kerry would lose by a landslide, the other camp thinks it would be worse than that.
In passionate remarks on the Senate floor and before party faithful last week, Kerry spoke directly to grass-roots Democrats, many of whom remain angry over his defeat in an election they believe Kerry was capable of winning.
“I think I'm a much better candidate at this point in my life than I've ever been before — much more knowledgeable, much more confident, much clearer and brief, to the point, and highly focused," Kerry said in an interview, noting that those campaign skills would apply equally to a 2008 run for the Senate or the presidency.
While many Democrats remain wary of Kerry, there were signs last week that party activists were welcoming his defiance of the Bush administration — and some leaders of his own party — on the war in Iraq, the makeup of the Supreme Court, and on environmental policy.
“They like an aggressive Senator Kerry," said Markos Moulitsas Zuniga , the influential Daily Kos Internet blogger . “A lot of the hostility is dissipating. The first step is to have people not hate you anymore."
But, he added, “I don't see that translating into support in 2008. If he's going to be a credible 2008 candidate, he's got a long way to travel to regain trust."
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Privately, senior Democrats wince at the prospect of another Kerry run for the presidency. One called it “delusional" that Kerry could win the nomination, while another Democratic member of Congress said Kerry “blew" the race.
“Maybe it's unfair, but the feeling is he lost, and that was his shot, and he can't win and we don't want to run losers," said the lawmaker, who asked not to be named so he could speak frankly about a colleague. “We need a fresh new face."
It is unknown at this time when Kerry has the plastic surgery scheduled to comply with that request.
