November 17, 2004

Nix Kerry in '08

When a candidate is given their party's Presidential nomination he's just not a Presidential preference. The nominee becomes the leader of his party. Losing may not be tolerable to those Bush bashers who hate Jesusland, but the seasoned, smart Democratic players could understand that defeat is possible. What the Democrats won't be happy with is a leader who failed to help his party when he had the opportunity to do so. John Kerry still has $15 million in the bank for his general election campaign. If he wasn't willing to spend all that on beating the President he could have giving it to his party's Congression election committees. Instead they had to borrow $13 million in total.

It makes me wonder if at some point in the race Kerry thought he wasn't going to win. So he held back his money to save for 2008 when Hillary Clinton is presumed to run. Kerry used Bruce Springsteen's "No Surrender" as his campaign's theme song. It would be ironic the candidate had already given up.

What we can be sure of is Kerry will have to answer some tough questions (unfortunately in private) about how his campaign was run. Even if he offers satisfactory answers any chance of him picking the next DNC chairman got flushed down the toilet. (Who would Kerry's pick be the abrasive Tad Devine?) This news helps Howard Dean, the anti-Kerry. But are Democratic leaders dumb enough to do that?

"Democrats Question Kerry's Campaign Funds" [via Captain's Quarters]