Kerry in 2008?? I still heart Kerry

Well, we all know that Hillary probably wouldn't win and Edwards couldn't deliver a single southern state.....Kerry again? It seems like he's still saying, "Send Me!"

Less than a week after conceding defeat to President Bush, Sen. John F. Kerry is calling key Democratic donors to lay the groundwork for a political organization that would give him a voice in national politics and position him for another White House run in 2008, close associates say.

His friends, contributors and former campaign aides say he was energized by winning almost 56 million votes — more than any other candidate in U.S. history, except for Bush — and intends to wield influence as the titular leader of the Democratic Party.

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."

Unlike those campaigns, Farmer said, Kerry continues to enjoy loyalty among his key supporters. Farmer compared Kerry with two presidents who lost in their first bids for the job.

"There's a tradition," Farmer said. "Nixon ran and lost and then won, Reagan ran and lost, then won. In this case, you'll have to look at the field and say to yourself, 'Could another candidate have won states that John Kerry didn't win?' And my sense is that I don't think anybody could have done much better than John Kerry did."

Read the rest here2008 Run Among Kerry's Options (LA Times requires registration, but it's free)

posted by Sarai @ 2:28 PM