Kerry COULD Come Back in '08

[liberalpragmatist]

First of all, let me establish a few things. Number 1, I do not think we need him to be the nominee in '08 and I don't think he will be - it seems quite unlikely. I DO like Kerry a lot - he'd be a fantastic president, and I'd be proud to support him again. That said, we have lots of good Democrats, and I'm perfectly willing to accept somebody else if they're a good candidate.

Anyway, the fact that Kerry remains in the Senate and the fact that his aides and friends say Kerry seems willing to parlay the support he received in the election into a mandate for a strong leadership role in the Senate and in the party.

That avenue offers Kerry the POSSIBILITY of coming back. Kerry actually comes out of this with a fair amount of respect, and if he can embrace the role of leading statesman within the party over the next four years, he could wind up being the party's most popular, most respected figure (barring Bill Clinton) by 2008. Think about it: if Kerry uses his position in the Senate to become the Democrats' leading voice on foreign policy and defense, a leading voice on the environment, and a leading voice on health care, the exposure and respect he would get would be enormous. If as a leading member of the foreign relations committee, he were to play a major role in extricating the US from Iraq or making progress towards an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal (both very hard things to do while Bush is in power, but potentially possible if Democrats in Congress take a strong opposition stand and especially if they gain control of Congress in '06), Kerry would emerge as the party's leading statesman. If he embraced a role as a national leader and helped the party embrace an overarching vision, who knows?

I'm not saying the above is likely. But I see it as POSSIBLE. And if by 2008, Kerry is the most respected Democrat in the country, that could put him in an excellent position to contest the nomination again, if he so wished.

[NVMojo]

1. Kerry needs to become the biggest thorn in Bush's side for the next 4 yrs

[JohnKleeb]

2. hopefully he'll be one of the most outspoken guys out there

I wouldnt mind if he ran again in '08 too, I am just so bummed now because he would have made such a great president.

[genius]

3. If Kerry doesn't take office now, I wouldn't vote for him for dog catcher

He might turn over my dog to a glue factory.

[shamrock]

4. wait and see

I'm waiting until Dec. 12 to see if this voter fraud is straightened out, and if Kerry is indeed fighting for our voting rights behind the scene. If not, there won't be any reason to vote. I'm not saying we shouldn't keep fighting, but voting for our candidate won't do it.

[VivaKerry]

5. What would he come back to, is the big question.

And that IS the question of the day. And that IS why this was the most important election in our short, sordid history as a REPUBLIC.

[Lautremont]

6. A lot of people on here seem to think that if you lose an

election, you disappear Mondale-style into the mists. It happens often enough, it's true. But look at Nixon: defeated in 1960, President eight years later. If it can happen to Tricky Dick it can happen to Camenbert John, or whatever that dumb nickname was.

[shamrock]

13. the issue

the issue isn't about losing. It's about vote fraud and having our votes count. I could (sadly) accept that ** won if I thought that it was done fairly...but we don't know that yet. We havn't lost until the Electoral College votes.

[sandnsea]

7. Stand on his record

If he would just do that, stand on his record. And get the Democratic Party to move forward and reclaim the moral high ground. Everything you said plus fighting against trade agreements that exploit the rest of the world. It's time to take a stand, he's the one to do it, I sincerely hope he does.

[markomalley]

11. Agreed. If he was to stand on his REAL record and not the

make-believe rethug-lite record he was creating for himself. He is a progressive pacifist by Congressional record. He should have been proud of that and run on it.

I lost so much respect for him when he "ran to the center" after he secured the nomination.

[autorank]

8. I'm convinced, sure, that my vote was not counted. He did nothing about it

How's he going to get elected. The fundamental issue going into 11/2 was would the votes be counted fairly. Kerry-Edwards and the Democratic honchos failed to even float this. The evidence was there, the proof materialized after the election that fraud took place, and, guess what, he did nothing. I supported this guy all the way with $$$$'s, time, and the supported time of others. I do not think he grasps the fumdamental tennant of democracy: EVERY VOTE COUNTS. WHEN VOTES ARE NOT COUNTED, DEMOCRACY IS HI-JACKED!.

I'm not moving to another country and I will support the Democratic candidate. It will not be Kerry or Edwards because they missed this chapter in civics class.

Corporate America controls the media and we get manufactured news.
Corporate America now controls the voting machines and we get manufactured elections.

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/

[cornermouse]

9. No. He had his chance.

[jdonaldball]

10. Oh please, John Kerry, come back and cave in to the Republicans again

Kerry is a worthless sack of shit. He caved in on Iraq and lost the election. If he's nominated again it will be suicide.

[d_b]

12. I'd vote for him in '08

Kerry/Clinton in '08!

It could be the 'we told ya so' tour.

[cali]

14. It'll be another forty years

before the democratic party puts up another presidential candidate from the Northeast.

[eataTREE]

21. You're most likely right about that, unfortunately.

I liked John Kerry. I liked him before the primaries, I liked him as a candidate and I don't like him one whit less now that he's conceded the election in the face of more people having voted for the other guy. (To the tinfoil-hat crowd who are trumpeting election fraud on a massive scale: Prove it.) If he ran again in '08, I'd support his candidacy as enthusiastically as I did in '04.

Unfortunately, the Democratic Party is going to remember "Massachusetts liberal" (and why they allowed Bush to slander a state which is just as much part of the Union and deserving of the President's respect as Texas is, I've no idea) and run someone who is invulnerable to the charge. I expect it will be one of the Democratic governors of the red states like Bayh or maybe even that guy from Oklahoma. Fine, but why do we keep on playing the game according to the rules set by the other side?

[Copperred]

15. Kerry had better get involved....

There is no question that if Kerry does not get involved in this fraud situation...he and those like him are the enemy within, the enablers....

[lanparty]

16. Milquetoast ...

The man cannot even inspire his followers. I'm not sure he can even keep them awake!!!

No thank you.

Let's put it this way. If Kerry is NOT elected senate minority leader, you'll have your answer!!!!

[Cuban_Liberal]

17. I'm sorry, but no.

Once is enough. He should be vocal in the Senate, and help to organize us into a real opposition party, but one bite at the presidential 'apple' is all he gets from me.

[aquart]

18. Why bother. If the votes don't count, they don't count any year.

[Bluebear]

20. Amen. 2006 is what we need to focus on, not 2008.

If we don't stop them from getting a supermajority in the Senate in 2006 all is lost.

[Pig_Latin_Lover]

19. Possible, but unlikely

If Kerry ran again, I would vote for him. But, I don't anticipate that he would ever make it out of the primaries.

Al Gore would be a MUCH better candidate. He actually has a case for defeating George W. Bush and has a much more solid public persona. And he invented the Internet!

But, seriously, he has become a very powerful speaker after losing the 2000 election and I would definitely put my money on him.

Dean, Clark, or Gore would all make great candidates in '08.

[NuttyFluffers]

22. Still want a Gore/Kerry ticket for '08

Slogan: "Hauntin' you lyin', cheatin' bastards 'til the end of time!!"

But maybe the it's the vindictiveness talking...

[RunningFromCongress]

23. To anyone who says NO, he had his chance...

Nixon in 60...Nixon in 68...Close loss to Huge landslide.

[daa]

24. Senators do not win the presidency eom

[Alex146]

25. fuck kerry in 08

we need someone willing to fight for us.