fyi: Democrats begin testing 2004 presidential bids -- ACTIVATE

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Date Posted: 03:42:20 03/03/01 Sat
Author: fringer
Subject: fyi: Democrats begin testing 2004 presidential bids

any thoughts folks?

Democrats begin testing 2004 presidential bids

Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware
March 2, 2001
Web posted at: 5:01 p.m. EST (2201 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Trips this month by two Democratic senators to the two states that host early presidential contests reinforce the belief that campaigning for the White House never ends.

Nearly four months after last November's U.S. presidential election Sen. John Edwards will visit Iowa this weekend. Later in March Sen. Joe Biden will visit New Hampshire.

Edwards, the 47-year-old junior senator from North Carolina, briefly captured the national spotlight last summer when his name surfaced on the list of finalists to be Al Gore's vice presidential running mate. Gore, the former vice president under Bill Clinton, was the Democratic presidential candidate in 2000.

While Edwards was not picked, aides said the experience of going through the selection process and the attention he received in subsequent months as a Gore campaign surrogate have convinced the senator to seriously consider a possible run.

A successful trial attorney before joining the Senate, Edwards will deliver a speech on "making the law work for regular people" at Drake University Law School in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday. Before that appearance he will stop in Chicago to push his patients' bill of rights proposal to members of the American Medical Association.

In New Hampshire, the first sighting of a potential 2004 presidential contender will come on March 25 when Biden speaks to Manchester, New Hampshire, Democrats at their annual St. Patrick's Day brunch. The group holds this event in conjunction with a major St. Patrick's Day parade through the streets of Manchester later in the day.

Biden's last presidential bid in 1988 went off the rails when operatives for rival candidate Michael Dukakis distributed a videotape showing Biden lifting key parts of his speeches from speeches delivered by then-British Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock. The controversy forced Biden to drop out of the race.

Since then, he has maintained a much lower political profile, focusing his attention on international policy and defense issues while serving as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Biden is up for Senate re-election in 2002.

Democrats still wait for clues from Gore
Other likely presidential hopefuls are staying away from Iowa and New Hampshire for now, but are taking other steps to establish a presence in the field. Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, who also was under serious consideration to be Gore's running mate last year, has become a leading critic of the Bush budget and tax-cut proposal. Kerry is scheduled to address the Colorado Democratic Party's annual Jefferson-Jackson day celebration on March 24.

Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Indiana, has taken the helm of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, a position Bill Clinton once used to help launch his own presidential bid. Gov. Gray Davis, D-California, another potential 2004 contender, faces an uncertain political environment at home as a result of the state's ongoing energy crisis. He is up for re-election next year.

The biggest question mark in the developing field remains Gore, who has given no indication about whether to run again in 2004. That uncertainty also keeps his former running mate, Lieberman, from making any serious efforts on the presidential front, at least for now.

Many Democratic activists in Iowa and New Hampshire say they are waiting for clues from Gore before jumping to join another candidate.

"Everyone is completely respectful of Gore," said Ray Buckley, vice chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party. "He had every activist in the state. People are waiting to see what he's going to do."

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Replies:

Re: fyi: Democrats begin testing 2004 presidential bids -- John W. Moore, 19:45:49 07/12/01 Thu