Kerry and Gore Remain Our Best Shot at 2008

James Boyce wrote at Huffington Post what I’ve said several time lately–our strongest candidate are those with experience in a national campaign. This is the best way to learn that the conventional wisdom of the consultants is not always best, and the degree to which the Republicans will do anything, however dirty, to win.

Al Gore not talking about the environment means it’s not really Al Gore talking - the environment is his passion - his soul - and what makes him real. John Kerry not talking about veterans, and war, and international relations and patriotic dissent, takes him away from everything that made him the person he is. It’s not about polling, it’s about authenticity and being true to yourself. This doesn’t show up in a focus group of undecided voters in Florida, but the lesson comes through loud and clear on the first Tuesday in November.

Should Al Gore and John Kerry have known better? Yes. Does the buck for their respective losses stop with them and no one else? Absolutely. But what if each man decides to run again? How should we judge them?

I believe that only those who have gone through the vortex of a Presidential Campaign can truly appreciate the enormous physical, mental and emotional toll it takes, and only those who have done it and lost, can truly understand what it takes to win.

Trust me, you might not believe that Al Gore and John Kerry know much, and you have every right to be angry at them for losing and you have every right to disagree with my premise, not to mention that the fact that I fully admit I would support and work with John Kerry first in 2008 and if he doesn’t run, I’m going to try and convince Al Gore to run - but please, take it from someone who survived, barely, the 2004 election, these two men who lost everything — they know how to win.