Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) has won the New Hampshire primary, but now faces a real test in the South and other states very different from the first two.

This New York Times report notes

Still, Mr. Kerry has only begun to be tested on the national stage. He has yet to compete among black and other minority voters, or in the South and the big swing states that tend to decide general elections. The quirks of personality, pedigree and policy that left him struggling to connect with audiences for much of last year still leave him vulnerable to assaults from Democrats and President Bush.

With that in mind, here are a few thoughts for Kerry's campaign from U.S. Sen. Zell Miller's (D-Georgia) New York Times bestseller, "A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat."

Of the current crop of contenders, he writes: "Just look at them. They are convinced most Americans will like what they see: John Edwards, shooting brightly through the skies like Halley's Comet. Joe Lieberman, steadily and surely plodding along, one labored step at a time, like Aesop's tortise. John Kerry, the New Century's Abraham Lincoln, posing...in an electric blue wet suit with a surfboard tucked up under his arm like a rail just split. It made me wonder, are there more surfboards or shotguns in America?"

Miller dismisses Dean as shallow and angry, and doesn't mention Clark, probably due to Clark's late entry and the print deadline for the book. But if Miller is right, Clark has little hope.

Like many of the sharper observers around, Miller understands Iraq and foreign policy aren't winning issues for Democratic primary presidential candidates or the party's nominee.

Miller states, "The week after the election in November 2004, there's going to be a lot of empty-feeling Democrats in their sackcloth and ashes wishing they had listened to Al From, Bruce Reed, and pollster Mark Penn, who warned in July 2003, 'The Democratic Party is hurt by current perceptions that Democrats stand for big government, want to raise taxes too high, are too liberal, and are beholden to special interest groups. Half a century ago a near majority of voters identified themselves as part of the Democratic Party. Today that number has declined to roughly one-third.'"

"The party tent," Miller says, "has shrunk to the size of a dunce cap." For more on how Dems might get back in the game, pick up Miller's book.

One tip from Miller to national Democrats campaigning in the South: you do PEEL boiled shrimp before eating them.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at January 27, 2004 09:45 PM

---

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.rosenblog.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/5

---