It was just after midnight on January 20, 2004, I think.

For the past eight and a half months, I'd been spending most of my free time working with Kalamazoo for Dean, a volunteer organization that gestated through MeetUp and whose purpose was to deliver the county--and beyond--for the feisty Governor from Vermont. I'd attended house parties and was soon to hold one myself. I designed literature and posters for events. I donated money for the first time to a national campaign. I wore a Dean for America button wherever I went, and always carried two or three extra so if some cashier at the grocery store asked me about the button or Dean himself, I could offer them the very button I was wearing and then immediately replace it once I was around the corner.

In short, I was a full-on, self-proclaimed "Deaniac."

It was a done-deal, we all thought. Dean had the money, the momentum, and the manpower. He was the guy with the endorsements, including my hero, Al Gore. It was all over but the shoutin'.

A reader alerted Democrat Taylor Marsh to the following statement Obama uttered while campaigning in Iowa today:

"I don't want to go into the next election starting off with half the county already not wanting to vote for Democrats, we've done that in 2004, 2000."

UPDATE - Glen Thrush of Newsday just published an article wherein he cites the same statement. As I state in the comments, Taylor Marsh is a rigorous blogger.

It's hard to be objective about the other campaigns in New Hampshire but after knocking on about 95 doors of Democratic & Independent voters for Obama in NH this weekend it seems like it is a three tier race, Clinton & Obama are on top.  Distinctly in back are Edwards & Richardson and everybody else is nowhere.  

Originally posted at Show Me Progress.

On Sunday, September 16th the 30th Harkin Steak Fry will take place at the balloon field in Indianola, Iowa. Democratic Presidential candidates Senator Joe Biden, Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Chris Dodd, Senator John Edwards, Senator Barack Obama, and Governor Bill Richardson will be in attendance (and speak to the crowd).

I plan on attending this year.

On September 12th in 2003 I received a phone call from a friend the day before the Harkin Steak Fry. He asked me, "Do you want to go?" It'd been ages since I'd taken a road trip - I agreed to go. So, we drove the 4 1/2 hours to stand in a muddy balloon field and listen to Democratic presidential candidates. We had the time of our lives.

Top tier pundit Stuart Rothenberg ponders whether
or not John Edwards is running too far to the left to make him appealing
to mainstream Democrats and mainstream Americans in today's Roll Call.

I'll admit I'm scratching my head more often at Edwards'
seemingly insatiable desire to run to the left -- far to the left -- of
everyone in the Democratic race with the possible exception of Rep. Dennis
Kucinich (Ohio).

Increasingly, political observers are whispering that Edwards seems to be
running much as former Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) Did in 2004, wooing
organized labor and recycling a class warfare message...While almost
everyone has nice things to say about the former Missouri lawmaker
personally, and Gephardt has his share of loyalists, he finished a
disappointing fourth in Iowa last time, something Edwards presumably hopes
to avoid.

Note: You can now read the rest of the interview with Senator Kerry here.

On Monday afternoon I had the chance to speak with Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democratic Party's nominee for President in 2004. During the interview, which covers a range of topics and which I will be posting later this afternoon, an item of particular interest jumped out at me: According to Sen. Kerry, it was John McCain's staff who approached his campaign about potentially filling the Vice President slot on the Democratic ticket in 2004. Take a listen to and a look at the interchange...

If you're having trouble with the Odeo player you can download the .mp3 file here.

Jonathan Singer: There's a story in The Hill, I think on Tuesday, by Bob Cusack on the front page of the paper talking about how John McCain's people -- John Weaver -- had approached Tom Daschle and a New York Congressman, I don't remember his name, about switching parties. And I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about what your discussions were with him in 2004, how far it went, who approached whom... if there was any "there" there.

John Kerry: I don't know all the details of it. I know that Tom, from a conversation with him, was in conversation with a number of Republicans back then. It doesn't surprise me completely because his people similarly approached me to engage in a discussion about his potentially being on the ticket as Vice President. So his people were active -- let's put it that way.

Singer: Okay. And just to confirm, you said it, but this is something they approached you rather than...

Kerry: Absolutely correct. John Weaver of his shop... [JK aswers phone]

As you might know from reading my posts in the past, I don't usually addend my own thoughts to my interviews. I like to think they speak for themselves. But in light of the fact that I have written about a closely-related subject and I think this item is particularly newsworthy, if you'll oblige me I'd like to write a few words here.

For many Republicans, it has been bad enough that John McCain has voted and worked with Democrats against the majority of Republican Senators on a number of occasions in recent years. For Republicans, I would imagine that reports that he approached the Democrats about leaving the Senate GOP caucus in 2001 represent a borderline unpardonable offense. But it seems that reaching out to the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee to talk about running on that party's ticket would be tantamount to the highest form of political treason to Republicans.

Certainly, I would assume that McCain's campaign will deny Kerry's account of their interactions. In fact I would be surprised if they didn't push back on this story, as they did to the story in The Hill last week. (A call for comment to the McCain campaign was not returned before the time this story was published.) That said, at least from my vantage this story could hardly come at a worse time for McCain, whose campaign for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination is already noticeably foundering.

Candidates and supporters who believe we can win the presidency on a wave of apologies should learn the lessons of history.

Cross posted at the Francis L. Holland Blog.

NEW YORK - Democrat

John Edwards said Tuesday that honesty and openness were essential qualities for a president, and that he was proud to acknowledge his 2002 vote authorizing the invasion of
Iraq was a mistake . . .

"If you asked me what I think the most important personal characteristics of the next president are, I would say honesty, openness and decency," he said. "There's not a single voter in America who doesn't understand that their president is human, and their president will sometimes makes mistakes." http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070227/ap_o n_el_pr/edwards2008

In the September 30, 2004 debate between George W. Bush and John Kerry, the word "mistake" arose 13 times in the context of Iraq, offering Bush ample opportunity to admit that he had made at least one mistake.  Kerry admitted to having made significant mistakes while George Bush admitted to none.

Does Fox News go into a Democratic debate with a plan to be objective?

Unlikely.

Then do they go in with a plan to smear all candidates equally?

The answer to that lies in looking at the questions they asked in previous Democratic presidential debates.  Like the one they co-sponsored in Detroit, October 26, 2003.