And they're off!

Is Edwards as good as he looks? Can Kerry find some charisma? Can Gore really start over? A guide to the Democratic race to face Bush in 2004.

By Anthony York

Nov 15, 2002 | The Democratic Party has three presidential wannabes with one big problem -- most voters couldn't pick them out of a lineup. While Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and John Edwards, D-N.C., and Vermont Gov. Howard Dean try to overcome the recognition problem, Al Gore is wrestling with his Al Gore problem. While Edwards, Kerry and Dean worry about what we'll remember, Al Gore desperately wants us to forget.

Friday night Gore kicks off a heavy media offensive, part of his efforts to re-create himself in time for 2004, with a prime-time interview with Barbara Walters and a late-night visit with David Letterman. But he'll be joined soon enough by a new crop of unknowns that are already earning their own early buzz.

There's Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who's become the long-shot pick of former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. And in a sign of just how profound the party's identity crisis has become, former Colorado Sen. Gary Hart even stoked the fires of speculation about his political comeback last week, though it's likely that has more to do with a future Senate run than a third White House bid. On the far left, Rev. Al Sharpton and Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, are both said to be considering bids. And after being cast aside by Georgia voters, and her party, Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., is said to be considering a run for president, perhaps on the Green Party ticket.

Yet the race has already seen its casualties. Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., ruled out a White House bid after his party lost control of the Senate last week. And poor election day performances by a pair of governors -- California's Gray Davis, who squeaked out an ugly win, and Roy Barnes of Georgia, who lost the party's 130-year hold on the statehouse -- have diminished their presidential hopes.

Others sit in limbo: Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., fresh off House Democrats' big losses in the midterm elections, is letting some of that sting, and whispered abuse from his colleagues, subside before formally announcing his presidential bid, but it seems hobbled from the start. And Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., is relegated to the sidelines, sitting in a political trap of his own making, having vowed not to run if Al Gore seeks the nomination again.

And so, the Democrats for now are left with a six-pack of candidates lining up for the two-year quest for the White House.

Al Gore: To some Democrats, Al Gore figures in this race like a dentist appointment -- inevitable, perhaps, but not a whole lot of fun to sit through, and with the very real possibility of a painful ending.

Nobody wants to be the next Al Gore this time around, including Gore himself. In an effort to erase memories of his lockbox-toting, Buddhist-temple fundraising, truth-stretching, no-controlling-legal-authority invoking former self, Gore is taking a different approach. Friday, Gore begins a soft launch to his presidential campaign. First he'll appear opposite Barbara Walters (Gore aides assure us that no tears were shed), then he'll stop in with David Letterman.

Next week, he and his wife, Tipper, will begin a 12-city campaign swing masquerading as a book tour, ostensibly to promote their co-written book "Joined at the Heart," which is paired with the photo book "The Spirit of Family." Sometime in between Letterman and next month's "Saturday Night Live" appearance, Gore will begin formal interviews with political reporters from the major newspapers.

But just what Gore's message will be remains something of a mystery. His criticisms of the Bush administration's focus on Saddam Hussein had more to do with the timing of it than the substance. And what was billed as his major economic critique would foreshadow the problems his party had in last week's election: While punctuated with one-liners aimed at the administration's economic policies, Gore's speech was woefully short on solutions.

Still, most say the nomination is still Gore's to lose. "Al Gore is the wild card in this thing," says Democratic political consultant Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran of the 1996 Clinton-Gore team. "The question is, do Democrats coalesce around Al Gore if he wants it? Can they tell Al Gore no? Probably not."

While Gore's aides insist he has not yet made up his mind about his presidential ambitions, the coming media blitz would certainly suggest another presidential run is in the offing. But Democrats say their party's problem is not simply the party's muddled message, it's finding an effective and attractive messenger. And they fear that Gore is damaged goods.

Though there have been some defections, Gore maintains a loyal core of advisors who have continued to offer counsel during the last two years, among them consultants Carter Eskew and Mike Feldman, policy advisor Sarah Bianchi and fundraiser Peter Knight.

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