ROGER SIMON COLUMN
JANUARY 7, 2005
WASHINGTON - - I recently had a conversation with former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry on his future and the future of his party:
ME: Many are now pointing to the last election and saying that the Democratic party is in deep trouble and needs fundamental change. What do you think?
KERRY: Those naysayers are completely out to lunch. They don't know what they are
talking about. On every issue that speaks to the qualities of people's lives,
we won and will continue to win.
ME: But you lost the presidency.
KERRY: In effect, in a narrowly-divided country, it came down to Sept. 11. That is unique and unprecedented. We did an extraordinary job. We got almost 10 million more votes than Clinton, and 6.5 million more than Gore. People were invigorated and the youth vote came out.
This augurs well for the future. September 11 was a tough hurdle and the differential.
If 60,000 people had voted differently - - half the people in Ohio Stadium -
- everyone would be writing about, "Why did Bush lose?"
I think that our party tapped very significantly into people's vision for the future. The Republicans didn't have one. Where was their education policy? Where was their
healthcare policy? They are the ones that ought to be worrying!
ME: But it's Democrats who seem to be worrying and saying they no longer know what the party stands for.
KERRY: Our grassroots are very strong and we are very optimistic. It is hogwash that we don't know what we stand for. We stand for children, not tax cuts for wealthy. Our values are not encouraging jobs to go overseas.
ME: Doesn't the Democratic party have to change its message?
What is the Democratic party going to do? The Democratic party stands for a proud
set of principals and values. Service to country, service to community. Do
we not want to stand for that?
All these hand-wringing lamentations aren't going to change what is on
The table to deal with: that the deficit is out of control.
ME: So you are going to continue to say what you said during the campaign.
KERRY: I look forward to going out and continuing this battle. We exceeded our expectations on turnout in every precinct. The problem was our expectations were too low.
ME: Did Sept. 11 make the election unwinnable for you?
KERRY: Unwinnable? That's for others to judge. I can't tell you that. We were
climbing in the last week, and then, with the appearance of the Osama bin
Laden tape, we flat-lined. If we had job numbers (in the media) that weekend instead of the Osama bin Laden tape…but you move on.
I am proud of the campaign. It was a hell of a good campaign. They counted us
out in New Hampshire; they counted us out before the convention; they
smeared us and lied, but we came back to even and were climbing in the last days
and came within half a football stadium of winning.
ME: So Democrats don't have to do anything differently to win?
KERRY: We have to reach out for folks, but not by changing into something else. We
have to persuade people of the virtue of what we stand for. People make
much of the "life" issue, but we had one question on that in three debates.
I welcome the discussion and debate.
ME: Some think the party needs a candidate who is not Washington-based.
KERRY: Personally, I thought George Bush was Washington-based, too. That's silly.
We need to do a better job organizing more people and we have to be smart about
motivating our people to get out. This was not about some issue that we somehow failed to articulate and motivate to people
ME: Are you the head of the party? Are you the voice of the party?
KERRY: There are a lot of different voices. I don't claim singularity. There are
elected and unelected voices up and down the line, including the activist
community.
ME: You haven't grown a beard and you are not hiding out.
KERRY: On the contrary, from day one I have been working and organizing and
continuing and thanking people of the party and of the campaign.
ME: How have people been reacting to you?
KERRY: All over the place we have been getting a phenomenal reception. People are
very warm and it's amazing. In airports, stores, in streets, here and elsewhere. People are genuine about continuing the fight.
ME: Are you going to run for president again?
KERRY: I want to continue the fight. A lot have said go run again. There is lots of
positive feeling and energy. Folks are not discouraged. But it is way too early to think about.
ME: But the Democrats have not renominated a losing presidential candidate since Adlai Stevenson in 1956.
KERRY: I don't think anybody has tried. He was the last to try. Look at the facts.