As Kerry ponders, Democrats crowd in

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/01/23/as_kerry_ponders_democrats_crowd_in/

As Kerry ponders, Democrats crowd in
'04 nominee resisting push to decide on '08

By Rick Klein, Globe Staff | January 23, 2007

WASHINGTON -- With the 2008 Democratic presidential field taking shape fast, Senator John F. Kerry still hasn't decided whether to join the race, and maintains that the early announcements from other candidates won't push him to act in haste , according to Kerry aides and associates.

Kerry has indicated that he will announce his intentions by the end of January, in keeping with his publicly stated intention to do so "shortly after the turn of the year." His aides have drafted a "John Kerry for President '08" financial plan that will restart his fund-raising efforts with a series of house parties organized by activists around the country -- if he decides to pursue the presidency again.

With $13 million still in his campaign account and wide name recognition stemming from his failed 2004 run, Kerry advisers feel that the senator can afford to take his time, unlike some other Democrats already in the race.

"This spasm of declarations from the other candidates is great entertainment, but Senator Kerry is focused on his work in the Senate on behalf of Massachusetts and the rest of the country," said Vince Morris, a Kerry spokesman. "He's talking with family, staff, and supporters, and isn't going to be rushed into announcing his plans."

According to two people who have discussed the matter with Kerry in recent weeks, the deep desire he had to become president in 2004 hasn't abated. Nevertheless, he realizes that another run would be difficult, given his diminished public standing -- and given the Democratic heavyweights who are already in the race, according to the Kerry associates. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the confidential nature of their conversations with the senator.

With the field already crowded with big names, Kerry's inaction is a risky strategy, said Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic consultant who worked for his '04 campaign.

more...

"spasm of declarations": excellent

then glowing comment about Hillary's abilities. Competent he says, Competent.

The quotes from Kennedy come from Sunday's Meet the Press. Kline left out the more positive and flattering parts about Kerry and omitted the comment from Senator Kennedy where he called Clinton competent. Not good, not excellent- competent. Then went on to praise her husband the former president.




SEN. KENNEDY: Well, it tells me that Senator Clinton is in a very strong position for the nomination. I’ve—our family’s had a good personal relationship with the Clintons for the time that he was the president. And she’s been on—I’ve worked with her on our committee on health and education issues. She’s a very competent person and has a lot of ability, and I have a lot of respect for her. And I know all of the other candidates. I know them well and have worked all well with them...


MR. RUSSERT: But, but, senator, he was the nominee in 2004, and there you see he’s at 8 percent amongst Democrats.

SEN. KENNEDY: That’s right.

MR. RUSSERT: What’s the problem?

SEN. KENNEDY: Well, I think it’s, it’s a question—I think these go up and vary—these polls go up and—up and down. The fact is, no matter where you are, as one who’s had some practical experience with this, you have to go back out to that countryside. You have to get out to Iowa and get to New Hampshire homes and get out to the Iowa countryside, and you have to sort of win that nomination. These polls are interesting for a time, but that’s, that’s where this is decided. And that’s for each and every one of them. That’s, that’s what is going to decide. As we all know, that’ll be entirely different in four, five months from now. And each of these people have a lot of—and some others that aren’t on that list—have some good, good talent.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16634747/page/7/

Ok, a new spin on the "joke". It was about poor students getting stuck in Iraq?????

Before that remark, Kerry associates had signaled that he might wait until spring to make his move, taking more time to assess the impact of his "botched joke" about poor students getting stuck in Iraq -- a remark that made headlines and forced him off the campaign trail just days before November's congressional elections.



Oh, and the comments from Kerry's spokesperson are great!!

important information, such as the fact that they drafted a finance plan.

And it is true that some people created some confusion in November by saying Kerry could wait until spring (note that these were once again unnamed sources and that Kerry himself never said that).

And, once again, the negative comments (he realizes that his standing is diminished...) are from unnamed sources.

The declared candidates are already scooping up top-tier political operatives, and those already in the field are capturing early buzz on the Internet and among key party activists. Meanwhile, the money scramble has started: Each potential candidate will have to show fund-raising ability by collecting perhaps $10 million in the first quarter of this year, Elmendorf said.

Kerry "has a bit more breathing room than some folks, but to raise the kind of money you need to compete, you have to get going and sign up some of the top fund-raisers," Elmendorf said. "Anybody who's serious about this, the race is on. If you're going to do it, you've got to do it quick."

My guess is that Kerry has already done his homework on this, and will not need to do any scrambling at all if he decides to jump in. I doubt he'd even get in the race if he had any doubts about whether or not he could raise the money he'd need.

running, I wouldn't be surprised if he's already decided who would help his team and has 'hired' them. If he's not, it's all moot.

where his "campaign" is financially. I would think the only need for him to raise money is to demonstrate he still can.

When they say each campaign has to raise $10 million that ignores they are not starting in the same place.

Kerry starts off with $13 million. So, he already $10 million up on the people with $3 million in a Senate account or starting at zero (as Clark may be.)

Kerry already owns stuff others still have to buy:

Others have to spend big money to get a mailing lists and email lists. Kerry already has a 3 million list - not all of whom are for him - but I bet they have a histogram showing the number of people on that list that did something by various lengths of time. Kerry showed he could raise almost a million over night. (and I seriously doubt the joke touches this at all - Kerry was a long shot in October.) (Hillary supposedly spent millions last year creating a mailing list. So, for many a significant part of that $10 million needs to go to this to raise more money.

Some of the others likely have to spend a lot of money for think tanks to convert 5 sentence plans into something with depth. Kerry already written 4 of the best speeches of the decade - that have very serious well thought out plans.

Obama-Hillary frenzy dies down a bit. Let people think to themselves: "hey wait a minute--this is all good fun, but can either of these people really do the job??" Then they may be willing to look at some of the more tried-and-true options like Kerry or Gore.

I don't see any advantage to him jumping in at the present moment.