We're gonna party like it's 2004!

I see that Senator John Kerry, of whom I was a fan before it was cool, has been unusually sharp in his criticism of the Bush administration lately. Naturally, the first thought I had was that there were now at least two Senators (him and Feingold) saying that the Emperor has no clothes, and really, George, no one wants to see that. The second thought, of course, was whether this is all a prelude to a Harold Stassen-esque run for the presidency in 2008.

I still think, long after everyone else has left the party, that Kerry would make a truly great President, but I also agree with Laura Turner when she writes that he'd likely "lose embarassingly" to any halfway reasonable Republican candidate. Kerry's problem is that he really is that dreaded species, the "Massachusetts liberal," and his nuanced, pedantic attempts to paint himself as something he wasn't just made him look weak. If he runs as Captain Complexity in 2008, he'll get crushed in the primaries, and if he runs as Kerry Unplugged, his only chance to win over Democratic primary voters, he's going to hammered in November. It also really wouldn't help that he already has an unfair reputaion as a guy who'll say anything to get elected, as his only real chance is to run a campaign totally different in style to the one he lost a year and a half ago.

As everyone knows, this blog has a soft spot for losers: the Blue Jays, the NDP, Kerry, Greg Norman (hey, it's Masters week,) Tony Dungy and his Indianapolis Colts, Grigory Yavlinsky, the Official Monster Raving Loony Party. So it will come as no surprise that the guy I really want to see run for President is Al Gore. He's been a consistent critic of the awfulness of the current administration, he'll have had enough time, I think, to pull off the comeback, and like Kerry I think he'd also make a great President. It would also have the added benefit of putting someone who takes environmental degradation seriously in the office most able to do something about it. So while I understand that he's not sure he wants to do it, I hope he changes his mind, not least because...

...I'm pretty sure he's the only Democrat with a chance to beat Hillary Clinton. Don't get me wrong, she'd be a major upgrade on what we've got now, but she strikes me about as conservative as a Democrat can be without actually being Joe Lieberman, and all the hatred she evokes from the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy doesn't change that.

My final, absurdly early, totally unqualified opinion about U.S. Presidential politics is sparked by this related post of Laura's:It seems to me that the Bush crowd is exceedingly likely to act in a way that makes Laura's optimal 2004 strategy the optimal 2008 strategy, which is to say that I think they're going to screw up Iran as well. Assuming that the Democrats actually manage to make a united front against Bush administration insanity, the conditions might actually favour a full-throated liberal insurgency in 2008. Which is ultimately why I think it would be so disappointing to settle for Clintonian centrism, when the potential for so much more is there.