KERRY STILL THINKS HE'LL GET THE NOMINATION

Yep, John Kerry's camp thinks they're in the right position to gain the Democratic nomination for President in 2008. Here's a sampling from Newsmax.

Here's the scenario the aide outlined for NewsMax:

Hillary Clinton is the front-runner and she has the money and the organization to capture the nomination.

Other potential candidates, including Joe Biden, Evan Bayh and Mark Warner, don't have the money and will run out of cash before the race is over.

I beg to differ. Remember the pivotal issue which governed the Democratic nomination process in 2004, and it was ELECTABILITY.

Neither Hillary nor Kerry, nor Gore will fit this description. No, the Democratic party wants to WIN. This one is about SURVIVAL, and they will realize that if they want POWER then they will have to suck it up when it comes to the ideology of the candidate they choose.

Mark Warner will be their choice, precisely because ELECTABILITY is what in the end, will win out as the primary criterion.

Warner is not the chameleon that Clinton was, but saying one thing and doing another is the trait he most shares with the last Democrat to get elected president.

I have been a Republican donor for years here in Virginia. Just before the Virginia gubernatorial race which ended up electing Warner began a few years ago, I was approached by local Republican operatives about donating to Warner. These were Republicans who had been contacted well before the campaign began, and had been won over by a Democrat. I found this astounding. I never ended up giving Warner money, but I noticed that these Republicans were later rewarded for their efforts with positions within Warner's administration. This guy knows how to talk to "the middle", ideologically speaking. He campaigned on being "fiscally conservative and pro-business" and once elected, promptly increased state taxes. Just know that Mark Warner got a LOT of Republican votes, and got elected in an extremely red state, as a Democrat. ELECTABILITY IS WHAT MARK WARNER BRINGS TO THE TABLE.

There were some fiscally sane policies implemented by his administration, mostly in the areas of trimming fat within state agencies. His turned out to be a popular administration, proof being that his coattails elected ANOTHER DEMOCRAT to the governor's mansion.

Mark Warner will position himself as a fiscal conservative (it's the economy stupid) to placate the middle, and will adopt liberal social tenets. As to the war, he will use weasel words, non-answers to questions, and the press will let him get away with it. We will not have a clue where Mark Warner stands on the war on terror, until after the election.

I think Mark Warner will be a formidable candidate, especially if Republicans don't choose wisely.