To understand the election results, you have to appreciate that the Democratic mind-set, which led to Walter Mondale's failed candidacy, is the reason that party candidates fell from Miami to Minneapolis. Mondale's U.S. Senate bid, orchestrated by party elders after Sen. Paul Wellstone's death, symbolized the Democratic off-year disaster. Democrats failed to offer a clear vision of what they wanted to do on the big issues because they can't agree on what they believe. Instead, their campaigns were based on demographics or famous names.