[Dan from Michigan]

A Southern governor with a record in a conservative state. I do not know if he is running or not, and I have only seen him on TV once or twice, a long time ago. I have seen his name mentioned among political junkies, but that's it.

I know that the dems want to go back to the South in 2004. Edwards can do it, but experience IMO stops him in the end among swing voters, unless Bush really screws up. Hillary won't sell in the midwest AT ALL. Blue collar guys hate her guts. John Kerry can win, but is a long shot IMO. Massachusetts is an albatross for liberals, more so than Texas is on the GOP end.

I keep coming back to three things.

1. Governors become presidents, not senators.
2. The dems keep saying they aren't giving up on the South. The next dem nominee will be probably from the south or midwest.
3. Whoever runs must sell in the Midwest - especially the toss ups of Missouri, Michigan, and Ohio. Penn isn't really midwest, but that could be thrown in here as well since it is closer to the midwest than Mid Atlantic politically.

[Dan from Michigan]

I missed an obvious choice.

BOB GRAHAM

He's a senator, but also an ex-governor. He carried Florida as well. Seniors love him.

[McGavin999]

The dems aren't going to run to win the WH in 2004. The war on terrorism will not be over yet and there is nobody in the dem party who would take that on. They'll wait until all danger is over before they take a serious run. They will try to make sure they own the house and senate though and will try to make Bush's second term miserable. Like Reagan's second term, they won't succeed.