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Political Overview of the 108th Congress and Elections
Jack Germond
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) has a serious chance of defeating President George Bush in an exceptionally close race because of the  “unprecedented enmity” Democrats have for the current administration, according to journalist Jack Germond.
“I have never seen a situation where the hostility toward a president was so great,” Germond said. “It’s even stronger than during the Nixon years.”
Commenting on the presidential process, Germond said there has been a “steady decline in the quality of the [presidential election] process and the product.” He cited three reasons for the decline.
First, the growing costs of campaigning, especially money spent on television, has altered the way campaigns are run. Second, the inattention of voters is also a problem, Germond said. “Everyone is so busy,” he noted, they pay little attention to the details of each candidate’s campaign. But that could change with a candidate who energizes the electorate. The third reason he believes is the failure of the press to capture the public’s interest.
“Politics is not on people’s minds because politics is not relevant,” and the media, according to Germond, has failed to show the relevance. As evidence of the disconnect between the public and the political process, Germond noted that the turnout in 1996 presidential election was less than 50% of eligible voters, the lowest since 1924.
Germond noted that the situation failed to improve in the 2000 presidential race. He expressed concern about the lack of serious discussion in “a scoreless tie settled by the referees in the Supreme Court.”
Concerning the current Democratic primaries, Germond said he believes Howard Dean was a hit early in the campaign because of his success in raising millions of dollars for his campaign in an unprecedented way and because he challenged President Bush on the Iraq war. Germond said Dean did not lose the race because of his post-caucus speech in Iowa, where he finished a distant third. His campaign failed, Germond suggested, because he has proven to be an “unreliable candidate.”
The dream Democratic ticket, Germond speculated, would be Kerry and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. Richardson would change the dynamics of the race, Germond said, because, as a Hispanic he could energize a growing segment of the population. A dramatic increase among Hispanic voters could be significant in a tight race.
Jack Germond has been a newspaperman covering national politics for more than four decades. Since 1981 he has been based in the Washington bureau of The Baltimore Sun. Author of Fat Man in the Middle Seat, Germond appears regularly as a political analyst for CNN.
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