Democrats See Unified Party for November

NASHVILLE, Feb. 8— Democratic leaders, once fearful that their presidential nominee would inherit a demoralized and divided party, said Sunday that Democrats now seemed poised to nominate a candidate who had escaped damage from internal battling and enjoyed broad support from all factions of the party.

Art Torres, the California Democratic Party chairman, said in an interview on Sunday that in a career dating to working for Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, he had never seen "a party more unified proceeding through the primary season." Mr. Torres said that development made him increasingly hopeful about his party's prospects in November.

"That's what Democrats are being smart about now: coalescing around a candidate that has electability, that has gravitas," said Mr. Torres, who has not endorsed a candidate. "The issue is to defeat George Bush and put America back on track."

[E]ven many Democratic leaders who do not back Mr. Kerry said he was emerging quickly as a consensus candidate. In state after state, with Democrats turning out in consistently record numbers, Mr. Kerry is rolling up big margins...

More significantly, they said, the votes held this weekend demonstrated that Mr. Kerry was drawing the support of Democratic voters and elected officials spanning many geographic and ideological lines, and appeared to be triumphing with barely a scratch in what many warned would be a brutal nominating process. There is considerable evidence, Democratic campaign aides said, that people are voting for Mr. Kerry even if they do not agree with him on some positions, and even if they have not particularly warmed to this gawky Northeasterner. This also shows the extent to which fierce anti-Bush sentiment is shaping this presidential election for Democrats.

posted by Blicero : 2/09/2004 03:37:00 AM