Traditionally the Democrats have not been particularly kind to failed Presidential candidates. However, I must say they have a point on this one:
WASHINGTON - Democratic Party leaders said Wednesday they want to know why Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) ended his presidential campaign with more than $15 million in the bank, money that could have helped Democratic candidates across the country.
Some said he will be pressured to give the money to Democratic campaign committees rather than save it for a potential White House bid in 2008.
"Democrats are questioning why he sat on so much money that could have helped him defeat George Bush (news - web sites) or helped down-ballot races, many of which could have gone our way with a few more million dollars," said Donna Brazile, campaign manager for Al Gore (news - web sites)'s 2000 presidential race.
I certainly don't understand this. Why would a challenger in an extremely tight Presidential race (and one where he consitently polled just below the incumbent) leave so much money in his campaign? That's a lot of money and I don't blame the Democrats for pointing out that this might have turned the tide. In fact, the actual total may be higher than the $15 million number. If you combine the amount speculated to be in his campaign legal fund we may be talking about $24 or more.
What on earth was Kerry thinking? The only explanation I can think of is that he'd concluded the money wouldn't put him over the top and decided he'd just put it away for future campaigns.
In a race as tight as this one though, that seems to have been a large tactical error. With another 150,000 thousand votes he could have won Ohio (and with it the nation). It looks like a major blunder to me.
Not that I'm complaining.
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