Calling John Kerry, calling John Kerry
DENVER -- Democrats do not treat their presidential losers kindly (unless your name is Hillary Clinton, in which case all bets are off).
Jimmy Carter actually once was a winner (in the 1976 election). But then he lost to Ronald Reagan four years later. At this year's party convention, the brief recognition of one of only two Democrats to occupy the White House in the last 40 years (the other being Bill Clinton, of course) took place long before prime-time Monday -- C-Span viewers might have caught it, but that's about it.
Neither the 1984 nominee, Walter Mondale, nor the '88 nominee, Michael Dukakis, have any sort of profile at the convention.
The 2000 nominee, Al Gore, is one of the speakers at the big wrapup event Thursday night at Invesco Field, but that's more because he's reinvented himself as an above-the-fray environmentalist.
And then there's John Kerry. Or, more precisely, where is John Kerry?
He was featured in a video during Monday night's festivities -- the one paying tribute to Sen. Edward Kennedy. But there have been virtually no reminders that, just four years ago, Democrats gathered in Boston to lionize Kerry.
He does gets a podium slot Wednesday -- and will do his part to tout the national security credentials of the new kid on the block, Barack Obama.
-- Don Frederick
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Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
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Man, Hillary needs to seriously pass out the flier to all of her supporters that 23/6 put out. Effective, funny. www.236.com
Posted by: Morgan Walker | August 26, 2008 at 11:04 AM
The Democrat Party angers me when they bash and try to discard past candidates that showed merrit and could possibly bring success in the future. They have this idea that people want to see a new face -not one that they can feel comfortable with. Maybe that is why we lose the presidency so often. Republican's aren't ashamed of those who don't make it on the first try. They figure they get better with practice and the public feels more comfortable with them. Look at Reagan just as an example.
Posted by: MAWC | August 26, 2008 at 01:19 PM
Where is John Kerry? John Kerry flew back to Massachusetts yesterday to attend the funeral of a young man who was killed in Iraq. That's where he was.
I agree with the other commenter -- it's a shame that the Democratic Party often acts as if the way to move forward is to throw its previous standard-bearers under a bus. I'm glad that Obama has given Kerry a prominent role as his #1 surrogate in the media, however.
Posted by: KarenVH | August 27, 2008 at 06:01 PM
DP should have never pick this freak... He is a loser!!!! He can kiss his sentate seat good bye... piece of slime....
Posted by: ANTI KERRY | September 01, 2008 at 04:17 AM