Democrats hope 2006 a stepping-stone to White House

[Ron Burgundy]

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Opposition Democrats are hoping November 7 Congressional elections provide a stepping-stone to the White House in 2008 and dismissing the idea that Iraq and other problems make the contest not worth winning.

"There's just too much at stake," according to Michael Feldman, who served as a senior adviser to former vice president Al Gore. "As my basketball coach used to say, we'll take the 'w' ('win') if we can get it."

With less than three weeks to go before the critical mid-term contest that will shape the rest of US President George W. Bush's term, national polls are feeding Democrats' hopes of taking at least one chamber of the US Congress.

But a small number of Democrats are privately fretting that winning could be a double-edged sword, making it harder for the party to distance itself from problems like the unpopular Iraq war now powering its electoral ascent.

"That's just not the way it works," said Feldman. "It's nearly impossible to figure out now what the political dynamic is going to be in a presidential election that's taking place over two years from now."

Former Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer agreed that two years is an eternity in US politics, saying that "nobody can make any accurate prediction" about what the presidential campaign landscape will look like.

"Every cycle is a new cycle with its own dynamic," he said. "In 2004, could anybody have linked President Bush's victory to the trouble Republicans are in now? Who, after (former president Bill) Clinton's victory in 1992 would have predicted the ouster of all things Democratic in 1994?"

But Fleischer, guessing at a Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives, added that such a victory has potential pitfalls, saying: "If they take it by, say, five or 10 votes, they won't be able to run the place."

Fleischer said that's because the Democrats traditionally have not had the same level of party discipline as Republicans, who have passed much of Bush's legislative agenda without much -- if any -- Democratic support.

But for Jamal Simmons, another former Gore aide, the Democrats have to do well on November 7 in order to rally their activists and the supporters whose donations are the lifeblood of modern US political campaigns.

"A victory in 2006 will be a major step in the right direction for 2008 because both donors and voters will feel an enormous amount of confidence," he said.

Democrats were "pretty demoralized after the last couple of elections and a victory will certianly raise everyone's spirits and energy level" ahead of the race for the White House, he said.

There are other ways that the mid-term elections can help shape the presidential race: Tipping key governorships, which are both launching pads for White House bids and critical assets to presidential campaigns, and shifting the national agenda onto terrain more favorable to Democrats, he said.

Simmons said that gubernatorial victories in the dozen or so up-for-grabs states that decide US presidential contests can be key assets in the race for the White House.

However, he said, "a big question will be how the Democrats govern which house of Congress."

Simmons said top Democrats in the House have outlined an agenda aimed at uniting the party behind broadly popular initiatives like tightening ethics controls on the US Congress and implementing the recommendations of the commission that investigated the September 11, 2001 terrorist strikes.