I think the mob mentality is mostly burned out now; people can't run on fear 24/7, it's just not in our nature. The politicians who wanted to explore that are clearly on the way out now.
Speaking of on the way out on the other side of the aisle:
Kerry intends to stay out of race in 2008
By Emma Ratliff and Casey Ross
Wednesday, January 24, 2007 - Updated: 02:23 PM EST
Bay State Sen. John Kerry will announce today he’s backing out of a second run for the White House, according to Democratic party officials.
Over the past few months there has been speculation that Kerry was considering a jump into the 2008 presidential race, but Democratic party officials say it won’t happen.
Kerry (D-Mass.) is expected to announce on the Senate floor today that he will not run for the presidency, according to a CNN and Associated Press report. Kerry is also expected to send out a statement via e-mail to all of his supporters.
Gov. Deval Patrick, who previously said he would support Kerry in a 2008 White House bid, is now undecided on who he will back on the Democratic side for the office.
“Had he decided to run, I would have been with him,” said Patrick. “I was with him the last time early and I think very highly of Senator Kerry as a man and as a public servant.”
Patrick added, “He and I spoke about it on more than one occasion and I respect his decision.”
As for the landscape of the democratic race for a 2008 presidential bid, it’s still too early to tell.
“The Senator dropping out will have little effect on the race ... The biggest effect will be in fund-raising. There will be those loyal to Kerry that will now be up for grabs as fund-raisers and I am sure the candidates are already on the phone,” said Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.
Kerry, 64, who lost the White House when Ohio voted for President Bush by 118,601 votes on election night in November 2004, was attending a Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting and unavailable for comment.
His decision leaves a field of nine Democrats running or signaling their intention to do so, including Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois.
The Republican field has a similar number with Bush constitutionally barred from seeking a third term.
Kerry’s 2004 campaign drew widespread criticism from fellow Democrats after his defeat. His critics said he had failed to make a forceful enough response to Republican criticism as well as charges by conservative groups that he did not deserve the medals he won for combat in the Vietnam War.
Kerry’s announcement comes just after the release of “What A Party! My Life Among Democrats,” Terry McAuliffe’s scathing memoir that includes an insider’s look into John Kerry’s failed 2004 presidential campaign. McAuliffe was the former head of the Democratic National Committee.
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