Clinton: Dems' Strongest Choice In South?

At a time when some foes are suggesting that she can't be elected president because of her high negative ratings in polls, Al From and DLC President Bruce Reed defended their fellow DLC member, Clinton.

Asked if it was a good strategy for other Democrats to question Clinton's electability, Reed suggested that such a plan failed in 2004 when Democrats chose Sen. John Kerry based on who could win.

"I don't think electability is a very good campaign strategy because voters don't know what to make of it. They sat in caucuses in 2004 and chose John Kerry on the basis of electability, and maybe that was the right choice, maybe it wasn't," he said at a newsmaker breakfast yesterday.

The issue, he said, isn't important.

"The next six months are an opportunity to show the country where we are going to go, and voters are lot more interested in that than about whether one candidate or another is electable," said the former Clinton administration domestic policy aide.

By Paul Bedard