Kerry, Reid, Pelosi plot strategy for next session

Suzanne Struglinski

Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2004 | 9:53 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., made his way back to the Capitol Tuesday to have a closed-door meeting with Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

The three discussed everything from Social Security and stem-cell research to their plans for the new session of Congress, which starts in January.

"We need to be unified and we have a very clear agenda," Kerry, the former Democratic presidential nominee, said. "I'm going to be fighting for that agenda with all my energy and all the passion that I brought to the campaign."

Reid, now the Senate minority whip, anticipates becoming the Senate minority leader, replacing Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., who lost his re-election bid last week. Reid will oversee the Democrats' 44 Senators and work with Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., who controls the Republicans' 55 seats.

Kerry's loss, coupled with Daschle and three other Democrats losing their seats to Republicans, has prompted a re-evaluation within the Democratic party.

Kerry is expected to play a role in redefining the party but is no longer the sole representation.

Reid will be one of the key people at the table as the Democrats try to redefine their party over the next few years, said political consultant Donna Brazile, who ran Al Gore's campaign for president in 2000. Kerry will be a visible part of it, but so will Pelosi and the new leader of the Democratic National Committee.

"(Reid) will be one of the most important leaders of our party," said Doug Sosnik, a senior adviser on the Kerry Campaign. "He has the trust of his colleagues and the respect of Republicans."

The Democrats have a lot of work ahead of them, but Sosnik said changes to the party are not going to happen overnight.

"In the short term, we're completely out of power right now," he said. "We are the opposition party."

Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., said the party needs to trust people and focus their values.

"We've got to get to that human element," Lincoln said. "What is the human need?"

Lincoln said Democrats have to get more comfortable talking about their faith and Brazile took it step further saying the party needs to explain its position on gay rights or abortion, not using words it has in the past but explaining how it relates to the party's fundamental values.

"The message needs to be boiled down to one sentence," Brazile said, but this does not mean the party has to change its core or abandon its base of voters.

"We can't misread this election and think we need to become Republican-lite," she said. '

Lincoln said Reid has the connection with what real people are thinking and feeling, a connection that the party will need. But he will also require help from senators in other Republican states to help bridge the gap between the party and the people there.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.