Sage Advice for Democrats

Glenn Reynolds has a piece on today's Wall Street Journal OpinionJournal page about Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen's possible Presidential prospects. One of Glenn's statements amounted to an observation about and advice for presidential minded Democrats in general:

[Bredesen, during his gubernatorial campaign] also wasn't afraid to step away from scripts and onto what's usually regarded as enemy turf. One of the things that's struck me most is how well Gov. Bredesen does on conservative talk radio. He answers questions rather than ducking them or retreating into slogans and sound bites, and as a result the hosts (and listeners) respect him even when they disagree. That's an important skill: If you can imagine a Democratic presidential nominee who will hold his own on Rush Limbaugh's or Hugh Hewitt's show, you're imagining a Democrat who could win the general election.

Think how many times in the last campaign John Kerry made reference to a plan and then gave no details, or referred watchers to his website, or how often he referred to his Vietnam service rather than the issues of the 21st century, and I think you'll agree with Glenn.

I did.

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