Abstract

They're Off!

This article focuses on the preparation of the U.S. presidential elections. Just past 8 on a Saturday morning in July, the parking lot behind the United Auto Workers Local 997 hall is full. The torchbearers of the labor leader Walter Reuther tradition have filled the tables and lined the walls of the hail. The Wallace brothers are among the last to show. Of the democrats who might run in 2004, only Gore opted for the decent interval that challengers generally allow to pass between the close of one presidential campaign and the start of another. And it has cost him. Everyone around Gore says he wanted to hold off longer. But Tony Coelho, the former Vice President's campaign manager, joined pollsters and strategists in telling their man that it was no longer an option.