FORGET THE issues that divide Republicans from Democrats. Here's something else that distinguishes political red from blue: For the last 40 years, with the exception of George W. Bush, every candidate the Republicans nominated for president ran for the White House at least once before -- and lost.
Compare that with the slag-heap treatment that Democrats typically accord their presidential also-rans.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday April 23, 2006 Home Edition Current Part M Page 3 Editorial Pages Desk 1 inches; 53 words Type of Material: Correction
Elections: An April 9 article on presidential elections stated, "For the last 40 years, with the exception of George W. Bush, every candidate the Republicans nominated for president ran for the White House at least once before -- and lost." President Ford, the Republican nominee in 1976, had not run for president previously.
Consider, for instance, the way John McCain is regarded these days versus the way most Democrats think of John Kerry. The Arizona senator, runner-up to Bush in the bitterly fought 2000 Republican primaries, is generally considered the early front-runner for the GOP nomination in 2008. Sen. Kerry of Massachusetts, runner-up to Bush in the 2004 presidential race, is just another underdog, far back in the pack trailing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.
Or consider Al Gore's fate after the disputed 2000 election. "By every right, you would have thought the Democrats would have done everything possible to get Al Gore back on the ticket in 2004, since he actually won in 2000," said Peter Hart, referring to the nationwide popular vote. Instead, most Democrats exulted when the former vice president stepped aside. "We not only eat our young. We eat our old," said Hart, a Democratic strategist for more than 30 years.
It's not just the difference between losing the White House and losing a party's nomination. Consider the political trajectories of two former California governors, Ronald Reagan and Jerry Brown, who each ran for president three times.
"This party doesn't forgive defeat," said Anita Dunn, another veteran Democratic strategist. "It's almost like in the days of the old Soviet Union, where you get airbrushed out of the photo." (There are exceptions to the 40-year trend. Hubert Humphrey and Gore both ran and lost serious bids for president, and then, after serving as vice president, went on to win the Democratic nomination.)
So what is it about magnanimous Republicans, who believe in second -- even third -- chances at their party's nomination, and hardhearted Democrats, who view defeat as cause for exile? After all, aren't Democrats supposed to be the "mommy party" of caring and compassion?
This forbearance gap could just be a historic hiccup every bit as random as it is striking. But many see something deeper at work, a behavioral marker in the political DNA that makes an individual either a Republican or a Democrat.
