Strategists seek keys to 2008 presidential election

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The votes have barely been counted from the midterm elections, but political professionals from both parties are already picking their candidates and focusing on how to win the presidency in 2008.
Top Democratic strategists on Thursday said firm plans for handling Iraq, tackling rising health costs and addressing other middle-class economic worries would be key to winning the nomination and the presidency in 2008. Their Republican counterparts argued that a return to conservative principles - and a candidate's ability to distance himself from Washington - would prove crucial to GOP hopes of holding the White House.
When examining the lessons of the 2006 midterms, Republicans "really have to look beyond what happened to the president as the result of the war in Iraq and look at what happened to the Republican brand. There are three legs to the stool ... social conservatism, fiscal conservatism and national defense," said GOP pollster Jan van Lohuizen, in a panel discussion at a forum sponsored by the University of Virginia's Center for Politics and the Hotline, a political news service.
In a separate panel discussion, media consultant Steve Murphy said Democrats will be able to hold their majority in Congress and capture the White House if they remain focused on addressing the concerns of the middle class.
While Republican strategists say they underplayed the economy, particularly the rallying stock market, in the run-up to the midterms, middle class voters were actually fed up with stagnant wage growth and rising health care costs despite soaring corporate profits, said Smith, who represented New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a potential Democratic presidential candidate, in the panel discussion.
The 2008 presidential election promises to be a wide-open affair for both parties. For the first time since 1928, neither a sitting president nor vice president is seeking his party's nomination.
Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack is the first candidate officially out of the gate on the Democratic side. But Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York is seen exploring a run and is viewed as a potential frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. Other Democrats expected to test the water include retired Gen. Wesley Clark, former senator and 2004 vice presidential nominee John Edwards, and Sens. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, Evan Bayh of Indiana and Joe Biden of Delaware.
On the GOP side, likely candidates include Sen. John McCain of Arizona, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas. Outgoing Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee announced this week that he wouldn't seek the GOP nomination in 2008.
GOP strategist Rich Galen, who served as an aide to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, said that as a result of the anti-incumbent atmosphere of 2006, none of the 2008 candidates are likely to run as political insiders who know how to make Washington work.
Galen quipped that he half-expected a candidate to "set up a campaign headquarters on Guam" in order to distance himself as far away as possible from the Beltway.
William L. Watts is a reporter for MarketWatch.

Strategists seek keys to 2008 presidential election