Even if Democrats pull together on some big issues, they'll still have to overcome G.O.P. bully pulpits in the White House and Congress—and a new reality: conservative bias in the media. "You've got a whole network [Fox News] out there that's banging for Republicans every day," says a senior elected Democrat. "They're No. 1 in the ratings, and they follow everything the President does all the time. How do you get around that?"

The answer may lie not in a Democratic message so much as a Democratic messenger. The race for the 2004 presidential nomination starts now, and after the ideological debacle of the midterm election, Al Gore is suddenly looking stronger. "He was uniquely forceful in his criticism of the President on the economy and foreign policy," says a major Democratic fund raiser, "and he is the only one among the potential candidates who has run a full campaign and knows what you have to go through to do it." Gore, who spent the weekend before the election campaigning for unsuccessful Florida gubernatorial candidate Bill McBride, seems determined to soften his wooden image. He has taped a Barbara Walters interview to promote his new book on families, Joined at the Heart, and will be host of Saturday Night Live in December. Gore has yet to declare himself a candidate, but few politicians would go through the ritual humiliation of an SNL appearance without a specific goal.

If Gore is best positioned for a postelection bounce, Gephardt and Daschle appear the most bloodied. The day after the election, when reality set in, Daschle conceded he had to carry the blame for Democratic losses in the Senate. "I can't shrug it," he said. "I can't shirk it." Sources say he will probably abandon a presidential run and focus on being Senate minority leader. As House minority leader, Gephardt spent most of the past decade trying to make up the 52-seat loss to Republicans suffered in 1994. "I've been consumed," he told Time, "and I've wanted to win in the worst possible way." Gephardt narrowed the gap to six seats (it widened again last Tuesday), but he didn't win. And while his supporters say he's planning a presidential bid, he is hardly leaving his position on a grace note.

John Edwards, the Senator from North Carolina, was also hurt by the midterms. He campaigned hard for Erskine Bowles' unsuccessful Senate campaign in his home state, and now his own poll numbers look soft. "He's practically the only Democrat left standing in North Carolina," says a fund raiser who has considered backing Edwards in 2004. Edwards' Senate peer, Kerry, has fewer problems. He coasted to victory on Tuesday, and his criticism of last year's Tora Bora battle in Afghanistan, which failed to capture Osama bin Laden, and his credentials as a Vietnam War hero give him an edge. Kerry is a ferocious campaigner, and his wife Teresa Heinz is the widow of the late Senate Republican and Heinz ketchup heir John Heinz, giving Kerry access to a considerable campaign war chest.

Money will matter more than ever in 2004. The McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Act means that soft money is out and donors are limited to $25,000 gifts to the party, well below the typical $100,000 from high rollers in the '90s. Despite his implausible spinning following the election, McAuliffe looks destined to stay on as D.N.C. head because no one else in the party can approach his skill at opening up checkbooks. To raise $100 million in hard money, McAuliffe says he will borrow a Bush campaign tactic and ask fat cats to collect $100,000 in $25,000 contributions from friends and colleagues. "If we don't replace the $100 million in hard money," says McAuliffe, "we're dead." One potential hurdle is the fury of Hollywood donors. Heavy hitters like Hollywood producer Steve Bing (who gave $5 million to Democrats over the past two years) told party fund raisers they were so fed up with what they perceived as the Democrats' appeasement of Bush that they won't continue to fund many candidates.

Still, new restrictions on spending could actually work for Democrats in their quest for the White House. Money will be hard to come by between the crucial primaries in early 2004 and the July convention. "You can't afford to squander much on an internecine battle," says John Merrigan, chairman of the Democratic Business Council during the Clinton years. "People like Kerry and Gephardt, they get it. They'll still be competitive, but they'll be positive. If they aren't and they waste cash early, Bush and Rove will do to Democrats what Clinton did to Dole in '96." Or it could be 2002 redux.

—With reporting by Matthew Cooper, Viveca Novak, Douglas Waller and Michael Weisskopf/Washington

1 | 2

Get the Magazine — Try 4 Issues Free!

Inside Story of America's Closest Election  Barnes & Noble: $21.85

	NATION Election 2002: Winners and Losers Sure, you kept track of the races. But do you know who scored—and who stumbled—behind the scenes on election night? WORLD How Close Are We to War? A guide to the schedule agreed by the UN PHOTO ESSAY Girl Culture A new book by photographer Lauren Greenfield reveals the dreams and insecurities of American girls ARTS Eminem's 8 Mile High Yes, he can act. In a powerful new film, the rapper brings his signature intensity to the big screen