US Democrats have a mountain to climb

By Justin Webb BBC correspondent in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Some American presidents are, no doubt, born great. Some achieve greatness. But the majority follow Shakespeare's third way: they have greatness thrust upon them.

Few recognised Senator Bob Graham

I was sitting the other day on the plastic seats of an airport café in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Next to me wearing a natty blue suit and one of those shirts with the buttoned-down collars beloved of American politicians was the Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bob Graham.

One of our BBC team spotted him and invited him over to chat.

Between stories he drank a milkshake through a straw, out of a polystyrene cup.

Hundreds of people passed by to and from the aircraft gates but it seemed nobody recognised him. When our plane was called the senator went back to his entourage - his wife in fact, sitting on an airport bench, wearing a Bob Graham rosette, and reading a thriller.

DEMOCRATIC HOPEFULS Howard Dean, former governor of Vermont Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts Senator John Edwards of North Carolina Senator Bob Graham of Florida Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut Representative Dick Gephardt of Missouri Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio Carol Moseley Braun, former Illinois senator Al Sharpton, Civil rights advocate The contenders in detail

In just over a year's time Senator Graham might be the most powerful man in the world - with global recognition, global responsibilities, all of our futures in his hands.

He will probably still drink milkshake through a straw, but only after discussions with his advisers about the volume of slurping best judged to make a statement of informality and accessibility to the common man.

Real informality, real accessibility, real life, will simply pass him by.

Granted the senator is not a front runner in this race - if he were to become president many Americans would be surprised, but the same was the case for Bill Clinton, for Jimmy Carter. Like them, he has a chance.

Incidentally before saying goodbye we arranged with the candidate that we would be the first journalists to be invited into the Oval Office after he came to power - the Graham presidency would announce its priorities through the BBC. It was a journalistic coup which made us giggle as we got on the plane but of which we might one day be very proud.

Grinning and waving

Our meeting with the senator in Albuquerque came the day after the Democrats formally kicked off their internal struggle to find a candidate capable of beating George Bush.

DEMOCRATS' TIMETABLE Six official debates before end of year Party elections (primaries) between January and March Democratic Party convention opens in Boston, 26 July Presidential election begins 2 November 2004

They chose to do it in New Mexico because the state has many Hispanic voters and they will be an important group to woo in 2004.

But New Mexico is a long way from almost everywhere except old Mexico: it's five hours from Washington with a change of flights and two changes of time zones.

So the first challenge for the budding contenders? Find Albuquerque on the map and get there for the debate.

Not a big hurdle for a chap who wants to rule the world? Well, eight of the nine managed it. One missed a connection and pulled out.

So the podiums were hurriedly rearranged and the eight stood in a lazy semi-circle - grinning, waving, playing the part. When the questions began they went on grinning, waving and playing the part.

This was billed as a debate but the process of creating candidates is not so far advanced that any of our contenders is yet capable of Churchillian rhetoric.

In fact some appeared barely capable of coherent speech. The front runner Howard Dean grasped for stock phrases he had obviously memorised on the long journey.

John Edwards - who is telegenic and young and southern - is, it seems, little else.

The best of the bunch was Dick Gephardt - the party hack who stood and lost back in 1988. He said President Bush was a miserable failure. In fact he kept saying it.

The result: the news show had a ready-made Gephardt clip on every subject ending with the words "miserable failure".

That is polish. That is class.

Big names

But it might not be enough. The fact that George Bush now looks beatable has complicated this year's race.

Bush may be under pressure, but who could knock him off his perch?

Big names are being talked about. Some big names have declared no interest but could possibly be persuaded.

Hillary Clinton has said she would sit this one out, but she was speaking before President Bush hit his current bad patch. Hillary probably remembers that Bill only got to be nominated because other weightier Democrats stayed out of the race.

She will also know that a Democrat victory next year and two terms in office for the winner would allow one of the minnows to seal up the presidency until 2012. She'll be getting on by then.

Al Gore is in the same boat - he didn't want to get beaten twice by the same man - but has all that ambition really evaporated?

If there is a Bush bottom to be kicked, could he resist the opportunity to get his revenge?

And there is one other big name still waiting to declare - the former supreme commander of Nato, Wesley Clark - who will make his announcement in the next few days.

He only became a Democrat a couple of weeks ago, but heck - this is US politics. Big pictures count, the spin teams can - as they say in these parts - sweat the details.

Incidentally all of this is gripping the nation - people in bars and on buses the length and breadth of America are talking about little else.

Oh, all right then. The reality is that two-thirds of Americans - according to a recent poll - could not name a single Democrat candidate.

There is a mountain to climb; we will get to the top but, as yet, we are only in the foothills.