[Many will remember the stimulating talk Stephen Medvic gave to 2CDC a few years ago. The article below, written during the 2004 presidential primaries, is prescient in its relevance also to the themes struck in 2008. We've put some leading "predictions" in boldface below. If only Kerry had scrupulously followed Medvic's advice....]

by Stephen K. Medvic
Source (original post at TomPaine.com no longer exists)

John Kerry’s performance in Tuesday’s primaries cements his front-runner position. But, with John Edwards and Wesley Clark winning one state each and the bulk of delegates still up for grabs, the nomination contest is not over. What is certain, however, is that it’s not too early for the leading Democratic contenders to start positioning themselves for the general election. Regardless of who wins the nomination, that candidate would do well to meld the best themes from the other candidates’ campaigns into one coherent message. In addition, he’ll have to begin to develop a governing vision that can capture the imagination of the American public.

First and foremost, following John Edwards, the eventual Democratic nominee will have to sound a populist chord in the campaign. Ideally, the candidate would be able to draw on personal life experiences in order to reveal a humble background underlying the more elite station each of the leading candidates now occupy. If the candidate can’t customize the Horatio Alger myth, he must at least embrace the Democratic Party’s image as the “people’s party.” One lesson of the 2000 Gore campaign—winning as it did the popular vote—is that populism resonates with voters.