By Huang Jing

On January 20, 2007, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton announced the formation of a presidential exploratory committee for the 2008 US presidential election, thereby joining the ranks of confirmed Democratic candidates. The list includes Senators Joseph Biden Jr, Barack Obama and Christopher Dodd.

For those eager to see a change at the White House after 2008, the long-awaited news of Senator Clinton being formally and finally "in and in to win" seems to be a cause for both excitement and concern.

It is exciting because, with the current Bush administration under siege, the entry into the presidential race of a long recognized Democratic frontrunner certainly makes the prospect of a Democratic reoccupation of the White House in January 2009 all the more promising, if not almost certain.

It arouses concerns because the Democratic Party now faces a tough nomination process, which might not only unveil (and even create) deep divisions among the presidential hopefuls, but also cast these candidates' vulnerabilities in a most unfavorable light. In either case, so the concerns go, the Democratic Party will suffer from a premature exposure of its in-house weaknesses well before the 2008 election campaign begins.

A careful examination of the current situation, however, suggests that these concerns are probably overstated, if not totally groundless. It is true that the lack of internal unity and weak party discipline have long been seen as the Democratic Party's besetting weakness. The party has yet to produce an undisputable leader due to deep chasms among the announced candidates and the lack of consensus in the party establishment.

Still, the current situation differs from previous presidential races in some critical regards. It is precisely these situational differences that give the Democrats a unique and outstanding edge in the coming election of 2008.

Thanks to their better-defined policy agendas and preferences, the Democratic candidates, either as a group or individuals, now enjoy a stronger following than their predecessors in 2000 and 2004. The ineffectiveness of the Bush administration in domestic and foreign policy spheres make the alternatives presented by the Democrats appear all the more pronounced and attractive.

Furthermore, although the Democratic Party has yet to come out with a clearly defined policy platform, its newly won control of Congress as well as the ongoing debate on US foreign and domestic policies have nevertheless drawn the Democrats closer together on the major issues ranging from the war in Iraq to the economy, education, health care and social security.

Against this broad backdrop, a tough but fair and transparent nomination process will actually help the Democrats as a whole to unite together rather than be hanged separately in the 2008 election.

Stronger candidates will surely make competition in the upcoming Democratic nomination process more ferocious than ever. This process, however, might well prove to be a blessing in disguise and even a major spur to help the Democrats reoccupy the White House in 2008.

Substantively, a tougher nomination process makes it easier to capture the voters' attention, leading them to focus on the real issues at stake i.e., who is running and with what policy agendas and preferences.

As there now exist nationwide frustrations and dissatisfactions with the Bush administration, this process actually provides the Democratic Party with an opportunity to show the American people that its policy choices and alternatives contrast very favorably with those of the Republicans.

Moreover, no matter which Democrat emerges as the party's choice, he or she will have already obtained significant political advantages from this tough process. The advantage will not necessarily be from winning the nomination, but because he or she is able to present a better and clearer picture of where the Democrat Party intends to lead the country, as well as how and by what means the Democratic Party wants to accomplish its policy goals.

With his or her original policy approaches sharpened in a cutthroat competition, the prospective winner of the Democratic nomination will also be able to demonstrate beyond doubt in the minds of the American people that he or she not only has a strong and formidable personality but is also an effective leader as well as a skillful politician.
 
Under current circumstances, these political qualities are exactly what the nation needs most from and expects most of a new occupant of the White House in 2009.

Huang Jing is senior fellow of foreign policy studies, at the Brookings Institution.

(China Daily January 31, 2007)