At times during the Democratic Party's history, officeholders have been unenthusiastic about embracing the party label, rather choosing to promote their "independence." For example, when Fritz Mondale was the candidate willing to admit that he would raise taxes, many conservative Dems were unwilling to campaign at his side.

Although personal animosity has infrequently played a part in this, the real root of the aforementioned reluctance--which has at times bordered on self-hatred (read Zell Miller)--comes from the fact that some politicians have viewed previous Democratic presidential nominees as unelectable. As a result, down ticket candidates for offices (i.e. Congress) have been afraid to campaign with the nominee for fear that his unelectability would prove contagious (like Nixon in 1974, Carter in 1980, Reagan in 1986, et. al.). This phenomenon is evident even today, though to a lesser degree. What is more, the fact that some politicians in the most right-wing areas are reluctant to stand beside the party's nominee at this convention is more a testament to Republican gerrymandering in Texas than anything else.

Nonetheless, there is heartening news on this front. Senator Tom Daschle, a moderate from a state Bush won with more than 60% of the vote in 2000, has followed suit of his Congresswoman, Stephanie Herseth, and made a significant ad buy on at least three leading Democratic-leaning blogs (Political Wire, Eschaton, and MyDD). This ad buy is certainly notable in and of itself as it shows that blogs have become an integral link between progressive politicians and the multitude of grassroots supporters (when a centrist Senate leader embraces the new medium, anyone can). What's more important about the buy, however, is the content of the ad.

The primary image in Daschle's blog ad is of the Senator side by side with presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry; the text of the ad reads as follows:

Give Kerry the Senate
When John Kerry and John Edwards take office, they will need a Democratic Senate they can work with. It starts with Tom Daschle. Click here to make it happen!

The strong image and emphatic text of this ad indicate two important things. The initial point is that for the first time in a long while, the Democratic Party is sincerely optimistic about its potential to retake the Senate. More importantly, Democrats (with the exception of turncoats like Zell Miller) now believe that John Kerry will have substantial coattails if/when he wins the election on November 2nd.

Instead of shying away from their candidate and allowing him to be torn up by a skeptical media, the Democrats are rallying behind Kerry unlike they have for any candidate in years, in part to aide their nominee, and in part because they think it will help them win. As I've written before, this does not ensure that John Kerry will emerge victorious in three months, nor does it even necessarily show that the nation is swinging in the challenger's favor. Nevertheless, politicians like Daschle are very attentive to their constituents, and through pressing palms and polling can often judge voter sentiment better than any public pollster. As a result, when a Demcratic candidate for office in a heavily red state begins alligning himself with his party's (allegedly) liberal presidential candidate, it says a lot to both the Democrats chances at retaking the White House and the Senate.