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US Presidential elections: faceless challengers A declaration of war toward terrorists and corrupt managers - with a fiery speech US president Bush celebrates the unofficial beginning of the election campaign. His opponents are facing a dilemma - according to a new survey they do have a chance of winning, but hardly anyone even knows their names. Two thirds of the 775 respondents could not even name one of the nine Democratic candidates, according to CNN. At the same time, 50% of respondents said that they believed a Democrat might win the next elections. Only 38% percent believe that Bush will be re-elected. After the people conducting the survey gave the respondents a choice of names, they at least recognized the Senator from Connecticut, Joe Lieberman (14%), Dick Gephardt (11%) from Missouri, as well as the Governor of Vermont, Howard Dean (10%). The pollsters also asked members of the Democrat party whether they believed that nine Democratic candidates were enough. Four out of ten party members said it was sufficient, the others would like to have seen an even wider choice.

Title holder Bush On the side of the Republicans, however, the candidate has long since been determined - at the beginning of September, US President Bush staged the unofficial beginning of campaign time in the US. He promised more jobs and the continuation of the worldwide fight against terrorism. Traditionally, the American Labor Day on the first Monday of September is the official beginning of the race to the White House. In Richfield, Ohio, Bush praised the strength of America and the dedication and skill of the American people. He said this had been proven during the rescue work after the September 11 attacks - same as the US soldiers were proving it today on all the sites of the international war against terrorism. Bush accused top managers of being partly responsible for the economic problems of the US in the recent past. The people at the top of the corporations who were responsible for the con games would now have to feel the consequences after some new legislation had been passed. Bush praised the American workers as the best in the world with the highest productivity in the world. The American economy was noticeably recovering. Soon, there would be more new jobs again. According to the statistics, roughly nine million Americans are currently unemployed. This is an unemployment rate of 6.2%, the highest in nine years.

Ten Democrats are competing to be Bush's successor It is a great deal of fun for many journalists - they grab some photos of the, by now ten Democrats who are running for the nomination for presidential candidate in the 2004 election, go to some busy shopping mall and show the photos to the passing shoppers in order to determine how well known the candidates actually are. The result is sobering and corresponds with that of larger surveys. Several people remember Joseph Lieberman, the Senator from Connecticut. After all, he had been Al Gore's running mate. However, not many people know that Lieberman is now running for president himself. "Reverend" Al Sharpton is known to most people as eccentric civil rights activist from New York who would like to follow in the footsteps of Martin Luther King jr. That he also wants to follow in the footsteps of his friend and colleague Jesse Jackson, who ran for the presidential candidacy in both 1984 and 1988 is something not many people outside New York's Harlem know.

Even less known are the Senators John Kerry (Massachusetts) John Edwards (North Carolina), and Bob Graham, Congressman Richard Gephardt (Missouri), and Dennis Kucinich (Ohio), former Senator Carol Moseley Braun (Illinois) and former Governor Howard Dean (Vermont).

For a long time, the Democrats have had the reputation of offering the most divers political ambitions - even more than the Republicans do. However, there is one thing the candidates all have in common, according to Moseley - they want to replace George W. Bush as president in 2004. Not a simple task. Despite America's bad economic situation and the growing public doubts where the war in Iraq is concerned, the president is relatively popular. Frequently, the man in office raises three times the amount of campaign donations in one night as most Democratic candidates combined so far. Untiringly the Democrats are trying to get their supporters to make donations.

After all, with very few exceptions the campaign budget has always been one of the decisive factors for who was going to win the nomination in the end. If this will apply to the Democratic National Convention in Boston at the end of July 2004, then John Edwards with $7.4 million would be leading the field, followed closely by John Kerry with $7 million. Howard Dean has found the internet to be a real gold mine and has also made it to a top position by now. The campaign budgets of the rest of the candidates do not look quite as good as of yet.

The issues If the US economy continues to decline, the Democrats would be well advised with Bill Clinton's "it's the economy, stupid." But so far homeland security and the war in Iraq are on the agenda in the US. And the Bush administration has also monopolized the economy with their tax policies. Now, one year before the nomination, the Democrats most of all have to position themselves on the issues of defense, health care, tax cuts, civil liberties and free trade. No Democrat, according to the opinion of many observers, can win against Bush without a good plan for homeland defense.

Especially John Kerry seems believable. The tall senator from Massachusetts has combat experience as commander of a navy patrol boat in Vietnam, for which he has been highly decorated. Later, before the end of the Vietnam war, Kerry changed sides and became a fierce opponent of the war. Since FDR's New Deal, Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society and Bill and Hillary Clinton's attempt at a health reform that should provide health insurance for all Americans, the health system has become a plaything of politics. However, Dennis Kucinich is the only candidate who has made universal health insurance the main focus of his campaign.

The Democrats have a hard time explaining their resistance against the president's billions of tax cuts. The most important supporters, the low-wage earners and the middle class, don't really profit from them, but tax cuts are always popular. The Democrats know that and thus advertise compromises that promise tax cuts as well. The meaning of many civil liberties is controversial since 9/11. The Patriot Act of October 2001 causes resistance against the harsh violations of privacy that are now legal for the government. Now, many candidates who have initially supported the Patriot Act are thinking about how it may be changed to better protect people's privacy. Whether it is free trade or protectionism - everyone has different opinions about that, irrespective of their electoral district.

The candidates Just like office holder Bush, John Kerry, 59, is from a well-off family as well. He fits right into the East Coast society that Bush never wanted to identify with. Kerry had a gapless political career, in 1982 he won the elections as deputy governor of Massachusetts, two years later he changed to the Senate. Money rules the election campaign, and so the US media rarely forgets Kerry's marriage with Teresa Heinz. She is the widow of ketchup billionaire and Republican Senator for Pennsylvania, John Heinz. Kerry didn't rule out using his own money for the campaign. He changed his mind a few weeks ago - he doesn't want to use his wife's money for the campaign. Furthermore, a few months ago Kerry found out that he is Jewish on his mother's side. Especially with regard to Joe Lieberman, observers see this as a strategically important element. Senator Joe Lieberman, 61, is regarded as a closet-Republican from Connecticut. Lieberman's candidacy begins like the end of his political campaign. But despite his orthodox Jewish faith and his publicity as Al Gore's running mate, the hawk does not get the necessary donations. In 1998 Lieberman used his entire political weight to support the Iraq Liberation Act. Furthermore, he is a Clinton critic. With the exception of John F. Kennedy all presidents have been protestants.

John Edwards is eleven years younger than Lieberman. The defense attorney is relatively new to politics. In 1998 he won a seat in the Senate for North Carolina. While his opponents didn't really take him seriously at the beginning, he is now considered a serious opponent thanks to the money in his campaign account donated by his lawyer colleagues. Strategically, Edwards will have to position himself soon. His Senate seat is up for re-election in 2004 as well, and in North Carolina it is not possible to run for the Senate and the presidency at the same time. Observers believe that Edwards is not going to risk his (almost) safe Senate seat. They believe he was just training for the 2008 elections.

Politically, Dick Gephardt, 62, is a moderate old hand. He founded the Democratic Leadership Council and also was chairman. Since 1976 he has been a Congressman For Missouri. Before that, he was a councilman in St. Louis. He had already run for presidency in 1988. But despite his surprising successes in the primaries of Iowa and New Hampshire he had to give up. In contrast to Michael Dukakis and Al Gore he simply ran out of money.

The physician Howard Dean, 54, is especially popular with opponents of war and the young generation. Similar to Al Sharpton he criticizes Bush's security policies. Many see Dean as Ralph Nader II. Like many politicians in Vermont, Dean as well mobilizes with left-wing populist topics. Just recently, however, he has spoken out for the death penalty - a fact that might cost him many supporters. And now, as the war is "almost" over, Dean is losing his most important issue. He still is one of the most promising candidates, especially among the German media.

With 66 years Bob Graham is the oldest of the candidates. Before becoming a politician, he had already made a fortune. He is the uncle of Donald Graham, the publisher of the Washington Post. Graham is well-liked and famous in his home state of Florida. However, he has kept a rather low profile as a Senator in Washington.

Carol Mosley Braun, 56, former Senator (1992-1998) and ambassador (1999-2002)is considered to be an outsider same as Al Sharpton. The rumor is that influential Democrats such as Hillary Clinton have supported her candidacy. She is supposed to steal Sharpton's thunder where the votes of African-Americans are concerned. Sharpton is the most eloquent of the candidates. He is being received very well - especially among the politically frustrated Democrats. But neither Sharpton nor Mosley Braun can count on generous donations.

While political strategists are analyzing who will drop out of the race at which point due to low campaign funds, more Democrats are thinking about entering the race - for example Joseph Biden, Senator from Delaware who will be campaigning with the issues of homeland security and defense.

Feared opponent - a Democratic Colin Powell? Also former NATO commander Wesley Clark has jumped on the campaign band wagon last Wednesday. According to his principles, he only joined the campaign because when the time and circumstances seemed right to him. The General who, together with Bill Clinton, won the war in Kosovo, increases the number of Democratic candidates to ten. But Clark already has a significant advantage - military experience, something his opponents can only dream of. Even at the beginning of his own military career he was said to have higher aspirations. When he was in Westpoint he was said to have exceptional talent, but also a very emotional personality, almost aggressive. This didn't, however, hurt his career, because the powers that be always valued his talent more than his faults. He has been in charge of strategic plans of the Joint Chiefs of the Pentagon, help with the Dayton Agreement, and was one of the most influential author's of the US military doctrine. He had a good reputation as US European Commander and also as NATO Commander.

Clark never made a secret of his political ambitions, but his chances have never been as good as they were now. They say he was passionate and intense, characteristics that are not liked in the army, but are allowed in the White House.

The election schedule The actual election schedule has not yet been determined. So far, Iowa, Michigan, Washington DC and New Hampshire are fighting about the first primaries in 2004. Because the people in the US believe that first will be the first. Looking at history you can see that good results in Iowa and New Hampshire are almost a guarantee for the nomination. Up to now, that's what the strategic election schedule looks like: first off, Gephardt has to win Iowa, the state next to Missouri. Kerry needs a home victory in New Hampshire, the small state in the northeastern part of the US. However, Democrats in both states are very liberally oriented - the reason that war opponent Dean believes he has good chances in both states - in case the war remains one of the central issues.

After that, there will be the primaries in South Carolina and Arizona. Graham and Edwards will have to prove themselves in the south. However, without good results (2nd or 3rd place) in Iowa and New Hampshire, a home court advantage won't mean a lot for them here. Arizona will be the first fair fight between all candidates - no home court advantage there. Similar to Bill Clinton in 1992, Lieberman seems to be concentrating on Arizona especially. After that they will be fighting about Florida, where Graham has a strong base. At the end of March at the latest, the number of candidates should have been reduced to a much smaller number. And then, also the donations will only go to the potential candidates. So observers are predicting that the sooner the number of candidates decreases, the greater will be the remaining candidates chances of defeating Bush.