The Washington Post's Mike Allen reports that John Kerry is "fired up" and plans to be an activist when he returns to the Senate in the next session. In fact, he's giving the impression that he wants to give the presidency another shot in 2008:

Democrat John F. Kerry plans to use his Senate seat and long lists of supporters to remain a major voice in American politics despite losing the presidential race last Tuesday, and he is assessing the feasibility of trying again in 2008, friends and aides said yesterday.

Kerry will attend a post-election lame-duck Senate session that begins next week and has said he is "fired up" to play a highly visible role, the friends and aides said.

If so, it would be the first time in twenty years. His previous visibility remained limited to six bills in twenty years and the Iran-Contra investigation from over seventeen years ago. If he pushes through two bills in the next year, he'll have increased his visibility sixfold.

Bob Shrum, Kerry's chief campaign consultant, told reporters during a Democratic panel yesterday that Kerry "will not do what Al Gore did after the last election -- he will not disappear."

"He will be active and vocal," Shrum said. "He has one of the most powerful lists in the Democratic Party and one of the most powerful fundraising bases in the Democratic Party, and I think he intends to use it to speak out."

Several Democrats expressed skepticism about Kerry's plans, saying they believe the party needs a fresh face and must turn a corner. One well-known Democratic operative who worked with the Kerry campaign said opposition to Bush, not excitement about Kerry, was behind the senator's fundraising success. "If he thinks he's going to capitalize on that going forward, he's in for a surprise," said the operative, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Al Gore disappeared because no one could imagine a sitting vice-president losing a presidential bid in a time of supposed peace and prosperity. John Kerry at least can convince himself that he fell short because Americans don't dump a president in the middle of a war, but he's living in denial if (a) he thinks that the Democrats will trust him with the keys to the car again, and (b) that he inspired any significant segment to support him rather than hate George Bush. And George Bush won't be running in 2008, which eliminates his primary qualification for his candidacy.

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