Washington ? The Democrats are conducting a star search. Having grossly underestimated President George W. Bush in the last election, the push is on to find a suitable opponent for him in 2004. Who will it be?

Al Gore Jr.? He had the right stuff: the son of a distinguished senator, he also served in the Senate, which was followed by eight years as vice president. It was reminiscent of President Bush’s father, President George H. W. Bush, who had credentials ranging from Republican national chairman to CIA director to vice president. But Bush was defeated, and so was Gore. Both found that credentials got them in the game, but only solid campaigning could take them to the goal line.

It is because Gore is perceived to have been such a poor campaigner that he is having so much trouble raising interest and money for another try. The party is looking elsewhere.

Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., is once again making known his presidential aspirations, but besides offering a war chest filled with his wife’s money, he appears to offer little else. Also, he’s considered to be the most liberal of the Democratic hopefuls, and liberalism is not currently vogue.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., ran as Gore’s running mate, and he has vowed to stay out of the next race if Gore runs. Yet sources tell us that it is Lieberman who is subtly letting party leaders know that Gore’s time is gone. In the 2000 campaign, he was more highly regarded than Gore, just as Vice President Dick Cheney was with Bush. However, he failed to follow the John Kennedy formula for breaking down barriers. In 1960, Kennedy said he was the Democratic candidate who happened to be Catholic, not the Catholic candidate for president. Lieberman, however, tended to wear his Judaism on his sleeve; this in an age when we should all be well beyond biases of race, religion, color, gender, sexual orientation, or any of the other bigoted irrelevancies of the past.

Lieberman is articulate, moderate, decent and steady. He was qualified to be vice president; he is qualified to be president, but he will not get the nomination.

That is likely to fall to Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., an attorney and self-made millionaire who looks Kennedyesque. He has yet to hit star stature, but he has much to recommend him electorally. The Republican base is comprised of the South and Mountain states, with the Midwest being the toss-up region. Edwards would carry his home state and have a shot at Georgia, where conservative Democrats still reign, and Florida, a state that continues to be in play for both parties. And Arkansas is showing signs of coming back to the Democratic fold.

This means that if Democrats keep their Pacific Coast-Northeast base and crack the Republican South, the 2004 election is within their grasp. Bringing Lieberman on the ticket again would practically guarantee that base.

So, what Edwards needs to do from now until the primaries is to carefully pick his issues in a manner to appeal to liberals and moderates alike. These include abortion, stem-cell research, military preparedness, terrorism, nuclear proliferation, taxes, civil rights, the environment, alternate fuels, and aid to education through the college level among others.

If he wins, he would be the first attorney since Richard Nixon to become president. With this in mind, he could risk alienating the trial lawyers and advocate tort reform, an issue usually avoided by Democrats, but not by the public. After all, the public regards attorneys in a worse light than politicians.