It’s astounding that New York Sen. Hillary Clinton is considered a front-runner to capture the 2008 Democratic nomination for president. After losing year after year with weak, northern nominees, one would think that the Party would have learned its lesson by now. Evidently, it hasn’t. The only way Democrats have been able to win 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in nearly a half century has been by nominating a Southerner. That’s right, a Bubba. You don’t have to be a rocket or social scientist to figure that out. In fact, you don’t even have to be a scientist.

Look at the record. Since John F. Kennedy, a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, was elected in 1960, the only Democrats elected president have been his vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas; Jimmy Carter of Georgia and Bill Clinton of Arkansas. In the case of Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, it was technically a Double-Bubba ticket, with two Southerners heading the ticket. Actually, it was more like 1.5 Bubbas; though Gore claims Tennessee as his home, he grew up in Washington, D.C. as the son of a United States senator.

Yet, Democrats seem lost when trying to pick a candidate for president. They can’t find their butts with both hands, a map and an OnStar navigation system. They are clueless and, in many instances, spineless. A poll released two weeks ago by the Pew Research Center for The People & The Press found that Democrats couldn’t be better positioned to win back the White House and retake at least one chamber of Congress.

“Voters are expressing strong and consistent anti-Republican attitudes,” the report stated. “The GOP lags well behind the Democratic Party on nearly all major issues, including the economy, Iraq, education, health care, the environment and the budget deficit. And the Republicans have lost ground in recent years even on such traditional strengths as terrorism and improving the nation’s morality.”

A famous Democrat, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, said: “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” Sen. John Kerry, another loser from Massachusetts, correctly noted that, “Now, we got a president and the only thing he got to sell is fear itself.”

The Bush administration may be peddling fear, but fewer Americans are buying it.

“The Republican Party’s advantage over the Democratic Party in dealing with the terrorist threat at home – which was as large as 30 points in January 2002 – has declined to nine points in the current survey,” the Pew study says. “In addition, the public is increasingly skeptical that the U.S. is prevailing in the war on terrorism.”

With the November general election less than two months away, Democrats received some encouraging news about the prospect of recapturing at least the U.S. House of Representatives.

“As in six previous surveys over the past 12 months, voters by a wide margin say they favor the Democratic congressional candidate in their district (50%-39%),” Pew observed.

Of 17 major issues – such as Iraq, the economy, taxes, health care, budget deficits, employment, crime and immigration – the public favored Democrats on 16 issues. Republicans had the edge in only one area.

“The Republican Party continues to hold a substantial lead in terms of having the ‘stronger’ political leaders – 43% say the GOP has stronger leaders, compared to 30% who see the Democratic Party’s leaders as stronger,” the poll found. “This is a narrower margin than in April, when Republicans held a 53% to 26% edge in this area, but still stands out as one of the few Republican advantages going into the election season.”

The reason Republicans are perceived as stronger leaders is because, in general, they hold strong, clearly articulated views. They expect and demand Party loyalty. And if one of their members gets out of line, he or she is swiftly punished. Equally important, GOP handlers have been skillful in mischaracterizing their opponents, painting those who raise questions about the U.S. presence in Iraq as traitors and linking the invasion of Iraq to the fight on terrorism.

At the same time, Democrats have been their own worst enemy. They have been timid in challenging Bush on the war in Iraq and haven’t exemplified courage on simple things; they got caught up trying to label a Christmas tree a “holiday tree.” Voters don’t want their leaders to be politically correct – they want them to be correct.

And the correct thing for Democrats to do is to nominate a Southerner for president.

In the 10 presidential elections since the John F. Kennedy-Lyndon B. Johnson era ended in 1968, Democrats have won only three times, counting Clinton’s 1996 re-election victory. With a record like that, even poor students of history should have learned by now.