POLITICAL BRIEFING

THE AID OF THE PARTY: One reason Democrats have failed so dismally in presidential elections is that they have spent so much time and effort struggling among themselves for the party’s nomination and paid little heed to the autumn battle against the GOP until it was too late. That’s the view of Democratic National Committee Chairman Ron Brown, who hopes to start correcting that fault at a conclave next month of eight or 10 prospective presidential candidates, party leaders and fund-raisers.

The two-day parley at Pamela Harriman’s Willow Oaks estate in the Virginia hunt country is the first step in Brown’s long-range plan to play a major role in coordinating the strategies of the presidential standard-bearer and other Democratic candidates in the 1992 general election campaign.

“Every four years, we Democrats reinvent the wheel,” Brown said. He claims that more foresight and teamwork will help the next Democratic nominee exploit a broader range of resources and experience. One problem: Brown will have to reckon with the customary reluctance of a presidential candidate to grant influence to anyone outside his or her inner circle.

SECOND-TERM THOUGHTS: After President Bush’s recent hospitalization, Democrats publicly declared that they hoped his health problem would not prevent him from seeking reelection, even though his absence from the GOP ticket presumably would help their now-slim chance of regaining the White House. “I don’t want another accidental victory,” said Arkansas governor and presidential prospect Bill Clinton, referring to Jimmy Carter’s triumph over President Gerald R. Ford in 1976, after the Watergate scandal. “If we get to the White House, we ought to be able to come up to a new vision of the country.”

Nevertheless, some Democrats privately are intrigued with the ultra-contrarian notion that the 66-year-old President’s thyroid affliction, which is currently sapping his energy, might cause him to think seriously about retiring. They point out that, thanks to Operation Desert Storm, Bush would leave office as a war hero, having demolished the wimp image that haunted him for much of his career. They also note, however, that if he did stay on for a second term, his presidency could end in a series of anticlimaxes.

Finally, the contrarians speculate that Bush’s bout with Graves’ disease will make at least one influential adviser view the idea of retirement favorably.

“You can bet Barbara Bush would like to see him call it quits,” said one.

OPEN WINDOW: When the Democratic National Committee voted to allow states to have their presidential primaries and caucuses next March 3--the week before Super Tuesday--its intention was to allow California to have an earlier primary and a more important role in the nomination process. California legislative leaders insist that they may move up the primary date this year, but prospects remain uncertain. Now other states are moving into the opening.

Washington, Minnesota, Maryland, Vermont and Colorado all have scheduled elections on March 3. Wyoming, Nevada and Arizona primaries are set for the following Saturday, March 7. For the Rocky Mountain states, the goal is to create a regional primary (as the South has on Super Tuesday) that would compel candidates to pay more attention to water, energy and other issues that concern the region. “We hope to get a nominee that will be a little stronger on issues . . . in the West,” said Trent J. Hager, executive director of the Colorado Democratic Party.