Democrats face crunch time for '04 | csmonitor.com

Strategists agree that the public won't start paying attention until late next fall, in the run-up to the first primaries. So this early stage of the campaign will be conducted largely within inner circles of the Democratic Party - among contributors, political professionals, and operatives in key states, as well as the media.

"All these candidates are going to spend the next nine months going around talking to the same 40,000 people," said Craig Smith, a top adviser to Senator Lieberman, at a recent panel discussion.

But the first priority is generating cash: In every presidential contest since 1980, the candidate who raised the most money in the year before the election won the nomination.