Hard money, harder races: Congressional Democrats look to 2004. (Dispatches).

ELECTION DAY 2004 IS STILL MORE than a year and a half away, but two men--Sen. Jon Corzine (D-N.J.) and Rep. Robert Matsui (D-Calif.)--are already busy planning how Democrats can retake control of Congress. The hurdles they face are huge: election numbers that favor Republicans, debt going into the campaign, new campaign-finance rules that make fundraising more difficult and a party still stunned by its losses in 2002. But it's just those challenges that may finally give Democrats the motivation to form an effective electoral strategy--and give voters a proactive reason to support ...