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Free of cancer, his economic themes set into a book, Tsongas gathered his family in the early part of the year and told them he wanted to run. No other Democrat, he was convinced, would risk the unpopular economic argument that had to be made. But if a single member of his family objected, Tsongas would drop the idea. His wife, a vibrant woman with a law practice of her own, urged him to do it. She would help. His daughters agreed.
Now Tsongas sits on the long wooden porch of his Victorian house in Lowell. At ease in a red sports shirt and running shoes, he seems oddly disengaged from his enormous undertaking. His mind turns to the campaign. "Where are the rest of them?" he asks about rival Democratic candidates. "Here I am, a has- been, all alone." Public argument will help him become better known. What about the lack of political flair? Tsongas is asked. "I have obvious problems," he says. But Tsongas does not invest much concern in the dynamics of leadership. He believes politics is driven by ideas, not style. Nor do the organizational needs of a campaign hold his interest. Tsongas delegates broadly. With a certain satisfaction, he says he doesn't even know the people who are running his state campaigns in California and Iowa.
It is late at night, and Tsongas sits alone in his living room. His golden retriever, Martha, is asleep by the front door. Tsongas is asked if he thinks much about actually being President. He answers yes, he has even thought about a Vice President and certain Cabinet members. Then Tsongas stops and makes a point. "I'm not running to be President," he says of his quest. "I'm running to spread this message."
It is a curious distinction. Somehow Tsongas has managed to disconnect ambitions that have always seemed inseparable. For the moment, the message is what really matters. Either his ideas are vital to the country, Tsongas says, or he will go down in flames. Until that becomes clearer, he will stay resolved. "I must not do what Democrats usually do," he says, "and bend to special interests. I am the message. If I bend, I have no message."