Democrats' Best Hope is a Republican?

Democrats's Best Hope for Unseating Bush is a Republican?
Showing just how weak the Democratic Party has become, two influential Democrat-leaning magazines have begun touting John McCain as the Democrats' best candidate for 2004. The only problem is that John McCain is a Republican, at least on paper.
What does this say about what the party theorists think about such as Tom Daschle, Tricky Dick Gephardt, Joe Lieberman and sweaty Al Gore?