The 2000 triumph proved to be the beginning of Tomac's political decline. Soon after the parliamentary elections, Croatia had elections for president. The SDP endorsed Dražen Budiša as its candidate and appointed Tomac to be his campaign manager. What looked like a formality turned into a very unpredictable and increasingly vicious contest when Stjepan Mesić joined the fray. When the contest got narrowed to Budiša and Mesić, Tomac began to pander to nationalist and right-wing voters. This didn't have much effect and Mesić got easily elected, with Tomac's position within the party and the new government becoming increasingly marginalised.