A good list of possible Democratic candidates for President would not be premature.
Names?
Clinton, Lieberman, Kerry to name a few. Hillary probably has the best chance of nomination, no cite. Although nobody confirms it, of course. Hell, if you want you can throw in Al Sharpton.
Wasn’t there a thread a while back bandying about Mark Warner?
Kerry isn’t likely; parties don’t usually renominate losers (Nixon was a special case). Leiberman just lost his party, and did poorly in 2004, so he’s not likely, either.
Hillary is very likely; as is Warner. Gore might get a second look – he did win the popular vote in 2000, and his movie has put him back in the public eye. Sharpton would run to get attention.
Other than that, who knows? Barak Obama will run eventually, not not in 2008; Eliot Spitzer may run in 2012 if he’s elected governor of New York this year (which seems likely).
From an online poll:
#1 - Fmr. Sen. John Edwards (NC) … 31.2%
#2 - Fmr. Vice President Al Gore (TN) … 29.3%
#3 - Sen. Russ Feingold (WI) … 11.8%
#4 - Fmr. Gov. Mark Warner (VA) … 11.7%
#5 - Other (Bayh, Biden, Hillary Clinton, Daschle, Dodd, Kerry, Richardson, etc.) … 6.6%
#6 - Gen. (Ret.) Wesley Clark (AR) … 4.9%
#7 - Sen. Barack Obama (IL) … 2.7%
#8 - Rep. John Lewis (GA) … 1.1%
#9 - Gov. Ed Rendell ¶ … .8%
Clinton will run, but too many people may hate her for her to be electable. I’m not sure.
Warner is a likely candidate.
Wesley Clark has a shot as someone with bipartisan appeal and military experience.
Lieberman? I’m amazed at how fast he’s gone down in flames. No shot.
Russ Feingold- As much as it pains me to say so, because I’m a big fan, he’s too liberal for the Democrats to nominate. I doubt they think he’s electable.
Gore keeps saying he doesn’t want to run again. I’m inclined to believe him-- I haven’t seen him make pandering speeches in New Hampshire, Iowa, or South Carolina recently, as the others have been, and he hasn’t been raising money as far as I know. I think the speculation is mostly wishful thinking- Democrats saying, See? We SHOULD have gone with the guy who won that election. And he looks so much cuter without the beard!
John Edwards- Based on what? He was a Freshman senator when he was a VP candidate and hasn’t done anything significant since. He’s a nice guy with a decent TV presence and no obvious black marks, but he doesn’t have the clout or experience.
I suspect strongly that Al Gore will be a strong contender. He’s garnered a lot of respect for the things he’s been doing the past few years, got the popular majority in 2000, and arguably should have gotten the Presidency. (Please do not hijack this thread into the Bush/Gore Election 2000 Debate, Part XLVII; I’m stating this because it’s an argument for his candidacy that has or will have convinced a fair proportion of Democrats that he’s a viable candidate, not to rehash old issues.)
I have strong doubts about Edwards. Certainly he’s ambitious enough to try again, but the local daily is a Democratic-oriented, highly-respected-journalistically publication that has carried absolutely no Edwards news. If he’s positioning himself for 2008, he’s doing it so subtly that nobody is aware of it.
I don’t believe Obama will get the nomination, but I expect his candidacy for it to become quite strong over the next year or so.
While Kerry may express interest, I don’t believe he will be a viable candidate, with any significant support outside his home state.
Expect at least one “dark horse” from a Summer 2006 perspective – someone who moves into strong contention out of relative anonymity at the present time, over the next 18 months.
See Howard Dean try again but fail to pick up significant support. (And it serves him right – nobody’s mismanaged a groundswell of support worse than he did in '04 since Dewey in '48.)
Sheesh. The point to this rambling discursus about the News and Observer was that it’s the paper in the city where Edwards lives and works – if anybody had Edwards news, it would be the N&O. And it doesn’t.
“Prexy?” When did that become an abbreviation for “President?”
I first started to see it in conjunction with political cartoons that dated to the 1950s.
How is this a GQ, BTW?
It looks like just a “list possible Democratic candidates” thread, not a “debate who’d be good” one. Has anyone thrown their hat in the ring? Is anyone touring the country? Getting campaign funds? All these questions have factual answers.
Precisely why I put it here.
The question is not designed for the intent of General Questions. Too open ended, and potentially charged.
Let’s swing over to Great Debates. It’s a start.
samclem GQ moderator
Edwards was the first guy I thought of. He’s made many visits to Iowa, has a good monetary support group (trial lawyers).
Gore would be a good competitor, if he runs…I think the online poll has the two obvious choices at the top, makes sense.
I doubt Hilary runs.
I’m really not sure who else could win the nomination if any of the above three get in the race, Edwards is pretty much the only fairly sure bet to run.
I wish I could believe it will be Dean – he’s no liberal but he’s closer than any of the other likely frontrunners. My WAG: Gore. (If only Bernie Sanders were a Dem . . .)
- Of those in the list above, I’d have to agree that Edwards has the best shot…
- …unless Gore runs. I actually have much more respect for Gore now than I did when he was in politics. However, he’s stated he’s not interested so often in the past year that if he did run my esteem for him would drop somewhat.
- I love Feingold. He is, however, as someone else indicated, probably unelectable.
- Warner may surprise some people. If he throws his hat in I believe he’ll do better than anticipated.
- I don’t know much about Bayh. Biden’s damaged from way back, so no chance. HRC? Goodness, I hope not. Daschle? Too demonized. Dodd? Little, if any chance. Kerry? He had his shot, so no. I don’t know enough about Richardson to comment.
- I actually like Gen Clark, but he was caught in a bit of flip-floppery in the last cycle, so I don’t believe he has a chance.
- I like Obama, but he’s not ready, nor do I think he’ll attempt it this time.
- I don’t know anything about John Lewis.
- Ed Rendell? No way, no how.
Gore/Edwards! Now there’s a ticket.
-FrL-
What’s the timetable on the revelation of things like this?
When will the actual nomination be made?
When does it usually become clear who will be running for the nomination?
When does it usually become clear who is a serious contender for the nomination?
-Kris
We’re a long way away from anything. The first primaries are set for January of 2008.
August 25, 2008.
A few months before the primaries. I don’t know if there are relevant filing dates and things. Right now people just have to express interest, and not that many people have officially said “I’m in.” Senators Biden and Dodd have done that, and so has ex-Senator Mike Gravel.