Democratic Ticket, 2008
So, who are your favorites?
Let’s take a look at the candidates here, those that are being tossed around in the blogosphere, in alphabetical order:
Al Gore, former Vice-President
Al Sharpton, former candidate for Mayor/Senator/President
Barack Obama, Senator from Illinois
Bill Bradley, former Senator from New Jersey
Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico, former US Ambassador to the U.N.
Blanche Lincoln, Senator from Arkansas, youngest woman elected to Senate
Bob Graham, Senator from Florida
Chris Dodd, Senator from Connecticut; might run for Governor of Connecticut in 2006
Dennis Kucinich, Congressional Representative from Ohio
Ed Rendell, Governor of Pennsylvania, former chair of DNC
Evan Bayh, Senator from Indiana
Gary Hart, former Senator from Colorado
Harold Ford, Jr, Congressional representative from Tennessee
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator from New York and former First Lady
Howard Dean, former Governor of Vermont, DNC Chairman
John Edwards, Senator from North Carolina, former VP candidate
John Kerry, Senator from Massachusetts, former presidential candidate
Joseph Biden, Senator from Delaware, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Joseph Lieberman, Senator from Connecticut
Mark Warner, Governor of Virginia
Pat Leahy, Senator from Vermont, ranking member of Senate Judiciary Committee
Phil Bredesen, Governor of Tennessee
Richard Gephardt, Congressional Represenative from Missouri
Rod Blagojevich, Governor of Illinois
Russ Feingold, Senator from Wisconsin
Tom Daschle, Senator from South Dakota
Tom Vilsack, Governor of Iowa
Wesley Clark, former US Army General
Al Sharpton is included simply because it seems likely that he’ll run and make some noise. Kucunich is almost as unlikely, but is popular in some quarters, and may decide to weigh in so his ideas may be heard and given some weight. In my opinion, former candidates who may enter but who have no chance of winning would include Kerry, Dean, Lieberman and Gore. Dean and Gore probably will not even try; Kerry and Lieberman might, but I think their stars have fallen too much to be real contenders. Kerry won’t be seen as winning material, and Lieberman is practically a Republican. There has been talk about Gary Hart, and while most scoff, some say he’d be a viable elder (but at age 71, he may be too elderly). Tom Daschle is really not a big hope as he was beaten for his senate seat in ’04.
The obvious big-name front-runners: Hillary Clinton, especially if she slam-dunks the senate election in 2006. The GOP is trying to pull a Daschle on her and put her down in ’06, but her rival, D.A. Jeanine Pirro, fumbled badly upon announcing her run by starting a sentence with “Hillary Clinton….” and then saying nothing for 32 seconds because she couldn’t find the page of her speech. If you recall, Bill Clinton delivered a complex State of the Union speech with no teleprompter or notes when an old speech was mistakenly put up for him; Pirro couldn’t figure out anything to say about her opponent for 32 seconds without page ten in front of her. Then there’s John Edwards, who lost as VP candidate in ’04, but still has appeal.
Other well-known names: Joe Biden, who announced his intention to run in 2008 recently, though he’s going to see if he can raise enough money by the end of the year. Biden is said to have a winning personality, and could run as an elder statesman, but he lost to Dukakis in ’88 when it appeared that he plagiarized a speech, and there were questions about his law school records.
Russ Feingold, well-known for the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance reforms, is looking at a run from Wisconsin. He stood out by being the only one to vote against the Patriot Act and opposed the Iraq War, so might be seen as someone unafraid to speak out, like Dean was. However, he has recently divorced, for a second time; while this would be a standard resume filler for a Republican, that won’t stop the GOP from using it to savage him.
One problem here is position: Senators don’t often win the White House, and governors do. And if you look at the list, there are not too many governors, and aside from Dean who almost certainly will not run, few if any have any name recognition or notoriety at all.
On the Washington-outsider front, Wesley Clark is said to be all but decided to join the race, and many say the only reason he didn’t do well before was that he entered the race way too late. He’s a strong speaker; I’ve seen him go up against the right-wing talking heads and eat them for lunch. Some say he doesn’t have what it takes, but between his background and his style, I think he has more of a chance than many think.
Bill Bradley, former NBA star and Senator from New Jersey, now radio talk-show host, is mentioned as a candidate, but he’s not likely to run in 2008.
Other names you might recognize: Chris Dodd, elected three times to the House, and five times to the Senate, and said to be considering a run for Governor of Connecticut in ’06, though he has denied it publicly. He’s been successfully on the offensive against the Bolton nomination. He decided against running fro president in 2004, and declined candidacy for the post of Senate Minority Leader. Considering all of that, it’s not too likely he’d run in 2008. And of course, Barack Obama, a shining name at the moment in Democratic circles–but probably far too inexperienced to be a serious contender. Yes, I know Bush only had six years as governor, but it’s easier for governors and he had the Bush family machine and most of the GOP behind him.
And there are a lot more, as you can see from the list. So here’s an invitation: who are you betting on for being the Democratic candidate in 2008, and who could be a likely running mate? An additional point could be who is your dream team, who do you think has the most chance of winning?
For me, barring some scandal or a rather unlikely win by Pirro, I would say Hillary Clinton is likely to be the candidate. She has powerful name recognition, a lot of pull in the Democratic party, sympathy and popularity with many Americans. Like Dubya, she is polarizing, but mostly in the sense that many die-hard Republicans despise anyone named “Clinton” out of knee-jerk reaction and years of indoctrination by right-wing media figures–and those who see her so negatively won’t vote Democratic anyway, no matter who runs. But she has more going for her than against her in that department, and promising to be the first woman president would likely turn out more voters than not. And by 2008, with the deficit soaring, the economy probably still floundering, the country awash in right-wing corporate and political scandal, and the quagmire in Iraq, the idea of another Clinton presidency, eight years of prosperity, will be pretty appealing to a lot of people, no matter how little the association might actually be relevant. The point is, she won’t be as afraid to capitalize on that as Gore was, to his downfall.
Who might her running mate be? Excellent question. John Edwards would be a good choice, but he probably wouldn’t demur to the second seat a second time. Geographically, a southerner would fare well considering Clinton’s Illinois roots and New York Senate seat–but then again, Edwards didn’t do Kerry much good in the South, or so it would seem. Wesley Clark might be a good choice; he’s a good speaker and a respectable veteran and leader, and never having held political office, could bring the image of Washington outsider.
However, I’m going to go to left field here and make my dream-team choice the same as my real-life guess: Barack Obama. This guy can give a speech. This guy has the potential to rally support, and more than coming from a state or balancing a ticket, he could actually motivate people and get them to come to vote. He is inclusive, he is positive, and he is young and energetic. He’s also one of the most popular senators around. On the more cynical side, his color will be both a positive and a negative; he will attract minority voters, but for some Americans, a woman president and a black vice-president may just be too much. Nevertheless, I am willing to bet that these people will mostly be solid right-wingers anyway, and Obama’s positive enthusiasm and inclusiveness will win the day.
All that said, I would still be comfortable with Wesley Clark being the candidate, and there are likely some other faces bound to enter the race which didn’t get on the list above.
So go ahead and comment. How much am I guilty of wishful thinking or political naivety when it comes to electoral realities? But more importantly, who do you think will be there, and who do you wish will be there?
And please, no Jimmy Smits jokes.
Since John Kerry beat many folks in 2004 for the dem ticket, I think he has shown he is stronger than them. Also, he almost won the presidential election, which means he can get very close to winning, which is more than many others can say. Perhaps a strong person will emerge. Hillary is not doing so well in the surveys.
I normally warn people about focusing on the 2008 election when the one we really need to watch is coming up next year, but what the heck. Here’s my take:
Serious Contenders
Hillary Clinton – probably will run, but probably shouldn’t. Not only is she a lightning rod for the right, but it’s unclear to me at this point how she would be able to achieve better electoral results than Kerry did. A lot of people see her as having a good shot at being the first woman president, but I cannot help but see her as the first woman who almost won the presidency. Besides, there’s something about the presidency being traded back and forth between two political families for 20 years or more that seems fundamentally wrong to me–isn’t there anyone who is not a Bush or a Clinton who can do the job?
Al Gore – could run, but probably won’t.
Barack Obama – Good choice, but his limited experience could be a weakness if his opponent is someone with a longer track record.
Wes Clark – Would be a good choice, but if he’s going to run he needs to commit earlier this time around. I really think the reason he failed to get much traction last time was simply because he waited until what seemed like the last possible minute to jump into an already crowded race.
There are quite a few others in Luis’ list who would probably also make good candidates, but the one I’ve got my eye on is Bill Richardson. Although being the governor of New Mexico is probably not much of an electoral advantage, I think he might turn out to be an unexpected dark horse. (I’m originally from New Mexico.)
Non-contenders
Joe Lieberman – He’s performed miserably in two back-to-back elections and still he thinks he’s got what America wants in a president? I don’t get it.
Dick Gephardt – His heart’s in the right place, but his political viability died in Iowa.
Bob Graham – He was a second-tier contender throughout 2004. I don’t see that changing in 2008.
Outright losers
Dennis Kucinich – So we’re going to go from a tough-talking Texan hawk to a weak-looking weirdo peacenik in the course of one election? I just do not see that happening.
I think Jay Leno could win, if he ran, which he will not.
Feingold, no question.
Why Feingold? And why Tennesseans?
Tennessee Presidential Offerings?
Thoughtful voters in the 2008 presidential election might be interested to learn a bit about the candidates from Tennessee from the perspective of a Tennessean.
Phil Bredesen, governor of Tennessee, and theoretically a Democrat made millions in health care marketing and HMO creation / reorganization. Bredesen, while not a native Tennessean, is a bright, self made man who is not afraid to spend his own millions to further his political ambitions. Bredesen has been no friend to the poor or middle class but is a big believer in courting favor in the corporate boardrooms and guarded halls of political and financial power. By nature, an opportunist, he has just purchased alliances with Republican conservatives by dismantling the state’s progressive healthcare plan for the otherwise uninsurable and leaving hundreds of thousands of “working poor” and chronically ill with no healthcare source, public or private.
Senator Bill Frist (R-TN) is a very conservative former heart surgeon who tends to make sure people are looking before he does anything positive. He became a senate power by being too much of a novice to have much that would be embarrassing attached to his name (so far).
When it comes to Albert Gore, Jr., son of a retired senior Tennessee Senator, what can you say? He offers a minor intellect of some breadth and very little depth, who has made the most of his father’s deteriorating political capital. His wife Tipper seems to be his political and intellectual equal. It may be useful to remember that former vice-president Gore did not carry his home state in his failed presidential bid. He did, however, manage an eloquent if premature election night concession to another intellect of note, George W. Bush.
In an era of political darkness, sadly, Tennessee offers only more of the same.
Hillary Clinton is the only viable Candidate she has name recognition no one can beat, she has the women vote in her back pocket and she’s a Clinton. Everytime people here that name it reminds them of those 8 years when the economy was healthy, there was no deficit and everybody liked America!
What about Diane Feinstein with Barack Obama as running mate? Feinstein’s much less controversial than Hillary and has tons of experience while Obama can appeal to the younger crowd.
Actually, I’m beginning to lose my interest in Clinton, and with Feinstein, for the same reasons–they are too compromising, too clinging to the middle of the road. I’m beginning to think that we need someone who is more willing to stand by their convictions. Feinstein lost my vote of confidence when she shut down the Alito filibuster before it could get started. Don’t get me wrong, wither of them would be a hundred times better than Bush and many times better than any Republican candidate I have seen.
Maybe Russ Feingold, I’m looking into him a bit more. Wes Clark is still a solid choice, willing to fight. Mark Warner I’ve got to find out more about–seems appealing from a strategic standpoint, but I don’t know much else about him.
Do you know that the catholic Church is spending a lot of Money on Obama Barack campaign for President . Why you ask ?
Because he has turned to the Catholic religion.Politics stinks .