He decided that the election results in Ohio, disturbing though they may be, were probably not going to get overturned. So he decided to think about his political future, not his present. Kerry 1, Democracy 0.
Now, the first votes in the race for the Democratic nomination will not be cast for another year. Yeah I know, 12 months is an eternity in politics. But seeing as how the race is now 26 months old, this is probably long overdue.
The Big 3
1) John Edwards - He's on the top of the list because he's the early favorite in Iowa, despite a slew of Midwesterners in the race. He could potentially be the lone southerner in the race. He's made inroads in Nevada.
He's the labor candidate. The netroots like him. The D.C. establishment doesn't fear him. He's a liberal, but because he's from the south people just assume he's a moderate. Kerry basically had to pick him as his runningmate because Edwards was everyone's second choice. In short, every faction of the Democratic Party is warm to him. THAT is amazing.
2) Barack Obama - Somehow Sen. Obama has gone from politician to celebrity status. Every Democrat running for office in 2006 wanted him on the stump along side them. His billing as the "Next Generation" of Democrat sort of reminds you of the ascendency of JFK or Bill Clinton.
He's also very well liked by many in the netroots. He's been against the war from the beginning. Oprah Winfrey, who normally doesn't support individual candidates, will be in his corner. Also, support from the African-American community was thought to be a big advantage for the no. 3 person on this list.
3) Hillary Clinton - But wait a minute, she's the front-runner! Sen. Clinton has the highest name identification in the field thus far (yes, HIGHER than Edwards. how sad is that?). Thus, she's going to poll the highest in national polls. Ask Joe Lieberman how that worked out for him. In fact she is the closest thing this race has to a Joe Lieberman this time around. She has assumed his mantle as the DLC candidate this cycle, even with outgoing DLC Chair Tom Vilsack in the race. With Bayh and Warner out, she could potentially be the closest to the center idealogically of the entire Democratic field. Which of course is her strategy. The upside is that if she is the nominee she won't have to shift to the center the way other candidates tend to. But good luck winning a primary that way.
The netroots basically can't stand her. She's not a strong speaker. If Bill isn't with her, people will constantly ask about him. If he is with her, he'll steal the spotlight. They may be partners in marriage, but as politicians they're not in the same league. I think the Bill issue is a lose/lose situation.
NEXT TIME: The Underdogs
Question: how do you see the primary schedule benefiting/hurting these front runners?
I love the addition of Nevada to the early primary states. That makes 4 races in each of the four main areas of the country, NV, IA, NH, SC. Theoretically that should make it NM Gov. Bill Richardsons make or break state like Iowa was for Gephardt in 04.
Stay tuned