US Presidential Candidates For 2008 - Who?

I note that Repub Sen Bill Frist of Tenn withdrew today. I was surprised by that. I don't know that I would ever have voted for him, but he seemed to me to be a thoughtful, decent person. He left the Senate, presumably to run for the GOP nomination, but then he quit. Much like Mark Warner, the former Democratic Gov of my state of VA. He quit the quest abruptly.

My tentative favorite was Democrat Mark Warner of Virginia, but he officially dropped out before he officially entered the race.

Pundits say that Hillary will take the Dem. nomination and McCain will wipe the floor with her in the election. I liked McCain in the past but his loyalty to Bush is almost chauvinistic, at least concerning the war.

Hillary has positioned herself toward the middle, appearing as a moderate, which is probably politically healthy, but I'd like to know what she really feels about the important issues like energy independence.

I don't understand the fervor over Obama.

I was surprised, Lonestarmadam, that Mark Warner of my state of VA bailed. He would have been, perhaps, a long shot with not a whole lot of name recognition. But he had collected a lot of political IOU's from Dems around the country because of his fund raising efforts. His deciding to pass on the idea of running because of "family concerns" may have been valid. Who in his/her right mind would want to endure that scrunity?

There remains a bit of a rumor that maybe, just maybe, Mark Warner has a skeleton in his closet.

So who are the cast of charactersa so far.

How many Dems now running or thinking about running or exploring?

And how many Republicans?

Good question actually. Made me look if one can find a list somewhere online. Just a list of what candidates have actually set up an exploratory committee, rather than one of candidates that are said, expected or rumoured to make a run. Havent found one yet.

So lets make a list.

Politicians who have filed their candidacy with FEC:

Republican

Hunter

Democrat

Vilsack

Politicians who have founded exploratory committees:

Republican

Brownback
McCain
Giuliani
Thompson

Democrat

Bayh

(Richardson apparently was reported to have announced his candidacy by Fox, but denied the report.)

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Any additions?

The National Journal released a new Washington Insiders poll of 70 Congressional lawmakers and 150 political insiders on who they think are the likely Republican and Democratic nominee for the 2008 Presidential election.

Republicans
1. John McCain
2. Mitt Romney
3. Rudy Giuliani
4. Newt Gingrich
5. Mike Huckabee
6. George Pataki
7. Chuck Hagel
8. Condoleezza Rice
9. Sam Brownback
10. Bill Frist


Democrats
1. Hillary Clinton
2. Barack Obama
3. John Edwards
4. Al Gore
5. Evan Bayh
6. Tom Vilsack
7. Bill Richardson
8. Joseph Biden
9. Wesley Clark
10. Christopher Dodd

Source: http://nationaljournal.com/about/njweekly/stories/2006/1208nj1.htm

Yeah, but thats just another list of speculation. Its easy to find a list with "potential" or "possible" or "likely" candidates - just open any of five dozen opinion polls, they're a dime a dozen.

Its surprisingly hard, on the other hand - or I was just failing - to find a simple list of politicians who have actually taken those concrete first steps - establishing an exploratory committee, filing their candidacy.

You heard it here first .. ;-)

Quote:

KUCINICH JUMPS IN:

In 2008 news, Dennis Kucinich has announced he will soon, well, announce:

Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who unsuccessfully ran for president in 2004, said Monday he is planning to run again because his party isn't pushing hard enough to end the war in Iraq. In a statement, Kucinich said he plans to formally announce his candidacy for 2008 on Tuesday at City Hall, where he served as mayor of his hometown in the 1970s.

BYE BAYH:

Evan Bayh's taking a pass on '08. Here's a prescient paragraph from Michelle's profile of him:

Yet, despite his myriad charms, Bayh's prospective candidacy has generated minimal buzz among the political class, beyond his perpetual mention as a natural for the number-two spot on the ticket. What Bayh's fans praise as his aura of calm, competence, and decency, critics deride as dishwater drabness. They say his manner is too soothing, his politics too cautious, and his persona too bland. ("I defy you to find one person or group he has ever offended," challenged one longtime Democratic Hill staffer.) Both inside the Beltway and out in the electoral holy lands of Iowa and New Hampshire, the consensus is that the senator must get better at showing that he has "fire in his belly."

Looks like Bayh decided he didn't have that fire after all.

--Jason Zengerle

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, PLEASE DISPERSE:

One thing about this new Iowa poll, reported in today's Des Moines Register (via PoliticalWire), that shows John Edwards at 36 percent and "far ahead of the rest of the pack of possible Democratic presidential candidates." The poll was conducted in October--i.e. before Tom Vilsack (who comes in fourth) officially announced he's running for president and before Obamamania (whose namesake comes in third) kicked into high gear. In other words, I don't think this poll tells us too much about the current state of the race, except maybe that Hillary--who comes in a distant second in the poll, trailing Edwards by 20 points--is still not that popular in Iowa.

--Jason Zengerle