If Hillary Hadn't Entered the Race

[bballrox4717]

I dispute the fact that everybody has heard of all of the GOP candidates because they're that good. Sure, people know who Rubio, Christie, Fiorina, Carson are now, but all of the public's attention is on the GOP race right now. In fact, the press has been so obsessed with the identity of Obama's successor since his reelection that these candidates probably got more media attention than they actually deserved.

Also, for about 2 years nobody gave a damn about any other Democrat because Hillary was just that far ahead. No Democrat, aside from O'Malley, really made an aggressive effort to gain national attention. Obama and Clinton have long sucked the oxygen out of the room for any other Democrat.

Don't forget: a lot of serious presidential candidates were essentially political nobodies in the public eye before they ran. Nobody heard of Jimmy Carter before he ran. HW Bush was essentially a career bureaucrat. Nobody was hyping Howard Dean before he became a frontrunner either.

[bballrox4717]

As for the list, I'd guess that Biden, Warren, Sanders, Cuomo, Gillibrand, Klobuchar, O'Malley, and Patrick would all likely run. I don't really see much of a path for the others.