Talk Elections

This is a list of potential and/or likely candidates for the 2008 Democratic nomination.  If you consider yourself as likely to vote for the Democratic party in 2008, please make your choice.  Anyone can comment in this thread, but please only vote if you are a Democrat.

If you feel that somebody has been left off this ballot, please feel free to write-in as a comment.

BAYH!  WOO!

Vilsack? LOL!!!

He is politicaly dead after 2006's Governor Race. The new rising star in Iowa is Jim Nussle, who will be governor on January 1, 2007.

I didn't vote but how I'd love to see Dick Durbin and Al Gore as the Democratic ticket - The ticket of defeat.

Voted for Bayh because I believe he gives us the best chance in 2008.  I think if Bayh receives the nomination he should ask Clark to be his VP.

If I could vote for 3 it would be.
Bayh
Clark
Warner

The people I wouldnt mind would be Clark, Warner, Biden, or a few other people. Just not Hillary!

Tough choice.

It was really a tie between Harold Ford, Clinton, Bayh, and Richardson, but I put Ford.  However, my real first choice is Feingold, who you didn't include.

Clark

Bayh.

Kucinich

Today I picked Reid.

I don't think Harold Ford is a good choice, he should run for Senate and try to take Frist's seat.

Howard Dean, assuming that he doesn't become the DNC Chair instead.

Tom Vilsack or Wes Clark.  I've come to the conclusion that a Senator can not win.  I personally like Russ Feingold and Howard Dean, but there are two problems.  Feingold is Jewish and could not win South and Howard Dean comes off as NE elitist liberal, though I like him.

Sharpton. He can win D.C., Massachusetts, and New York for the Democrats. He'd sure be helpful.

1-Bayh
2-Gore
3-Edwards
4-Obama
5-Kucinich

Voted Gore...saw Sharpton too late.

Sen. Evan BAYH (IN): Has a lot of appeal to small town voters and is from Terre Haute
 Sen. Joe BIDEN (DE): The Kinnock theft would kill him
 Gov. Rod BLAGOJEVICH (IL): Despite being a Chicago pol, did well in Southern IL. A former Reagan Democrat IIRC.
 Gov. Phil BREDESEN (TN): Not ideal (too pro-business) but is electable and pretty popular last time I checked.
 Sen. Maria CANTWELL (WA): Let's see if she can get re-elected first... still... she did beat that racist jerk...
 Gen. Wesley CLARK (AR): Needs to improve his campaigning. Other than that a strong candidate... although he's more likely to run for Arkansas Governer than President again
 Fmr. Sen. Max CLELAND (GA): I like him, but he's a bit over the hill now. Sadly I don't see a disabled man winning the White House :-(
 Sen. Hillary CLINTON (NY): I can't stand her
 Fmr. Gov. Howard DEAN (VT): Which Dean? Governer or 04 Candidate?
 Sen. Christopher DODD (CT): CT Senator. No chance...
 Gov. Jim DOYLE (WI): Don't know enough about him to be honest
 Sen. Richard DURBIN (IL): I like him... but he's probably too liberal
 Gov. Mike EASLEY (NC): Certainly not my first choice, but rural voters like him... one to watch
 Fmr. Sen. John EDWARDS (NC): No Comment (bearing in mind his wife's condition any political speculation by us junkies is morally wrong)
 Sen. Dianne FEINSTEIN (CA): Maybe. Not my first choice though... being Jewish could backfire sadly...
 Rep. Harold FORD Jr. (TN): I like him, but let's see what he does in 2006
 Fmr. Rep. Dick GEPHARDT (MO): He'd do well if he ever gets out of the primaries... but he just doesn't have enough money to compete in modern presidential politics. Which is sad :-(
 Fmr. Vice Pres. Al GORE (TN): Which Gore? President Al sounds nice though ;-)
 Fmr. Gov. Jim HUNT (NC): See Easley, Mike
 Rep. Jesse JACKSON Jr. (IL): No
 Sen. John KERRY (MA): Did better than I thought he would going into 2004 (I thought if he got the nod he'd get trashed). Doubt he wants another go though.
 Rep. Dennis KUCINICH (OH): No (although Reagan Democrats seem to like him)
 Sen. Mary LANDRIEU (LA): Maybe
 Sen. Blanche LINCOLN (AR): Maybe
 Fmr. Gov. Gary LOCKE (WA): Isn't he pretty unpopular? Besides being Asian would hurt... :-(
 Gov. Janet NAPOLITANO (AZ): No idea
 Sen. Barack OBAMA (IL): Not just yet...
 Rep. Nancy PELOSI (CA): She's a cunning old hag, but is a) female b) from San Francisco c) very liberal
 Sen. Harry REID (NV): I like him... how would him being a Mormon play though?
 Gov. Ed RENDELL (PA): Maybe
 Gov. Bill RICHARDSON (NM): Too many skeletons in the cupboard...
 Sen. Jay ROCKEFELLER (WV): I like the guy and he's certainly a competent administrator and understands the problems of mining communities (and would lock up WV), but he likes being in the Senate.
 Sen. Charles SCHUMER (NY): No
 Gov. Kathleen SEBELIUS (KS): See if she can hang on in 2006 first
 Rev. Al SHARPTON (NY): He's funny. I hope he runs again just for amusement value.
 Gov. Tom VILSACK (IA): Approaching retirement from what I can gather...
 Gov. Mark WARNER (VA): A lot of appeal to rural voters... he's planning a run for something, not sure if it's Senate or President...
 Sen. Ron WYDEN (OR): Wins by large margins in a swing state. Why not?

Reid vs Romney 2008! :)
Who would Mormon-dislikers turn to?

Roy Moore...

I think there'd be some from the left as well.

First choice, Bayh  - I know he is a senator but he's a former two-term governor (and probably would still be governor if not for term limits) and has a proven executive record - and second choice, Warner

Dave

My bad, sorry.  I immediately realised after submitting the list that I'd forgotten him.

Senator Al

Good analysis of the candidates.

I won't comment on the personal merits of each candidate, but to your judgement of Nancy Pelosi I'd add that she's a member of the House.  If being a senator is grounds for losing an election, being a representative is even worse.  The same goes for Harold Ford I guess.

^^

I still don't understand why he's making these lists. Rendell has said that if he is re-elected in 2006, he will serve his full term.

I went with who I actually like the most.  And that is Al Gore. 

I voted for Gephardt.  I hope he runs again!

Hey guys, answer a couple of questions:

When was the last time a United States Senator was elected to the Presidency?

When was the last time a Democrat Presidential nominee from outside the south was elected to the Presidency?

Since that date, how many Democrat Govenors from the south who have been nominated for the Presidency were elected?

1) John F Kennedy 1960

2) John F Kennedy 1960

3) Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter

They were rhetorical questions.  His point was that these days no Democrat has much of a hope unless they are A not a senator, or preferably a governor and B from the South.

JFK was one of only two sitting senators to win the presidency (the other was Taft), and was also the last non-Southern Democratic president.  Forty-four years is a long time for that record to go unbroken.  I doubt it will soon either.

Based on those two criteria alone, John Kerry was possibly the worst choice of candidate for the Democrats.  Aside from having the same seat from the same state, Kerry had nothing on Kennedy except the same initials.

Clark all the way.

Rendell could make some noise. No chance in a general election, but that didn't stop Democrats from picking Kerry.

Touché.

I'm still stumped as to why they chose him.  A liberal senator from safe Democrat Massachusetts.  That's three ways to lose an election for sure.

He was everyone's second or third choice. Of all the candidates, who actually would have done better?

Geppy

I would have said Wesley Clark.  That's provided he could have pulled a decent campaign out of his...hat.

Imagine how the issue of Bush's TANG service would have played out against a decorated general.  I would have liked to see a group like the Swiftboat Vets try and fight that one.

Not only that, but come on - even Michael Moore liked him!  And he doesn't like many people!  Clark's not even that liberal either.

He made a major tactical error in Iowa and that was the end of that.

The Only thing that would have held Clark back was his lack of experience, if you can really call it that.  He has never held elective office but, he was the Supreme Allied Command of NATO which is sort of like being Secretary of Defense for 14 countires.  The unfit for command claim wouldnt have worked to well with the most decorated officer since Dwight Eisenhower.

Flip flop can still be applied to him. No Vietnam record in the first place though. I figure he could win Iowa and Ohio, while losing New Hampshire.

Very true, but I was answering Akno's question of who would actually have done better than John Kerry in the general election.  I was using a hypothetical scenario where Clark actually won the nomination.

He'd lose NH, but he'd win OH, WV, MO, IA and maybe AR and NM.

Problem is that the way money has taken over Presidential politics, means he can't get very far through the primary system... :-(

There are too many stars in the Democratic Party... makes it very hard to decide on a candidate.