First Warner, now Feingold, and Hillary is smiling like the Cheshire Cat.

chsw

Intersting isn't it that all these people who may have challenged Hillary are dropping like flies (just as I predicted).

The only challenge Hillary will have is from Al Gore (should he decide to run). Once gets that phone call from the Clintons to butt out, he'll be gone from consideration too. Besides, the Democrats will NEVER let a black man (or women) get too close to postions of power.

Don't forget the loss by Lamont, the second-place finisher in the Mr Anti-war contest to Russ Feingold. I'm sure that even an out-of-touch liberal like Feingold could guess that his anti-war stance was worth nothing now in national politics...

LGD, Greenfield WI

Gore remains a wild card because, like Hilarity!, he has sufficient name recognition that he doesn't need to get in early to build a base and "get known." Also, he has made many millions in stock options from his board service with Google and several other high-tech companies, so he could finance his own run.

The problem for him - and he knows this very well - is if he delays, all the best campaign people will sign on with other candidates. After Lieberman's experience in 2004, no one is going to hold out waiting for Gore. So, if he wants to run, he will need to announce by next fall at the latest.

Obama is like Ross Perot. No, really - in some respects. He has a very vague message which sounds appealing, and virtually no political record to attack. Therefore people can use their imaginations, and build him into the candidate they wish he was, rather than the one he really is. But such alignments of the stars don't remain static, so if Obama wants to take a shot at the big prize, he needs to do it in '08.

Anyone that looks at the previous Clinton hit list will withdraw and go into hiding. It just ain't healthy to buck these hillbillie criminals for Arkansas.
There are still yankee's out there that believe the movie 'Deliverance' was made in and about the south. Wrong, it was made in Holywood and was about people from Ma. Haven't you heard the familiar squeal from Hanoi John or Howling Howie recently? Evidently they take turns being the pig.

I agree and disagree regarding Pawlenty. He never really had much of a chance to run as President even if he had cruised to re-election, just so little name recognition and there is no way he could have raised money to match the bigger guns. Plus, unlike Rudy or Romney, he would have had a job to continue doing.

Also, I think the fact that he hung on during a year that was bad for Republicans and downright brutal for Minnesota Republicans enhances his status as a VP candidate. If a moderate wins, he would be a good ticket balancer, both because of politics and because of geography since no other Midwesterners are running.

I do hope he is considered for VP, he is a great candidate and I think would come across well nationally.

You are quite right that a Pawlenty run would have been a long shot under even the best of circumstances. I didn't mean to imply otherwise, only that he was mentioned as a potential candidate in some quarters when it was still thought he would cruise to reelection.

The Veep question always depends on who wins the top spot. Pawlenty would be an excellent choice for Guiliani, for example, especially if the Democrats don't have a southerner on their ticket. If McCain or Romney should win, though, they are already fairly popular in the Great Lakes region and would need help shoring up the south.

If Gingrich won, Pawlenty would be a great choice, because he would need someone to play the good cop.

;-)