Democratic Presidential Hopefuls (Revised)

Now that Gore has dropped out of the race, who would you pick as the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004? (This time I've limited the field to the six likely candidates, and added an option for folks who would not support a Democrat under any circumstances.)


Cheers,

 

You might want to put one more name on the list...... Retired Gen Wesley Clark......

Wes

 

I also heard the names Chris Dodd and Joe Biden come up again earlier today; I get the feeling I'll be doing a bunch of these here revised polls, which I suppose is good. Or annoying, depending on how much one likes polls.

It's amazing to me how little we know about most of the candidates right now. Things are an awful lot like they were in 1990. There are so many semi-unknowns on the list, any of whom could be another Clinton or, just as easily, another Dukakis. At the moment, my money's still on Lieberman--but I'm watching Kerry and Edwards very closely, particularly Edwards. I saw him speak on education reform a few weeks ago; not only did his ideas come across in a convincing way, but he has this very congenial, youth-friendly personality (which is, I now think, what got Clinton elected). I noticed him at the end of the speech, walking out into the crowd of college students and soliciting their questions with his hands in his pockets, looking for all the world like the reincarnation of John F. Kennedy.

(Oh, and another thing 2002 has in common with 1990: Dick Gephardt is still running. I like the guy, but I have trouble imagining any scenario that ends with him getting elected President.)


Cheers,

 

Thanks Tom for adding this option for me.

 

Bill Bradley?????????
http://www.billbradley.com/

 

Yeah, what about Bill Bradley? He might be a good choice. Lieberman might also be.

Daschle and Gephardt would probably be the two that Bush would like to see in there, since I doubt that either would be electable as president.

Republican wish list for Democratic presidential candidates:

Tom Daschle
Dick Gephardt
Jessie Jackson
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Sean Penn
Ted Kennedy
John McCain

 

I agree that Gephardt and Daschle are unelectable; McCain as a Democrat would be Bush's worst nightmare, though, because he was a serious threat even back in the 2000 primaries and has a lot of moderate Republican support. (That said, Bush really shouldn't lose any sleep over that possibility; McCain has already said he won't run, and has no plans to even switch parties.) My jury's still out on Sean Penn; I don't find him an appealing candidate right now, but (except for the full-page newspaper ad) I haven't seen him politick much yet. Hillary Rodham Clinton may be viable in 2008 or 2012; she'd be crazy to run in 2004. The Rev. Jackson's credibility as a presidential candidate is effectively gone, and I think he knows it by now.

My suspicion is that it really will be the list in the poll, plus one or two other candidates. Anyone who doesn't start gathering a broad base of support over the next few months will probably lack the necessary financial and grass-roots resources to launch a campaign.


Cheers,

 

I just voted for Lieberman. I'm a registered Republican, but if any Democrat could entice me to switch over on election day, it would probably be Lieberman.

McCain attracted me to vote for him last time, but since then a loose-cannon side of him has appeared that I don't much like.

I think that Al Sharpton would be a good Democratic presidential candidate. But if we can't get him, I guess we could draft the regally named Hillary Rodham Clinton.

But Sean Penn??? Isn't he a human shield/target over in Baghdad or something?

 

Human?

 

Tom,

My list was, of course facetious (who the Republicans would want) but your comments on McCain have me agreeing with you that Bush would not be happy about that. Maybe I should substitute Gray Davis for McCain.

 

That's what they say.

 

In the real world, there is no way I would vote for any of these guys.

Now, in a totally hypothetical, absolutely un-real world, where I MIGHT be convinced to vote for one of the Dems listed above....
probably Lieberman would be the only one with a chance to get my vote. I don't really know anything about Dean, and all of the others are not acceptable in any way (in my opinion). (I would include McCain in that group, btw).

How about Ron Paul? Howard Phillips, anyone??


clint

 

Tom . . . in addition to "None of the above," how about an "Any of the above rather than Bush." That would have been my choice.

 

Come now, John. You're just upset because the one course Bush took via DL was from an unaccredited school.