Well, it seems the '08 fun has begun. This per the
Des Moines Register:
Tom Vilsack is running for president.
The Iowa governor plans to file papers today establishing a presidential campaign committee, formally launching his bid for the 2008 Democratic nomination.
The two-term governor, who leaves office in January, plans to announce his candidacy in his hometown Mount Pleasant on Nov. 30, before setting off on a campaign swing to early nominating states, aides said Wednesday.
The steps mark the first official moves by any among the large field of Democrats and Republicans weighing campaigns for president.
They also send a loud signal to Iowa Democrats, on whom his bid will depend, and national donors that Vilsack, one of the least-known among his party's presidential prospects, is committed to running for president.
The article goes on to say that Vilsack is declaring this early because he faces a tremendous fundraising obstacle. He's got a limited time window to establish fundraising credibility. Failure to establish that credibility means that this presidential campaign never gets off the ground.
Vilsack brings two unique things to the likely '08 field. He's the only candidate with a genuine hard-scrabble background. All the others were essentially children of upper or solidly middle class parents (even John Edwards).
Vilsack has been known to speak very powerfully in telling this part of his personal story. Also, he's running waving the banner of centrism in the party, with an anti-Washington twist. He's not a prairie populist, but instead seeks to represent himself as an example of high competence in government and believer in communitarianism as the next great governing philosophy.
He has a legitimate chance to win although it is very slim at this point. He has until the end of Q1 '07 to make a breakthrough of some sort or else he'll just be going through the motions.