Unlike the Kos cattle call, which is to rate the candidates' chances of being President, this cattle call rates the candidates' influence on the Democratic Convention. Give your ratings here and give your reasoning.
My preliminary thoughts on the matter:
- - Dean - he'll be the candidate, or damn close to it.
- - Clark - probably the anti-Dean.
- - Lieberman - Not the candidate, but critical if Dean wants to get the support of conservative Democrats.
- - Gephardt - His political career will be in pain by the time he is done, but he can still influence things behind-the-scenes.
- - Edwards - Will position himself to be the candidate in 2008, assuming Dean loses.
- - Kucinich - now that Dean is the front-runner, progressives feel safe voting Kucinich. He'll be there to tweak the Democrats to the Left.
- - Mosley-Braun - will be an influential advisor to the campaign, even if she doesn't have any delegates.
- - Sharpton - not a serious candidate, but he wants to make sure that he carries some influence at the convention. Staying in the race helps this.
- - Kerry - probably next to worthless by the time this is done.