Progressive Democrats are faced with the possibility of few candidates to select from in 2008. It seems likely that Dean will keep his word and not run for the nomination, which eliminates one very popular candidate at the start. The divorce that Feingold is going through is certainly going to be very stressful on him and may discourage him from running. And while some of us may hope that Al makes a comeback, I don't think that betting all of your chips on a return of Gore is enough. I've observed that Clark seems to be the most popular of the potential candidates in 2008 among most DKos readers, but I want to hear about second favorite picks. If not Clark, who?
I think it is clear that there's a base out among the Democratic Party that supported Dean in 2004 and is looking for a 2008 candidate. They would provide aid in fundraising and raising awareness, most likely whoever is able to inherit the mantle of Dean would quickly establish themselves as a major challenger to Hillary in the nomination. I am assuming that the person to inherit the mantle of Dean will not be Hillary, as otherwise I don't expect there to be much of a fight for the nomination. If Hillary is able to combine her own political following and base of support among New Democrats and other allies of Bill with support among the Deaniacs and the progressive wing of the party I think she'd be unstoppable within the primary. Yet I think it's fair to say that her record as a whole isn't enough to ensure her such a scenario automatically. While she may win the nomination I think it's going to be with a fight.
Right now I feel that if Clark runs he will be able to build on his own base of support from 2004 and pick up many former Dean supporters. Many of us here liked the idea of a Dean-Clark ticket, so it makes sense that if Dean doesn't run Clark will pick up many, perhaps most, Dean supporters. I can see Deaniacs being an "advance guard" or "skirmishers" for the Clark campaign by helping raise money and establish an internet presence that will help with some of the rapid response to media coverage that I saw Dean's followers provide in 2004. It's a strong package that would certainly make him a rival to Hillary.
But if Clark were not to run, is there anyone that can step up and claim the mantle of Dean, or will we see the primary unfold without a major progressive candidate? I've seen other candidates mentioned, but none of them seem to inspire the same amount of support that Clark does. It seems possible that without Clark the progressive wing would scatter to many candidates.
Or am I wrong? You tell me.
I feel that one of the requirements to claim the mantle is to run as a reform candidate that is an outsider. Senators that can claim this are few and far between in my opinion. So without the General, it looks like we'd have to turn to the Governors. Which creates the following poll.
Given a primary without Dean, without Gore, without Feingold, and without Clark (the major progressive candidates as I see it) you have the following Governors that you're free to select from. You are free to select "Other" to indicate support for a Senator such as Hillary, Biden, or Bayh. But I'd like to hear in the comments who your other is. I focused on who would have the experience by 2008 so I excluded some like Schweitzer, but other than that I think I cast a wide net.
And if anyone wants to present a good case for why any of the above candidates won't run, such as statements by them, or why I should include other governors that I didn't list, I'm open to suggestions. This may become a series.
