Handicapping the Democratic Candidate Field

With Bush's days in office numbered (705 to be exact, but who's counting?), one can not help but wonder who will fill the big shoes. There are many questions we ask ourselves as the election grows closer: Will the country be ready for a change and elect a Democrat? Will it want to maintain the new balance between the legislative and executive branches? Who will be the nominee for each of the parties?

Before Democrats can reclaim the White House there are certain steps that must be taken, which of course will include choosing our Democratic nominee. Here is a simple outline of the candidates and where they stand.

The Front Runners

Hillary Clinton
U.S. Senator from New York. Senator Clinton is no stranger to the White House considering she is the wife of former President Bill Clinton, and she is probably the most well-known woman in the country. She has the best shot ever at becoming the first woman President of the United States, and announced in mid-January that she was "in it to win."

Pros: First and foremost, she carries the most powerful last name in Democratic politics. That alone helps to create her vast national name identification, not to mention her huge national funding network. Clinton tends to be more moderate in her views and votes, which makes her accessible to more people. A moderate view could potentially be an asset in the election to come.

Cons: Those who follow/support Hillary understand that there are two general feelings toward her: people either admire and love everything about her, or they are critical of her in total. Two such extremely opposite attitudes will make it difficult to take swing or undecided voters.

John Edwards
Vice Presidential nominee alongside John Kerry in the 2004 Elections and former Senator from North Carolina. Edwards announced his second run for the White House in late December.

Pros: Edwards has a top-notch national support and fundraising base, which made him an early front runner last election cycle. He cares about the issues of the middle and lower classes. Edwards' charisma is exactly what the party will require during a race that is looking for some pizazz. He has come forward and admitted that he was wrong when he cast his vote to go to war in Iraq, and calls for a make-over of America today and not tomorrow, which aligns him with the vast majority of the Democratic base and of Americans as a whole.

Cons: In Edwards' past presidential campaign the public was critical of his lack of experience; this will continue to be a concern to many since he has only sat in during one Senate term. He also has a lack of foreign affairs experience, which helped Kerry top him during 2004 and will be an important issue again.

Barack Obama
U.S. Senator from Illinois. In 2004, he was the third African American since Reconstruction to be elected to the U.S. Senate. He is opposed to any sort of military involvement in the war in Iraq and helped to establish public viewing of government spending by demanding that records be available on the internet at anytime.

Pros: Obama has a well known reputation for going against the norm of the Senate and standing up for what he feels is the right decision. Such assertiveness may be valuable should Congress take a turn out of favor for the Democrats in the future.

Cons: Since Senator Obama has only been a part of the Senate since 2005, many believe that he is too inexperienced in Government and should wait until he has a bit more time and experience under his belt. It is also a concern that while he looks like a flashy candidate in the primaries, in the national race for President he may not be as competitive since the United States has never be had an African-American president and because of his controversial name. It's not pretty to admit to such factors, but in American presidential politics, every detail ends up being important.

Could Break Out of the Pack

Joe Biden
U.S. Senator from Deleware. When sworn in at the age of 30, he became the fifth youngest person to ever serve in the U.S. Senate. Senator Biden made a run for the presidency in 1988, and announced in early January that he intends to do so again.

Pros: Biden has political experience that is simply unmatched. He has a tremendous amount of foreign policy experience and is an excellent speaker. Such a resume will be competitive during a time when the war in Iraq is an important issue to voters.

Cons: The controversy over his alleged plagiarism during his '88 race may surface again. A speech that Biden gave in his previous run for President was found to have been plagiarized from British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock. Also, having been in the Senate so long, he has a voting record that is miles long. Such a trail can be held against candidates from the legislature, as opposed to candidates coming from executive roles.

Tom Vilsack
Served as the 40th governor of Iowa beginning in 1998 and then again in 2004. Officially announced in late November his candidacy for president.

Pros: I have heard Vilsack referred to as "The Bill Clinton of Iowa." His popularity and built-in network in Iowa give him credibility early in the race. Governor Vilsack is without a doubt a "political overachiever." He has never lost an election, and will put up a hard fight in the primaries.

Cons: Vilsack's influence ends at the borders of Iowa. He has no sort of national power base or national fundraising network. The Governor will have nowhere to go beyond Iowa.

Chris Dodd
U.S. Senator from Connecticut. Dodd considered running for President in 2004, but finally announced in early January that he was going to run in the '08 race.

Pros: Dodd is a veteran Senator, having been a member since 1981.

Cons: Unfortunately for Dodd, his personality is about as exciting as listening to the traffic report. The Senator doesn't posses enough charisma to woo voters in the primaries, let alone in a national election.

Bill Richardson
Governor of New Mexico. Richardson has a notable history in politics, having served as a Congressman, U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and U.S. Secretary of Energy during Clinton's administration.

Pros: Richardson is from the mountainous west which is currently a battleground in U.S. politics, seeing that it does not consistently vote Democratic or Republican. A candidate being from the area may convince swing voters to go with loyalty to their home state. He is also Hispanic, which is valuable considering the growing population of Hispanic voters.

Cons: Richardson has no sort of national fundraising base, and is from a small state that doesn't usually draw much attention.

Dark Horses

Dennis Kucinich
U.S. Congressman from Ohio. He is one of Congress' biggest advocates for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. Congressman Kucinich announced in early December his second run at the presidency.

Pros: It cannot be denied that Kucinich is an "All American." He was not brought up on family money, but made his way through life by his own resourcefulness. He is currently in his fifth term in the House.

Cons: Congressman Kucinich simply isn't "electable" in the broad perspective. Kucinich comes across as too liberal to capture any part of the critical electoral center.

Al Sharpton, Jr.
Sharpton has quite the diverse resume. He is a Pentecostal minister, a political activist, civil rights activist, a film actor, and was a candidate for the Democratic nomination in '04.

Pros: Mr. Sharpton has a huge urban base that could prove useful in the campaign. Sharpton is also the most entertaining out of the bunch, which always makes the race more fun for the rest of us.

Cons: Though he does have his urban base, Sharpton is still lacking the national political and fundraising base necessary to win an election.

Still Waiting to See

Al Gore
Vice President during the Clinton administration, and the Democratic nominee for president in 2000. Ran for president for the first time in 1988. Gore previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as the U.S. Senate representing Tennessee. Since the loss of the 2000 election, he has been very busy with various projects such as the recent film An Inconvenient Truth.

Pros: Gore has a national fundraising base, and a great deal of national campaign experience. He was also correct on what would come from going to war in Iraq, and that is definitely a sore issue that could be used against other candidates who voted in favor of it. Also, Gore has a tremendous amount of personal wealth to utilize. This will make it easier for him to get on board in the campaign should he chose to do so later in the race.

Cons: Vice President Gore may have the same problem as when he ran for President in 2000. His personality isn't exciting enough to get the electorate excited about going out and voting for the Democratic Party come Election Day. He has also lost a national election (sort of), which may rest sore in the minds of Democrats.

Mark Warner
Former Governor of Virginia and the honorary chairman of the Forward Together PAC.

Pros: Warner is a centrist from a red state who has a reputation for knowing how to take down Republican candidates. His building base within Virginia is extremely strong.

Cons: It may be too late for a candidate to be undecided as to whether or not they are going to run for President. Every day that a candidate is not in the field having checks written and raising money, someone else is doing it instead.

Who's Out

John Kerry
U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. Was the Presidential nominee for President in 2004, and was defeated by George W. Bush. Was valued in '04 for his military record.

Announced the day following Bush's State of the Union that he did not intend to run for the White House. This has many Democrats asking where Kerry's large infrastructure of support and funds will go. Kerry's base will be distributed amongst the different candidates, but most of it will likely go towards Clinton and Obama. The two are currently the lead players and Kerry supporters will follow the name identification and potential.

Candidates may also feel the effects of the revisions to the primary calendar. Traditionally, the winner of the kick-off states (Iowa and New Hampshire) will reflect the results for the rest of the primaries. Now, Nevada's primaries will be shortly behind Iowa and South Carolina behind New Hampshire. Through the controversy over the rearrangement, the common thought is that the more moderate states will cause more moderate candidates to become primary leaders. Whether the change will actually hinder super-star candidates is unknown considering this is one of the largest alterations the Democratic Party has made to their election process in about 30 years.

Texans are looking for a transformation in this country. It will take more than an endearing accent and an old straw cowboy hat to win votes this election cycle. Change is wanted and only time will tell how far we as a state are willing to go for it. The Democratic Party may offer a candidate that will tempt usual red-ticket voters to vote Democratic and draw in those that straddle the fence. The primaries are only a year away, and anything can happen.