2008 Begins To Rear Its Ugly Head
I’m not sure about the timing (people are sick of politics right now, I would imagine – he should have waited until after Thanksgiving), but the Democrats have their first declared candidate:
Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa, seeking an early jump on 2008, launched a long-shot bid for the White House on Thursday.
“Americans sent a clear message on Tuesday. They want leaders who will take this country in a new direction,” Vilsack said in a statement. “They want leaders who share their values, understand their needs, and respect their intelligence. That’s what I’ve done as governor of Iowa, and that’s what I intend to do as president.”
Vilsack, Iowa’s two-term governor, filed documents with the Federal Election Commission in Washington to create a presidential campaign committee. His campaign started operating, with an office open and letterhead printed. His campaign Web site — www.tomvilsack08.com — was online by early Thursday.
Let’s face it, though, Vilsack is second tier. The real action should come after the beginning of the year; I think most of the big dogs will declare by the end of January…
I think the guy who gets early momentum is the one who wants out of Iraq now. 32% of the voters according to exit polls, the other 68% favor more time/more troops.
The difficulty of being a dem and harnessing the 32%, when you are in the minorty is quite easy. The position of power begs for more time. HRC and Biden are believing they can play foreign policy better than the gop, to make them even more palatable in 08.
The press will willingly assist in portraying that success can still be had in Iraq, and astonishlngly quick to bolster these main-stream dems for 08.
All is good. The greatest difficulty about Iraq was losing the press, then public support. Regardless of which party brings success to Iraq, it still remains one of the most important issues to be resolved, not run away from. While I would not draw a cause and effect, between success in Iraq and dems ascendancy, the correlation is too tempting a fruit for the dem leaders to pass on.
The democrats in congress, and the media-eventually- made a move closer to being neocons, as a result of the election. Winning in Iraq and dumping the drunken sailor image, that was being cultivated by the gop-
a win, win.
Vilsack won’t be the nom for the dems, much like Romney won’t be it for the Reps.
If I had to pick my two choices to see in the Race it would be Mike Huckabee for the reps. and Sen. Clinton for the dems. With Huckabee beating her handily in the general. It would be a fun race to watch.
I think Huckabee is what the Reps. need now more than ever, he is an outsider with a great ability to lead and get bipartisan results. Keep an eye on him and see what I am talking about.
The Huckster’s OK, but in the immortal words of The Clash – “Rudy Can’t Fail.” Now, everyone say it with me…Ruuudeee, Ruuuudeee…
I think this election could be an exception to the “Governors are better candidates than Senators” meme. Outsiders are all well and good, but speaking personally, I am more interested in a candidate that can articulate how to move the war on terror/ Islamic fascism forward and to resolve the situation in Iraq. I think this new calculus does benefit Senators, at least if they have a reputation for taking foreign policy issues seriously. I think that benefits McCain and also (to a lesser extent) Sam Brownback at the expense of Huckabee and Romney.
The exception to this would be Rudy, IMO. He has no foreign policy experience, but as Mayor he demonstrated an ample ability to deal with crisis situations, 9/11 being chief among them. He has also demonstrated a management style that is frankly superior to Bush’s by a factor of ten.
Well, if all of the historical analogies come to pass — a razor-thin margin of victory for the current president against the previous vice-president, an unpopular war — then things bode well for Al Gore. It would have been perfect if he had run for, and lost, the governorship of Tennessee in 2002.
Something else about Vilsack, though: Remember he’s the former governor of Iowa. And does anyone know where the first state primary is held?
Two words for you: Howard Dean. Yearrrrgggghhhh!
Aaron: In a poll of Iowa voters earlier this year, Vilsack came in THIRD, behind Edwards and Clinton. Unless he can show national appeal, Iowans aren’t going to risk of their opportunity to play kingmaker by choosing their Presidential candidate for parochial reasons, and national Democrats won’t consider him a player unless he wins Iowa. Check and mate.
Point taken.