So Where are We?

Yes, I know. It's a been a while. But, please, I can't keep posting to this blog about the goings on in presidential politics. That would only encourage the candidates that we like this marathon campaign season.

But I figured it was time for a little update as the field is shifting. Let's take a look at the Democrats first - for if you can believe it, they are the more stable group.

• Hillary still leads the pack - and I continue to shake my head. I don't get it. It is clear that if she gets the nomination, Republicans will get up out of their graves to vote against her. But Democrats don't see that. Kudos for the ad announcing her campaign song - but MAJOR boos for choosing Celene Dion! She is still the candidate to beat.
• One of the only others in the field that can is Barack Obama. He continues to do well in speaking, fund-raising, no gaffes. As with a woman, we may not be a nation ready to elect a black man, but between the two of them - it's going to be interesting.
• John Edwards. He has been dealing with some issues, mainly the haircut thing. Then his wife, Elizabeth, took on Ann Coulter (LOVED it). I think that Edwards has a really good shot, he just needs to let it ride and perhaps hope for a brokered convention, where the delegates would move to him after it becomes clear that neither Hillary nor Obama can get the nomination.
• Despite his claim that he is after the top job, Bill Richardson is clearly running for Vice President. He would be an outstanding number two for any of the candidates. He has good Clinton ties and would be a great fit for her.
• The Rest of the Field: Biden - again, says he is running for president, but I think really is running to be somebody's Secretary of State. It's the job he has always wanted. Dodd - putting a lot of money in some of the early primary states, it's not going to help. Kucinich - his only chance is with the crazy vote, which he has locked up. Gravel - still asking, who?
• The wallflowers - Al Gore and Wesley Clark. Gore could get into the race and become a serious contender overnight. Clark not so much.

The Republicans are [still] in complete disarray. I believe I could announce for the Republican nomination and get it.

• People scoffed at me when I said that John McCain was not going to get the nomination. He has only about three people still working for him and about that many dollars. I still don't think he makes it past the first set of primaries.
• Rudy Giuliani. I still wonder how a left wing Republican (what we New Yorkers call a Rockefeller Republican) can get the base to support him. He must be doing something right. I always use to say that a candidate with a vowel at the end of his name wouldn't play in the Midwest, but he seems to be doing well all over.
• While Mitt Romney has lost the PETA vote, he is doing well in all areas of the party. He has been raising good money and is clearly gaining momentum.
• We all know what happened the last time the Republicans nominated an actor for the presidency. Can lightning strike Fred Thompson and elevate him to the big house? Stay tuned for that one, but don't go looking for the Law and Order reruns, they will have to be pulled.
• The other guys - Sam Brownback - may God have mercy on our souls if he manages to make it; Mike Huckabee - how far can weight loss carry a man?; Duncan Hunter - one should have more than one issue to run on; Ron Paul - see Dennis Kucinich; Tom Tancredo - see Duncan Hunter; the other Thompson (Tommy), a potential dark horse, but way, way, way outside.