You might not have known that Evan Bayh was running for president, and now he’s not. The Indiana senator dropped out of the race a few days ago, just two weeks after announcing he would form an exploratory committee. It’s one man’s reflection that 2008 presidential politics is already well under way.
Though the first primary is more than a year away, the presidential fields are already drifting into shape.
Bayh said the “odds were always going to be very long for a relatively unknown candidate like myself, a little bit like David and Goliath.” In bowing out of the race, Bayh joined former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner and Wisconsin Sen. Ross Feingold, who opted to stay on the sidelines. Their departure removes an element of appeal from the Democratic lineup.
For Republicans, the role of Goliath is being played by Sen. John McCain. Half a dozen others are interested in taking him on, or out. The biggest Democratic names are Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois. Neither has announced their candidacy, but if and when they do, they won’t be lonely in Iowa.
The announced candidates are Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich. Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, who has been squeezed out of the public eye by the Clinton-Obama hype, is expected to announce his candidacy late this year after hiring David Bonior, former U.S. House majority leader and ally of labor, as an adviser. Word that Edwards might make his announcement in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward sent Clinton scurrying to schedule meetings with prominent unions in a bid to win labor’s endorsement.
In a way, it’s startling to see Clinton and Obama in the spotlight. However, a Newsweek survey shows that a little more than half of those surveyed think the nation is ready to elect a female or black president.
Iowa will kick off the presidential contest with nominating caucuses on Jan. 14, 2008. One surprising poll shows Edwards leading all comers so far, including Clinton and Obama and even Vilsack.
Bayh may have cut and not run, but we’re glad to see other Democrats are tempted. Among them, Sens. Joe Biden of Delaware, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. Oh, and John Kerry of Massachusetts. (Really.)
We doubt that Republicans can match the Democratic hopefuls by number, but they are a colorful lot. Aside from McCain, there is Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback. The Newsweek poll shows Clinton besting the top GOP contenders, but she isn’t likely to scare any of them off the way she did Evan Bayh.
Of course, just because Bayh wasn’t “the right David,” as he noted Saturday, maybe the shifting sands of presidential politics will yield another.
