Mix 'n' Match your own 2008 DEMOCRATIC Presidential/Vice-Presidential Ticket!!!
Thursday 20 January 2005
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by RICHARD E. BERG-ANDERSSON What follows is a listing- by 'GROUP's based on office and service therein- of those who would (all things being equal- that is, factoring out such things as relative age, relative health, relative "localism", etc. of each individual so listed) otherwise be likely candidates for the Democratic Nominations for President and Vice-President of the United States in 2008. Rather than being a predicting mechanism of any kind as to who the most likely announced Democrat candidates for the Nation's highest office will be as we now begin heading into the next Presidential Election cycle, this listing is more to illustrate the more usual "minimum requirements"- if you will- for one's being seriously considered as a potential nominee for either high national office by either one of the two Major Political Parties in the United States. Please note that it is quite difficult to be nominated for- let alone be elected- President of the United States directly from (or having last served in elective office in) the lower house of the Congress of the United States. The higher likelihood, given recent American political history, is that not only is the eventual 2008 Democratic Party Nominee for President already within GROUP I of the following list but that that Nominee's choice for running mate is also now to be found somewhere within either Group on the following list (although this last might, indeed, prove less likely-- for instance, current incumbent Vice President Dick Cheney would not have appeared at all within either GROUP on the GOP version of this list had 'The Green Papers' existed eight years ago to the day that this one is being posted!). Also, not to get TOO far ahead of ourselves here, keep an eye on the names in GROUP II even well after the next Presidential Election on 4 November 2008, for- depending on their individual political fates, as well as those of the actual Democrats who will be running for President and Vice-President some three years after this has been posted- they include the persons who will likely be making up a healthy chunk of the next GROUP I for the Democrats as we, once we have gotten past the next Presidential Inauguration Day (20 January 2009), then begin to look toward the 2012 Presidential Election! GROUP I. POTENTIAL PRESIDENTIAL TIMBER Albert A. "Al" Gore, Jr. of TENNESSEE (2000 Presidential Nominee) B. GOVERNORS who will be serving in at least their second four-year term or equivalent (third two-year term) by the time of the next set of Presidential Primaries [NOTE: Those listed in boldface are in Governor's Chairs up for re-election in either 2005, 2006 or 2007 and will have to successfully win re-election in order to remain on this list into the 2008 Presidential Primary season; those underlined below cannot run for re-election due to Term Limits. MICHIGAN's Jennifer Granholm is a native of Canada and, thus, is not qualified to serve as either President or Vice-President of the United States under the "natural born Citizen" provision of Article II, Section 1, clause 5 of the U.S. Constitution; hence her name does not appear within the following listing] ARIZONA's Janet Napolitano C. UNITED STATES SENATORS who were first elected to that body prior to the most recent Presidential Election [NOTE: Those listed in boldface are in Class 1 Senate seats up for election in 2006 and will have to be successfully re-elected in order to remain on this list into the 2008 Presidential Primary season; those in italics (whether boldface italics or not) below are former GOVERNORS, which is actually something of a "plus"] ARKANSAS' Blanche Lambert Lincoln GROUP II. VICE-PRESIDENTIAL FODDER at best A. GOVERNORS elected (or succeeding) to their first term at the time of or since the most recent Presidential Election [NOTE: Those listed in boldface are in Governor's Chairs up for re-election in either 2005, 2006 or 2007 and will have to successfully win re-election in order to remain on this list into the 2008 Presidential Primary season]
B. UNITED STATES SENATORS first elected to that body at the time of or since the most recent Presidential Election COLORADO's Ken Salazar Mix 'n' match cover page |