The midterm elections were, let’s see, six days ago, and the results rocked the political landscape. We’re still trying to digest what happened, why, and what it all means. Everyone, on both sides of the aisle, is slowly beginning to make plans for the lame-duck session, and then figure out what happens come January.
There is, however, no rest for the weary. The [tag]president[/tag]ial [tag]race[/tag], which some of us have been looking forward to for quite a while, is just starting to get interesting.
A few weeks ago, former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (D) surprised everyone by announcing that he’d skip the race. On Friday, Iowa Gov. Tom [tag]Vilsack[/tag] surprised no one by announcing he’s forming an exploratory committee. And over the weekend, Sen. Russ [tag]Feingold[/tag] (D-Wis.), a liberal favorite, threw a curveball by announcing he’d forgo the race.
In a letter posted on his political action committee’s Web site, Feingold said he was excited that Tuesday’s elections gave Democrats control of both chambers of Congress, giving them the chance to “undo much of the damage that one-party rule has done to America.” […]
Feingold, 53, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he realized he would be a long-shot candidate in a bid for the presidency. He said running as an underdog appealed to him, but not the way it would “dismantle” his work in the Senate and his personal life. […]
“I began with the feeling I didn’t really want to do this but was open to the possibility that getting around the country would make me want to do it. That never happened,” he told the newspaper in a story posted on its Web site late Saturday.
Feingold’s departure from the race leaves Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) as the only possible candidate to oppose the war in Iraq from the beginning.
Of course, that’s barely scratching the surface of the ’08 positioning we’ve learned about over the last 48 hours.
Sen. John [tag]McCain[/tag] (R-Ariz.) inched a little closer to formally declaring his candidacy.
Senator John McCain of Arizona is about to form an exploratory committee for a possible presidential campaign, advisers said, taking a concrete step toward a full-blown campaign in 2008.
Advisers to Mr. McCain said he had not made up his mind whether to run, although he has acknowledged that he is strongly considering doing so. […]
Mr. McCain’s advisers said he was moving forward with a committee — likely to be formed next week, and almost certainly by the end of the month — because he did not want to skirt regulations that forbid using money from his existing political action committee toward presidential costs, even preliminary ones like travel.
Sen. Joe [tag]Biden[/tag] (D-Del.) is still moving forward with his plans to run.
Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden, incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee with the Democrats takeover of Congress, confirmed his interest of moving up even higher on ABC News “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” He said he will set up an exploratory committee in early 2007. “I’m going to address that after the first of the year, George. I still plan on running.”
Former Wisconsin Gov. [tag]Tommy Thompson[/tag] (R), who also served as Bush’s Secretary of HHS, is also dipping his toes in the presidential waters.
Thompson says he will be at the game testing the waters for a possible presidential bid that would begin with the Iowa caucuses in January 2008.
“There’s no question I’m very interested,” Thompson told reporters during a press conference promoting organ donation on Friday, adding that he is “seriously considering” such a bid and believes it is “doable.”
Thompson said he has already set up a political action committee to raise money for the race, “and I’ll probably set up an exploratory committee after the first of the year.”
And Sen. Sam [tag]Brownback[/tag] (R-Kan.) is undeterred by the midterm results.
Brownback and his aides [are] interpreting the election instead as a message to Republicans to “get back to basics,” including a focus on social conservatism, said Brian Hart, Brownback’s spokesman.
“This is still a center-right country, trending more and more conservative,” Hart said, pointing out that gay-marriage bans passed in seven other states on Tuesday and that many newly elected Democrats ran on conservative platforms.
Nothing about the election factored into Brownback’s decision-making process about whether to run, which is nearly concluded, Hart said.
Should Brownback run, Hart said: “He will lead with social issues as well as fiscal issues. There’s still a big need to talk about the renewal of our culture. That still resonates across the country.”
For what it’s worth, Newsweek’s new poll gauged the relative popularity of the leading candidates. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) fared quite well with high positives, but also high negatives. McCain and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) had lower negatives, but also lower positives. Obama was somewhere in between, with a surprising 34% of voters saying they’re not familiar with him. John Kerry and Newt Gingrich fared poorly, with low positives and very high negatives.
This is going to be fun….