Happy Labor Day. To honor the holiday, I’m limiting today’s posts to the once-a-month, completely subjective rankings for the Democrats running for president. As always, these rankings are my impression on where the candidates stand as of today, though not necessarily where I think they’ll end up a year from now or even where I’d prefer to see them.
1. Howard Dean (last month: 1b) — Believe me, I didn’t want to do this. My reasons for not wanting Dean to get the Dem nomination are professional, ideological, practical, and personal. Yet, if Dean’s not the frontrunner, then I don’t know what a frontrunner is. He’s leading in Iowa, leading in New Hampshire, and even leading in some national polls. In case there was any doubt about where Dean could be ranked at this point, I can think of 10.3 million reasons why I have little choice but to put him on top. His campaign, of late, has also taken on a bit of a teflon feel — Dean will slip up, contradict himself, and say things that would hurt other candidates (flip-flops on Cuba, retirement age, campaign financing, etc.), yet Dean’s followers simply ignore these missteps as if they never happened.
2. John Kerry (last month: 1a) — The LA Times’ Ron Brownstein summed up Kerry perfectly yesterday. “[S]o far Kerry has performed like a baseball team playing .500 ball. He’s done everything reasonably well but nothing spectacularly well.” There’s still time, and Kerry did far better on Meet the Press yesterday then Dean did earlier this summer, but things are slowly slipping away from him. And if Wesley Clark jumps in, things could get considerably worse for Kerry before they get better.
3. Dick Gephardt (last month: 3) — If this were a normal year and Dean weren’t in the race, Gephardt would probably be feeling pretty good right now. His plan, all along, has been to run in the primaries as Labor’s candidate. As far as that strategy is concerned, Gephardt has succeeded. In the meantime, he’s demonstrated little else. He’s slipping in Iowa polling, which is his only must-win state, and his fundraising has been lackluster. Truth be told, I’d rank Gephardt lower than #3, but no one else really deserves to be moved up.
4. John Edwards (last month: 4) — Looking back over previous months’ rankings, I always say the same thing about Edwards. “I keep wondering when Edwards will make his move and start generating some buzz.” It’s not happening. His ads are on TV in Iowa and New Hampshire, but he remains in single digits in the states’ polls. Edwards has done an excellent job of publishing page after page of reports, press releases, and position papers — far more than any of his rivals — helping to dissuade the image that Edwards is inexperienced and therefore lacking in policy depth. But does this matter? Edwards could be just as big a wonk as Al Gore but it won’t make any difference if he’s running neck-and-neck with Al Sharpton in the polls.
5. Dennis Kucinich (last month: 7) — Kucinich has, slowly but surely, solidified a meaningful base of support on the far-left wing of the party. He knows why he’s running for president (which is more than I can say for most of his competitors) and isn’t ashamed of his progressive ideals. He’s got about as much chance of winning the nomination as I do, but he’s staked his claim as a leading liberal voice for the wing of the party — pacifists, protectionists, vegetarians — that feels alienated by centrist rhetoric and moderate agendas. He’s not my cup of tea, but he’s successfully running the kind of campaign his followers are hungry for.
6. Joe Lieberman (last month: 5) — Lieberman has staked out a clearly defined place in a crowded pack, but it isn’t necessarily a good place to be. While Kerry and Gephardt try and convince voters they’re more like Howard Dean, Lieberman is positioning himself as the anti-Dean. It’s not a terrible strategy for generating some much-needed attention, but it’s also not a winning one. Attacking the left wing of the party may help Lieberman make his mark in the campaign, but I still think it’s political suicide. Regardless, it looks like this Connecticut Yankee will be staking his candidacy on the South Carolina primary. I can’t see him sticking around much past April.
7. Bob Graham (last month: 6) — His campaign is a disaster. Graham is an excellent senator, a smart and sincere public official, a dedicated family man, and an all-around nice guy, but he is just not a good presidential candidate. No one, including Graham, seems to have any idea why he’s even running. I genuinely feel bad for him and hope — for his sake — that he drops out soon and shores up his re-election in Florida.
8. Carol Mosley Braun (last month: 9) — Braun picked up the National Organization of Women’s endorsement last week, which will lead to a formal kickoff of her campaign on Sept. 22. This is the exact opposite of what she should be doing — making a graceful exit from the stage.
9. Al Sharpton (last month: 8) — One recent poll showed him leading Edwards and Graham nationwide. While I can’t reasonably explain that, I do know that there’s another big debate coming up this weekend with all the candidates and I’m actually looking forward to hearing some of the soundbite gems Sharpton will offer.