With the 2004 election having just wrapped up, and with Bush not yet inaugurated for a second term, few would-be presidents are prepared to admit that they’re considering running in 2008 (Chuck Hagel is, at this point, the exception).
But if you’re anxious to see which Dems are weighing a White House bid, look no further than which party leaders are weighing in on the race for the DNC chair.
John Kerry, who’s interest in ’08 seems quite sincere, has been trying to pull strings for months. First, he encouraged Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack to seek the post, perhaps because he sees Vilsack as a potential rival in the next campaign. When Vilsack withdrew from consideration, Kerry’s attention focused elsewhere.
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is vetting the leading candidates to be the next Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairman, and asking them to remain neutral in the presidential selection process in 2008. It is the latest indication that Kerry is putting down markers to run again for the party’s presidential nomination in 2008.
But he’s hardly alone. Potential Dem candidates have been working the phones diligently of late, contacting DNC aspirants and offering the rest of us key hints about who our likely candidates will be.
Over the past six weeks, Sen. Evan Bayh (Ind.), Sen. Hillary Clinton (N.Y,), New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Virginia Gov. Mark Warner and Kerry have been in touch with former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb and former Michigan Gov. James Blanchard, said Webb and Blanchard — the two DNC candidates who agreed to speak on the record on this issue. Those are the same names that several other DNC candidates, or their campaigns, have privately said they contacted.
Rest assured, if this group has been in touch with Webb and Blanchard, they’ve been in touch with the others as well.
Some of these folks might try and spin their involvement in the DNC chair race, but it’s only logical to assume their interest is based almost entirely on presidential aspirations.