For the weekend everyone dicuss who they think will run in 2008. I think it will be Clinton and at this point some yet unknown repub. McCain is the highest in the polls but Bush and Rove slimed his reputation so bad in the 2000 primary I am sure that will destroy his chances. In my mind he is the only repub I would every consider besides Powell who now says he hangs his head in shame for being part of the misused intelligence leading us into war. I still like Kerry and with more experience Barack Obama would be a strong candidate. Lets hear from all sides.

My call is Clinton vs. Guiliani, but I'm not particularly happy about the Clinton side. Guiliani will win unless Rice runs, mainly because McCain is too independent and because as you say he's been slimed and they don't see him as "loyal" to the GOP. Guiliani has the tough guy macho thing which is all you need to get most Republican's votes. I think Clinton will win just because she has convinced everyone she's the party's only hope. I would prefer a real liberal - she keeps supporting the war in Iraq and I think she would be drawn into supporting a bunch of GOP policies if she were president. I'm still pining for Dean, but not going to happen. Is Barack Obama old enough to be president yet - I know it's 35 or whatever I'm just not sure how old he is.

I think that it will be Jeb Bush on the Republican side. He seemed for awhile like he wasn't going to run, but he's made some quotes recently that sound like he might. ANd you know how easy it was for a guy with Bush as his name and nothing else on his resume to win last time. I think Cliton will win for the democrats, but I don't really want to vote for her either. As for me, I'm going to vote for General Zod:

http://www.zod2008.com/

Well, on the GOP side, McCain, Bush, and Rice are all tied in polling:

Rudy Giuliani 22
Condoleezza Rice 22
John McCain 21
Jeb Bush 11
Newt Gingrich 6
Bill Frist 3
None (vol.) 3
Unsure 11

On the Democratic side, I don't see who could actually beat Hillary:

Hillary Clinton 41
John Edwards 14
Al Gore 12
John Kerry 10
Joe Biden 5
Wesley Clark 4
Bill Richardson 3
Other (vol.) 1
None (vol.) 4
Unsure 6

http://www.pollingreport.com/2008.htm

If it's a choice between Hillary and some Bush clone, I don't see why Democrats would consider it a choice at all, regardless of how liberal they are. The only person I can see on that list who can beat her would be maybe Edwards - I think Kerry and Gore are done for just because they are branded as losers for not winning when they already had their shot.

Good post LA lib.

It's going to be Harry Brown of the Libertarians, I know it. Ok, seriously I am betting on McCain. I think the other candidates will split the conservative vote in the GOP - probably Rice and Cheney don't get in, but I think Jeb will and there is that George Allen guy from Virginia. I think they split it with Guliani, McCain comes out on top with about a third of the vote, and then beats Hillary as the Democratic nominee (I agree no one can beat her in the primary).

I don't see how someone like McCain or Guliani can get through the GOP primary. The religious right has too much control and influence for that to happen. McCain is seen as a maverick and not conservative enough and Guliani is openly pro-choice - neither of those guys are going to make it. It will either be Jeb or Newt - it pretty much has to be somebody from the right-wing these days.

I think either McCain or Guiliani has a fighting chance. There really is only a smaller contingent that views abortion as their sole issue to vote on. It's there, but for example Gary Bauer only got 3-4% running on that issue in 2000. My guess is Guiliani would win vs. McCain - McCain is anti-abortion, so that's a plus, but a lot of Republicans just don't trust him. The thing to remember is that he will look a lot more attractive when it basically becomes a clear choice between the two - each can get about a third of the vote, and the rest is split up between random people. That final third is likely to move towards one or the other if they both are the top two in each primary.

I cannot see myself ever considering a republican again after this administration but of the GOP list McCain or Guiliani would at least be tolerable and they have some ethics and they can think. Right now the majority of Americans do not like intellectuals. Almost everyone up for a nomination on both sides can think and Bush's appeal was that he did not consider issues or more than one side just a gut reaction with no thought to the longterm.

I wouldn't vote for either McCain or Guiliani just because of who I think they'd appoint to the courts, even if I agreed with them on much of anything. I can think of better candidates that Hillary, but at least she'll have to listen to liberals when they talk to her.