MSNBC weighs in...
Ding Ding Ding... Ladies and Gentlemen... Let's get ready to RUMBLLLLLLLLLLE!
MSNBC has decided to go with a boxing theme for their '08 Presidential Rankings... for the record they rank them as Heavyweight as being a strong candidate, Welterweight is a moderately strong candidate, Lightweight is a moderately weak candidate and Flyweight is a weak candidate...
Democrats (in alphabetical order)-
Evan Bayh - Heavyweight - May have the right combination of conservativism in personal style and on foreign policy, and liberalism on social issues, to be the Hillary alternative.
Hillary Clinton - Heavyweight - A marquee name with marquee money.
Al Gore - Heavyweight - He says he's not going to run in '08, but if he changes his mind...
John Kerry - Heavyweight - But do Democrats want a rerun?
Joe Biden - Welterweight - If he runs, Biden will be the consumate veteran of the Democratic field. He will also test listeners' endurance.
Tom Daschle - Welterweight - He's got a high profile among Democrats, but can he raise money and overcome any perception that he's yesterday's man now that he is out of office?
John Edwards - Welterweight - He knows the ropes, has the money and is from the South.
Russ Feingold - Welterweight - A brainy, earnest, hardworking reformer suited to do well in Iowa and New Hampshire. His appeal in the Bible Belt remains problematic.
Bill Richardson - Welterweight - As a governor, and former UN Ambassador, congressman and energy secretary who comes from the Southwest and is Latino, he's got leverage.
Mark Warner - Weltherweight - The right combination of money, charm, location and personality.
Wesley Clark - Lightweight - A smart, articulate and fiercely disciplined military man, but has no experience in elected office.
John Vilsack - Lightweight - A strong voice on the economy, but untested on national security or foreign affairs.
I do have a couple of problems with some of their analysis...
First, I think calling Clark "articulate and fiercely disciplined" is being generous... he showed in the '04 campaign that he can be a loose cannon which for a politician is NOT good.
Second, while I agree that Al Gore would be a strong candidate if he decided to run, he's made it abudently clear so many times that he's not running, why even bother?
For the record... MSNBC only ranked 1 Republican as a heavyweight... John McCain.
MSNBC has decided to go with a boxing theme for their '08 Presidential Rankings... for the record they rank them as Heavyweight as being a strong candidate, Welterweight is a moderately strong candidate, Lightweight is a moderately weak candidate and Flyweight is a weak candidate...
Democrats (in alphabetical order)-
Evan Bayh - Heavyweight - May have the right combination of conservativism in personal style and on foreign policy, and liberalism on social issues, to be the Hillary alternative.
Hillary Clinton - Heavyweight - A marquee name with marquee money.
Al Gore - Heavyweight - He says he's not going to run in '08, but if he changes his mind...
John Kerry - Heavyweight - But do Democrats want a rerun?
Joe Biden - Welterweight - If he runs, Biden will be the consumate veteran of the Democratic field. He will also test listeners' endurance.
Tom Daschle - Welterweight - He's got a high profile among Democrats, but can he raise money and overcome any perception that he's yesterday's man now that he is out of office?
John Edwards - Welterweight - He knows the ropes, has the money and is from the South.
Russ Feingold - Welterweight - A brainy, earnest, hardworking reformer suited to do well in Iowa and New Hampshire. His appeal in the Bible Belt remains problematic.
Bill Richardson - Welterweight - As a governor, and former UN Ambassador, congressman and energy secretary who comes from the Southwest and is Latino, he's got leverage.
Mark Warner - Weltherweight - The right combination of money, charm, location and personality.
Wesley Clark - Lightweight - A smart, articulate and fiercely disciplined military man, but has no experience in elected office.
John Vilsack - Lightweight - A strong voice on the economy, but untested on national security or foreign affairs.
I do have a couple of problems with some of their analysis...
First, I think calling Clark "articulate and fiercely disciplined" is being generous... he showed in the '04 campaign that he can be a loose cannon which for a politician is NOT good.
Second, while I agree that Al Gore would be a strong candidate if he decided to run, he's made it abudently clear so many times that he's not running, why even bother?
For the record... MSNBC only ranked 1 Republican as a heavyweight... John McCain.
posted by Rob @ 5/05/2006 10:04:00 AM
1 Comments:
At May 06, 2006 3:33 AM,
Anonymous said…
Wow. It's hard to find a Democrat more out of touch than MSNBC, but anyone who calls Wes Clark "a loose cannon" knows nothing about what him or his '04 campaign.
Clark was on the money with every charge he made about the Bush administration. People who really listened to him, and not just what the media said about him, knew it at the time. Had he gotton into the race in time to compete in Iowa, with a first-tier campaign staff, the primary results might have been very different indeed. As it was, he did better than a great many experienced politicians.
Looking toward '08, Clark is the only really credible voice on Iraq and foreign policy we have. His positions on economic issues, health care, and the environment are many steps ahead of the competition as well. He's focused on winning the House in '06, and is one of the few national Democrats that red states candidates are willing to be seen with.
Clark may not have the money, yet, to be considered a heavy-weight. But make no mistake: he's on his way up.
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