Quick ranking of presidential contenders 2008

There's been some activity in the last week, with Tom Vilsack, Evan Bayh and Hillary Clinton - finally - announcing their intentions to seek the presidency in 2008.

Bayh probably doesn't have a chance, he's running because people close to him have been telling him to run for so long that he's forgotten what an unknown he is outside the world of wonkdom.

Hillary is of course in the top tier of Democratic candidates for 2008, but something tells me she isn't going to make it. Vilsack is interesting, keep your eye on him.

All of them right now are holding their breath to see if Obama runs. Right now that guy holds all the cards. I have zilch-o contacts in Illinois politics and certainly no contact with anyone even vaguely close to him. But every Democratic fundraiser and politician I know is excited about him, and I know a pretty wideranging bunch, from Blue Dog types here in Texas to old black power types in KC to congressional staffers in DC. There's a lot of legitimate, non-hype grassroots interest around Obama right now and not all of it is there as part of some campaign to sell his book. And my own opinion? He's the strongest candidate either party could field right now.

The question mark hanging over him is why we get the vague stuff from Clinton right now, nothing out of the Richardson camp, and only insulated senate ego trips like Kerry, Bayh and Edwards making white house noises. It's also why we're not hearing much from a Democratic governor that a source tells me would love to make a run. I'm holding off on naming him now because I was promised more info if I held off for now, but his name has been floated as a potential candidate before. Anyway, if Obama decides not to run you are going to see the Democratic field broaden considerably.

As a final note, I am adding the clown George Pataki to the GOP side. Earlier I mentioned ego cases - Pataki could set that bar.

DEMS

Barack Obama (IL) 100
Wes Clark (AR) 89
Hillary Clinton (NY) 56 (+1)
John Edwards (NC) 54
Bill Richardson (NM) 47
Tom Vilsack (IA) 45 (+1)
John Murtha (PA) 33
Al Gore (TN) 24
Tom Daschle (SD) 20
Joe Biden (DE) 16
Evan Bayh (IN) 16 (+1)
John Kerry (MA) 14
Mike Gravel (AK) 10


GOP

Condoleeza Rice (CA) 79
Haley Barbour (MS) 79
Mitt Romney (MA) 74
Tim Pawlenty (MN) 70
Tom Tancredo (CO) 46
Rudy Giuliani (NY) 32
John McCain (AZ) 26
Fred Thompson (TN) 23
Chuck Hagel (NE) 20
Mike Huckabee (AR) 19
Duncan Hunter (CA) 19
Sam Brownback (KS) 19
Tom Coburn (OK) 16
Newt Gingrich (GA) 11
Tommy Thompson (WI) 10
George Pataki (NY) 7