Some people think that Hilary Clinton or Barack Obama have sealed up the presidency. I beg to differ and think that the election cycle has not even started. Sure, some candidates have well established infrastructures and money but there are two new entries into the race.
No Senator has gone straight to the presidency since JFK and he barely got in. This election is shaping up to be different from all others in modern history but don't count out precedence just yet. Governor Bill Richardson has perhaps the most impressive resume of all of the leading democratic nominees and his trump card is that he is the only governor. He has experience as a former Congressman, Energy Secretary, Ambassador to the UN, and now Governor of New Mexico. He has just entered the race so he has nowhere near the amount of money or resources of Obama or Clinton but watch out for this guy. Senators have the luxury of changing their position on an issue without needing to be tied to it. John Kerry's statement "I voted for it before I voted against it" doomed him in 2004 and the American public has a way of spotting the strengths of somebody who has executive experience. The electorate admires somebody who has to make a decision on a policy and stick with it.
Fred Thompson is in the early stages of filing for candidacy. Right now the GOP is in disarray while candidates compete for the heart and soul of the electorate. The evangelical base that got Bush into office in 2004 has yet to get behind one candidate. Although the base may not identify with Thompson the way they did under George W. Bush, he may prove to be the least objectionable candidate. Both paries need to win some states in the south and Fred Thompson from Tennessee has the potential to capture all of it.
No Senator has gone straight to the presidency since JFK and he barely got in. This election is shaping up to be different from all others in modern history but don't count out precedence just yet. Governor Bill Richardson has perhaps the most impressive resume of all of the leading democratic nominees and his trump card is that he is the only governor. He has experience as a former Congressman, Energy Secretary, Ambassador to the UN, and now Governor of New Mexico. He has just entered the race so he has nowhere near the amount of money or resources of Obama or Clinton but watch out for this guy. Senators have the luxury of changing their position on an issue without needing to be tied to it. John Kerry's statement "I voted for it before I voted against it" doomed him in 2004 and the American public has a way of spotting the strengths of somebody who has executive experience. The electorate admires somebody who has to make a decision on a policy and stick with it.
Fred Thompson is in the early stages of filing for candidacy. Right now the GOP is in disarray while candidates compete for the heart and soul of the electorate. The evangelical base that got Bush into office in 2004 has yet to get behind one candidate. Although the base may not identify with Thompson the way they did under George W. Bush, he may prove to be the least objectionable candidate. Both paries need to win some states in the south and Fred Thompson from Tennessee has the potential to capture all of it.
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