[UPDATE: Rumor Confirmed [1]...]

Rumor has it [2] that Wes Clark is endorsing Hillary Clinton. To me this was easily predictable. For a long time I saw Wes positioning himself to run. He was acting like a candidate early on. I predicted [3] if he did run it would hurt Hillary because they have overlapping pools of supporters and run in roughly the same political circles.

Then, suddenly Wes Clark stopped acting like a candidate. He quieted down and started to sound more like someone positioning himself for alliances, rather than being the focus of an alliance himself. It struck me that his sudden change in behavior probably meant someone made him an offer...and the someone who seemed most likely to make him an offer was Hillary Clinton.

Now, if the rumor is true, Wes has endorsed Hillary.

What offer would it take to get him to back out and back Hillary? Possibly Sec. of State. But I really think the smart thing would be for Hillary to pick Clark for her running mate. I think a Clinton/Clark ticket would be a strong one and would boost Hillary's chances a great deal.

So prediction #1: if Hillary gets the nomination, Wes is her VP choice.

I feel pretty safe in making that prediction. Interestingly, when I discussed Clark and Clinton as appealing to the same basic pool of supporters, I was attacked by Clark supporters who wanted him to be their progressive savior and couldn't abide seeing him as a centrist. Wonder how they feel now if he does endorse Hillary and does become her VP choice.

My second prediction is a weaker one. I predict if Edwards gets the nomination he might pick Bill Richardson for his VP choice.

Both of these would be powerful teams. I think Edwards/Richardson would be practically unbeatable for many reasons. I think Clinton/Clark would be strong, but not quite as strong. Either way, you would be making history.

I don't have a feel for what Obama would do. I think in his case you might see someone fairly boring and very white chosen. Chris Dodd? Vilsack? Warner? Just shooting in the dark with these. Anyone have thoughts?

The Republican field is very hard to make predictions about because they all suck so badly. One friend suggests that a Romney/Snowe or Romney/Collins team up would be smart for the Republicans because it throws the whole Northeast into play. I would suggest that both Snowe and Collins would be a good Republican choice no matter what. And if they are running against a Clinton/Clark or Edwards/Richardson or Obama/anyone team, then WHOEVER wins it will be making history. In the past Elizabeth Dole was bandied around as a popular choice for Republican VP. Wonder if her low approval as a Senator sours people on her. Plus she is a lousy campaigner. But I suspect she still will be viewed by many Republicans as a good choice for VP. Huckabee/Brownback would be scary but far from impossible. It would be the American Taliban ticket, but probably would get quite a bit of excitement from the Republicans who can't seem to get this religious extremism thing out of their system. I predict Fred Thompson will have a short trajectory...he is likely to crash and burn pretty fast. Though I predicted something similar for Barack Obama early on and was wrong. Obama proved much smarter and a quicker learner than I had given him credit for. Thompson doesn't strike me as being as quick a learner. McCain and Giuliani are likely to get nowhere. I predict NEITHER will be on the final ticket.

How about some fantasy third party runs. And before anyone says anything, NO. Bloomberg is NOT running. I predict he is setting himself up for a Cabinet position WHOEVER wins. But what about Ron Paul running third party? Unlikely but... How about Ron Paul/Jesse Ventura? The crazy but entertaining ticket. How about Giuliani running as a Third Party candidate? His ego is big enough and he isn't a mainstream Republican. I consider it a possibility depending on who the Repub candidate is. But probably not.

Of course Nader will run...again. Tiresome as ever. He is so marginalized by now that it doesn't really matter. But how about if he and Ron Paul make a run together? The "Extremes Meet" ticket? Nader/Giuliani, the "Egos the Size of Texas" ticket. Any other suggestions? Some idiot on Daily Kos urges a Ron Paul/Dennis Kucinich match up, but that strikes me as pretty unlikely, to put it mildly. Plus I don't think Kucinich is that stupid. He isn't a Nader. He is more like a Howard Dean, trying to shake things up within the party.

Anyway, although the election seems so far away, it isn't. Petitioning to get the candidates on the ballot in New York starts THIS November. So my local Democratic Club is having their endorsement meeting THIS October. The 2008 election season is happening now thanks to all the early primaries.

Thoughts and ramblings?

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