There is no "Presidential Nominee" yet

[rabid_nerd]

When you go to your county party executive meeting, is there always someone willing to be treasurer? vice president? etc.?

Not where I live. Even the state-wide Young Democrats didn't have candidates for all the officer positions.

They had to be nominated. Remember that term?

That's what happens when someone you may not even know stands up and says "I nominate John Doe for Parliamentarian".

What right do you have to nominate someone? It's inherent in the Democratic process.

What can the nominee do about it?

Accept the nomination or decline the same.

Then you have to find your second choice.

This is what draft campaigns do - try to nominate someone who isn't or will not actively campaign. ("draft committees" are specifically mentioned in FEC rules and regulations as an unauthorized PAC).

Draft Campaigns are not much different than any others, except that they are driven by people who believe in someone so as to override their desire to settle for their second choice.

Draft Kucinich succeeded in convincing their target candidate to run. Draft Clark may as well. Draft Gore knows they will not (and has since June, by the way).

But if these draftees continue to say "I will not run", no big deal. It's when they answer the question (which has not been answered by any draft targets to date), "Would you accept the nomination?" that defines whether or not the draft campaign is not viable.

These people want to nominate their choice, like anyone else has the right to do. They each have their reasons for doing so, just as those supporting the nomination of their cooperating candidate does.

All of the Draft Campaigns do have one thing in common - higher ranking than some campaigns. Whether it's Draft Clark surpassing some annoucned candidates' fundraising to Draft Gore's placing #1 in New Hampshire, they are not to be ignored for sure.

These campaigns comprise of thousands of people, all passionately working toward their (admittedly unlikely) goal - convince their candidate or win the nomination FOR them.

In a vaccuum, without anyone asking you to nominate them instead of someone else, and thinking solely about qualifications and experience, the issues you care about and so on, who would YOU nominate?

If you "would" vote for this person or that person IF they were running, why not actively try to nominate them for now?

After all, if all looks dreary before your state comes around, you can always fall back to your second choice.

NOMINATE WHO _YOU_ WANT

And of course the Draft Campaigns will rally behind the eventual nominee. We're Democrats, damn it.