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I haven't weighed in on the candidates much, so here goes nothing:
BIDEN: 3 as a candidate and "who cares" as a campaigner. (I lost all respect for Biden after how he handled Anita Hill. He hasn't done anything since to increase my opinion of him.)
CLINTON: 4 as a candidate and 9 as a campaigner (Way too DLC, pro-Israel, pro-Iraq War Resolution for my taste. On the campaign trail, it is hard to argue that she's one of the most effective campaigners the Dems have.)
DODD: 6 as a candidate and "huh?" as a campaigner (Chris has been a pretty good Senator, from what I can remember, for a long time. As a campaigner, well, let's just say I didn't remember he was running until now...)
EDWARDS: 9 as a candidate and 8 as a campaigner (He was the only candidate in '04 to mention the war against the middle class. Any other policy deficiencies he may have are nits by comparison, as far as I'm concerned. A pretty darn good campaigner, but I worry about the "rich trial lawyer" label being hung around his neck.)
GORE: 15 as a candidate and 9.5 as a campaigner (Honest, smart, authoritative, more moral credibility than God. I love Al so much, I don't even care that he fought for NAFTA or that he let the DLC goon-squad take him out of his own race in 2000. As far as Al being a lame campaigner, go ahead and give him a 7 for 2000--actually, give Carville and the rest of those traitors a -1000 and Al a 4 for not firing the lot of them. But now, it is a whole new ball game. Al is himself, and not afraid to let it show. And that's more than good, it's great. His sense of humor, gravitas, willingness to be human, but with a commanding intellect and moral authority (not just on climate change, but Iraq, Bush crimes, etc.) put him in a whole 'nother league. Run, Al RUN!!!)
KUCINICH: 8 as a candidate and 4 as a campaigner (It is great to be a progressive, and to stick to principles, but not at the expense of any chance of putting those into practice. He needs to alienate fewer fellow Dems in the process of his quest for ideological purity. Compromise IS way overdone, and not enough pols stand for *anything*, but our system won't work without it. And you can get elected without it, either.)
OBAMA: 7 as a candidate and 9 as a campaigner--can I give him a 12 as a fundraiser? (Too untested, hasn't been in front of enough issues for long enough to put him ahead of others, from my point of view. After 2 or 3 more terms in the Senate, lets take another look. Too many votes that make him look too DLC-ish for me. And too much pandering to church-goers. As a campaigner, people say he can move you like no one they've seen in forever--that's cool. Still, style over substance doesn't really sit well with me, but he IS my #2 after Edwards if Al doesn't run.)
RICHARDSON: 3 as a candidate and "who knows?" as a campaigner (Tax cuts? Sorry, dude, you're in the wrong party. Beyond that, his state is crying out for leadership on so many issues--poverty, destruction of native cultures, immigration, environment, etc., and though I haven't researched him a great deal, he hasn't made me notice him in those areas.)
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