2008 is far off and already we have too many candidates - all this

[2Design]

wasted money on politics and marketing campaigns - advertising and tv networks make out while the normal people lose because it seems he who has the most connections and money wins and not humanity

[AtomicKitten]

1. I respectfully disagree.

A wide-open primary means lots of discussion in the open about WHY Democrats should win the WH in 2008. After six long years of demonizing dissent, I long for BushCo's pile of felonies being aired publicly and on a regular basis.

[2Design]

3. but they unfortunately attack each other and give the fuel to the

republics - they don't stay on message - if they attack each other early we lose - I don't see the republics announcing - mc cain isn't out there - and god help us if we get romney - he will be worse than bush - very rw and never should have made governor - just because he ran the olympics he became a governor - god help us

[AtomicKitten]

4. you raise a legitimate concern

and it most certainly is a double-edged sword. Still, I prefer a discussion among Democrats over the relative lockstep nomination process of the Republics.

I am hopeful Howard Dean will take the Dem candidates by the lapels and set some ground rules.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Some may drop out early -- I hope.

Otherwise we'll see another round of those totally lame "debates" with 10 candidates standing there, and they get asked a bogus question and have maybe 30 seconds to answer it, and nobody can rebut the answer; the moderator throws softballs to the candidates he or his network likes and bad questions to the others, and nobody learns anything about any of them. Then the pundits dissect the whole stupid thing and draw stupid inferences about the answers and comment irrelevantly on the candidates' clothes and demeanor. It's a total waste of time, effort and money, and a detriment to the entire process.

[election_2004]

5. LOL, that....

...pretty much sums up the first Democratic debates of the 2004 presidential primaries (hosted by Brian Williams in Greenville, SC).

I remember right afterward, the media was crowing about how Lieberman had scored a "home run" in those debates.