Former Florida Gov. Bob graham said last night on Larry King he is withdrawing from the Dem. Presidential race mainly because he got a late start, and was never able to raise enough money for his effort. He will not support anyone at this time, but he did say that "any one of the Democrats running would be superior to the incumbent". I whole heartidly agree. I think that if he chose to accept it, and word is he may, he would make a very good solid choice for Dean, to be his V.P., if Dean gets the nomination.

[ October 07, 2003, 07:51 AM: Message edited by: puckman1 ]

When your central tactic is setting up campaign tables at NASCAR events, you know you're in trouble.

He was the second-most-Republican Democrat in the race after Lieberman. Glad to see him go.

I'm sure Bob Graham's tens of supporters are disappointed.

In fairness to Graham -- he had heart trouble (and I think surgery) shortly before he kicked off his campaign. Pardon the play on words - but it seemed clear to me that his heart just wasn't in the race.

I think Bob Graham is a fine man and I agree with Puckman (as usual) that he would make an excellent Vice President.

Bob took the high road, and he was one of the few people who spoke to the issues, not just an attack dog

I do think Graham's heart was in it, but he just wasn't connecting with voters over the din created by so many candidates. When are Sharpton, Moseley Braun and Kucinich going to get out of it? When is DC's primary? Is that why Sharpton is hanging around?

Nobody's voted yet, except the pollsters and the media. And who in bloody tarnation are they to determine who's "connecting"? What's left are a bunch of boring "electable" candidates... like Joe Lieberman? Gimme a break, I'm as likely to win the White House, and without exploiting my mother in saccharine staged events.

Thanks mdphl. I expect there will be more people to fall out of the Dem. race, if they aren't able to come up to speed with campaign fundraising, but the key word here will be for unity for the Democrats. By the way the next Dem. debate is Thursday night at 5:00pm p.s.t. from Phoenix. I understand CNN will be carrying it.

Not sure what CMB and Sharpton are gunning for, but Kucinich is not in the race to win. He's in it to push the Democrats more toward the left, which is where he and his supporters feel the Party should be. By running and mobilizing not a majority but a solid, vocal minority behind him, K in theory will be able to ultimately have more influence over the Party's platform and direction and perhaps take a more prominent role at the Party's convention. I think Graham was in it to win, the poor thing.

What are you talking about specifically? What issues did he tackle that were not also highlighted by the other Dem candidates? Seriously, I'm not sure where you're getting that from and I'm wondering if I missed something.

William, Bob did not resort to the old school politics as usual of attack...if you watched the debates he ( tried) to stay focused on issue and his record. Unlike the Gep who slams Dean, but overlooks his own voting record.

Graham was the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee during 9/11. He was pushing for the Bushies to release more of the 9/11 report. He was one of the few to vote against the Iraqi war because it took the focus of the fight against terrorism.

I supported Graham. I'm damn sorry to see him go but I'm not surprised. He never caught on.

I'll probably support Clark now. He's the only candidate that can probably beat Bush.

Theordoresdaddy: I respect your opinion about Graham, and what you said about Clark, but I will disagree with what you said about him being the only one who has a chance to beat Bush. Says who??, and why do you think he is the only one? Don't fall for the Repugs stance who say "he is too liberal". Clark may sound like Democrat now, but you couldn't call him that a month ago. On the other hand Howard Dean has been out there attacking the status quo, drawing huge distinctions between himself and Bush for a long time, and he has been a faithful Democrat on all the issues we hold near and dear, like getting the massive debt load thanks to Shrub, under control, taking back the power away from special interests,and big corporations, getting the country working again, keeping us strong at home and abroad, and restoring respect to our great country. In addition he supports healthcare for every American, and since he is a Dr. I think he is extremely qell qualified to say he knows whats going on with our health care mess. Deans' motto is you gotta believe, and I know I do!