Anyone’s Race
Walter Shapiro says the Democratic presidential primary is wide open:
Sure, it is tempting to snicker at the plight of the six serious Democratic contenders fighting for a flicker of television attention at a time when George W. Bush rules the (air) waves.It is easy to chortle that the only two Democrats who can attract a national audience are both named Clinton.
Cynics might even snidely point out that the most commanding speaker among the nine Democratic candidates is the Rev. Al Sharpton, a preacher-politician with a checkered past who has no hope of winning the nomination.
But these facile put-downs miss the real story. And that is the potentially thrilling narrative likely to unfold during the next seven months leading up to the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. For it is hard to recall another presidential contest in which this many candidates were so tightly bunched at the half-mile mark with no clear favorite.
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