Which Democratic candidates would have the best chances to win the 2008 election if he or she would be nominated?

Please DON'T vote for your favorite candidate and NOT for the candidate that you think will probably get the nomination but for that person that you think would have the the best chance to win the election if nominated.

Things can change a lot in the coming months, but right at this time, Barack Obama has a lot of momentum. It is way too early for me to have settled on my pick.

Aside from the money issue of being nominated, I would say either Barak Obama or Bill Richardson. Gov Richardson has very conservative and moderate views on trade with Mexico, China, Latin America, etc, but his domestic policies are a bit liberal.

The two front-runners are out of it, and if the war is over, they are ALL out of it. If not I give the edge to Edwards (with a sympathy factor) followed by Bill Richardson.

I think out of that lot Al Gore stands the best chance only just i think from Edwards. They both seem to be polling better than Hillary in head to heads against GOP rivals. Obama is up there too but his hasn't been for so long or so consistantly.

lol, Clinton and Gore are tied for 4th/5th... Not what you here from the media.

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Diplomacy is figuring out what you want to say, and then figuring out how not to say it...

I think Hilary energizes the core GOP base.
Obama energizes the GOP racist base.
These candidates will generate a lot of emotion that could work to undermine the Democratic effort.
Edwards is the least offensive to the GOP base, and at the same time the best known Democrat, sort of a generic Democrat, and a generic Democrat wins in 2008, because with Edwards I think the GOP base doesn't get that aroused about 2008, and starts looking beyond to 2012 and 2016.

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“ The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state.”

Adam Smith , The Wealth of Nations 1776

"We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics"
FDR's second Inaugural Address

Nice wording...

Though i do think that the base is a little weary of him, i think Richardson is unknown enogh not to be "too liberal to be elected". He runs on the alternative energy nonsense of global warming where as Gore does it on the "Its all mankids fault" crap. Either way Gore still has a good chance of getting elected if he runs and we put an idiot like say Brownback or Romney up. He seems half normal compred to this new braindead batch of insane Dems like Hussein and Hillary.

Not sure I agree with the Edwards' sympathy factor, but I voted Richardson. I think he would be the greatest threat to most of the prospective Republicans. In fact, of all those listed, he is the one I would not be particularly concerned about getting elected (mind you, I wouldn't be in favor of it, but it wouldn't be an abject disaster like most of the others).

Furthermore, I think Edwards is unlikely to even win his own homestate, not a good thing for a Presidential contender.

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"It's a good feeling to shoot a bad guy. Something you democrats would never understand. Americans are homesteaders, we want a safe home, keep the money we make, and shoot bad guys!"

----Denny Crane

I voted Richardson. My reasoning being the mid-west. For decades the South has been the bastion of presidential politics - whomever wins the south wins (usually). However, I think it's more than safe to say that the south are firmly locked in as "red", whilst the mid-west, which since pretty much their inception have voted "red", are now fast turning into swing states. Look at Montana, Arizona, Colorado for example. I think the Dems best chances for winning in '08 are for electing the candidate who best able to deliver some states in that region. It is clear from pretty much all early polling that Clinton has no hope in the mid-west; Obama fares little better. Gore and Richardson do much better there. Of course some mid-west states are still very much "red" (ie Idaho), but if the Dems can pick up Arizona (red state with a blue governor), New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado and Montana, then it's all over baby

Dems pick up AZ? Err yeah...forgot the fact that McCain comes from there and if he were in any way on the ticket that'd be the end of that state's open play. Colorado? Tancredo's home state being active? No chance. Montana maybe but dependant on who runs on both sides, Nevada probably not either.

What I think is strange is how different we are from the polls when it comes to Hilary. I hope "WE" are right.

I don't know if it's because in polls people are usually asked about their own personal favorite, which is not quite the question of this poll ... at least it wasn't supposed to be.

I think it would have to be either Richardson or Edwards. Both are less liberal that most of the other candidates and if the dems learned nothing else in the 06 elections they should have leared that the country is tired of someone who will simply move the partisan power trip from conservative to liberal

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The universe grows smaller every day and the threat of aggression by any group anywhere can no longer be tolerated. There must be security for all or no one is secure... - Klaatu

Al Gore is polling at 17% while he keeps insisting that he's not running. We'll know for sure that he's not running when he backs one of the candidates. Gore, even if he doesn't run, could really decide this race by who he tells his supporters to go to. If he backs Edwards, that could completely change things. Or if he were to back Bill Richardson.

But if Gore were to throw his hat in the ring, I think he could run the campaign he's always wanted to run by just speaking his mind instead of agonizing over small details. He's a big-picture guy now who can connect with a crowd, and he's from the south, he's the perfect alternative to Obama or Clinton, he's got tonnes of experience.