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Our Opinions The United States don't seem all that united as individual states are rushing to be the first to hold presidential primary contests for the 2008 elections. The states all want influence in deciding the presidential nominees. Alabama joined the ruckus by moving its primary to Feb. 5 but was soon joined by a host of other states. Now, Michigan appears ready to outdo them all, scheduling its primary for Jan. 15. It used to be that New Hampshire and Iowa were the traditional lead-off states for picking presidents but with these early primaries, the Democratic and Republican nominees may be known by March. It could make for the longest presidential election ever. Speaking of the candidates, there are 17 total- eight Democrats and nine Republicans. None are shining candidates. Some, in fact, are pretty mundane or way out in right or left field. For the record, the Democratic candidates are Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Joe Biden, Dennis Kucinich, Christopher Dodd and Mike Gravel. Clinton and Obama, both U.S. senators, are the front runners and Clinton just picked up the endorsement of the Alabama Democratic Conference. On the Republican side, Rudy Giluliani, Fred Thompson, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Sam Brownback, Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter are the candidates. Former New York Mayor Giluliani is the leading candidate followed by former U.S. Sen. Thompson, a distant second. Barring something unusual happening, Clinton and Giluliani will likely be the candidates on the November ballot. If Clinton wins, it will be historic- the first woman president and the first husband wife combination (she, of course, is married to former President Bill Clinton for anyone who might not know).
Alabamians need to be familiarizing themselves with the candidates, such as they are. The Feb. 5 primary is less than four months away!
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