A lot of Republicans and Democrats have announced they're running for president, even including some people you've heard of. How many of these people actually think they have even a 1% chance of getting elected? I mean, come on. Mike Huckabee will get as many electoral votes in 2008 as I will.
I'm not even talking about people like Mike Gravel who seem to be running only for Harold Stassen's old position as perennial laughingtock candidate. I mean folks who are actually in or around government like Dennis Kucinich or Tom Vilsack or — over across the aisle — Tom Tancredo or Tommy Thompson. How many of these folks really think they have a shot at going the distance and how many are merely candidates the way Pat Buchanan sometimes is, the way Al Sharpton always is, the way Ralph Nader persists in being?
There's obviously a value to running. Mr. Buchanan, to pick one of them as an example, enhanced his fame and raised public awareness of his causes by running for an office he could never come close to winning. He may even have forced some electable Republicans to pay more attention to his issues or lean a bit in their direction. People who believed in his message donated millions of dollars to Buchanan's candidacy and there were reports that via legal means, he found ways to direct much of the cash into his personal accounts. Even if he didn't, I'll bet running for president raised his fees as a speaker, commentator, author, etc. In short, it was a good career move and I don't believe he ever thought he'd win a single elector, let alone 270. Sharpton obviously doesn't but he runs.
The distinction matters, I think. One of the many moments when Ross Perot seemed to take a solid running start and leap the shark was when, in 1992, he seemed to believe he was not only going to win but that he was going to carry every single state. Near as I can tell, all Perot got out of that run for the White House was a brief moment in the spotlight. He didn't enhance a political career, advance a political cause or increase his income. Many of those who won't win in '08 will achieve one, two or all three to some extent.
We all know they aren't going to win. What I wanna know is how many of them know it?
That's what I wanna know.