Joe Lie, John F'in Kerry, Gephardt, Breck Girl, Sharpton, Bob Graham, and Howard Dean.
So what happened?
Dean hooks up with Moveon. Who were they? Why, they were the group that formed to mobilize in defense of...Bill Clinton. Dean also went to meet with Hillary early on.
Mosley-Braun joined the campaign, to ensure Sharpton couldn't monopolize the black vote. She weakened whatever slim chance he had. Sharpton was taken care of.
What happened to Kerry? He had some former Gore staffers near the top of his campaign. The campaign floundered, and then they jumped ship. Kerry was taken care of.
What happened to Gephardt? Labor unions were supposed to be his bread-and-butter. But a few of the big ones, who were cozy with the Clintons, surprisingly moved to endorse Dean. Gephardt was taken care of.
How about Edwards? What was his best chance? Southern appeal. How about Graham? What was his best chance? Foreign policy. Suddenly, Wesley Clark jumps into the race. Edwards now has to compete with Clark in the South, and Graham realizes he won't be the main defense candidate for the Democrats. Edwards and Graham are taken care of.
And Joe Lieberman had his own ticket mate, Al Gore, endorse Dean.
Every opponent to Dean has been neutered by someone with ties to the Clintons.
Not once has Bill or Hillary said anything even remotely critical of Dean.
Looks like it might be one, big, happy family instead of the dysfunctional one which has been the conventional wisdom. And it is looking more and more like the one thing the Democrats wanted to avoid, namely a drawn out, bruising and competitive primary, will be completely avoided.