I respect Dole as a person, but once he started crying, he didn't stop. That's why I don't have this hatred for McCain some here have--he's a guy. I don't have to agree with all of his positions, but he's a real person.
On the other hand, I cannot shake the feeling that we will be electing Obama or HRC this cycle. The American public has been so hit over the head with this "we need to elect a minority to prove we're not biased" crap for decades that I think this is the time when it might give. Ironically, people will still hate the WOT but accept that Iraq is going well, and they can say "What the heck, ANYONE can be president, it's not like Bush was some brain surgeon. Bush is very intelligent, as his smart political opponents will tell you, but the media bashing of him has done its job--people think ANYONE can be president if they FEEEEEEEEL like it'd be a good thing for them to be president.
Thus...Obama or Clinton, I fear. But I have hopes that when confronted with Thompson, either of them will collapse. I don't think any other Republican has a chance against them other than McCain, who could win on his personality.
I think Hillary will be unelectable in the end. (The only way she could overcome her negatives would be to pull something really dirty, fraud or what have you, and hope it doesn’t become known.)
Obama, I believe, is intrinsically weak and if nominated continued exposure will reveal this quality. I believe Thompson could get a lot of the southern Democrats, enough to win.