Look, anyone who knows anything about politics knows you don't just "give up" the presidency for four years. So, no, establishment Democrats are not doing that. They want a candidate who can win, who can beat Bush. They're not happy about Dean's strength right now, and they may not love their other choices, but they've not given up. Would you, in their place? They still think Clark, or someone else has a chance to win. Get real.
I get tired of these too-clever-by-half, cynical "analyses". Sometimes politics doesn't involve deep diabolical calculation, so that the "real action" has to be revealed to us by clever writers. Sometimes it's just an ugly fight in public. And sometimes a party approaches an election with a weak hand. The Democrats have both issues right now.
Was the GOP just marking time with Dole in '96? Was it engaged in some supersmart calculation "really" to make its move in 2000? Sheesh.
I agree that you just don't give up the Presidency for four years.
The Dems aren't holding back to run Gore in 2008. He couldn't run this time because he didn't have the Clinton machine at his disposal.
Hillary isn't going to wait until 2008. She will be the candidate this year. She simply hasn't announced yet because she couldn't survive the type of aggressive personal campaigning that the others are having to engage in now. That is where Wes Clark comes in. He is the temporary stand-in for Hillary. He met the requirements to get on the ballot in all the primaries and has assembled the old Clinton campaign organization, using money raised by Bill & Hillary for him.
Just before the Southern primaries Hillary will allow herself to be drafted in order to save the party from the insane Howard Dean. Clark will bow out in favor of Hillary and announce that all votes for him will go to Hillary.
After the Southern primaries there will only be two candidates left and most of the campaigning will be through carefully controlled media appearances like she did in NY when she ran for the Senate.
Now that's the real truth.