Part of the reason 2000 was such a great year to jump into politics because both parties had meaningful primaries, even though Gore was Clinton part III for the Democrats. 2008 is going to be that times 10, without an heir apparent in either party.

This thought was prompted when I found two WaPo stories written in 1998 looking at the 2000 race. See if you can guess the then potential candidates from these descriptions and whether they were “Too Serious to Ignore,” “Running for Running Mate,” or a “Shot in the Dark”. (Answers below the fold)

1. “First, there’s the plaid shirt problem. Second, there is the controversy surrounding the fabulous wealth he has amassed through friends and political connections. And third, he lost big in 1996.”

2. “Although largely associated with fiscal issues, the House budget committee chairman has pleasantly surprised social conservatives with his talk of faith-based solutions and his “personal relationship with God.”

3. “He is an ardent promoter of home-schooling, random drug testing and term limits and shows no reluctance to employ a heart-wrenching account of his wife’s own difficult birth to prove his conservative bona fides on abortion.”

4. “[He] has mastered the dual roles of public office: a folksy, tobacco-chewing, truck-driving everyman, and the polished inside operator who knows how to outflank his own party leaders.”

5. “Once in a while, the … senator scores a win, including raising the minimum wage, banning gifts to lawmakers and establishing mental health coverage in insurance plans. Last summer, [he] embarked on a poverty tour of the South, tracing the path of the late Robert F. Kennedy. The goal, he said, was to draw attention to children and families still left behind.”

6. “[He] is a handsome Vietnam vet with a healthy appetite for attention. And like Bob Kerrey, he has tempered his liberal tendencies to adjust to the national mood.”

7. “[H]is political skills were honed long before his arrival at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He ran his father’s gubernatorial campaigns.”

1. Lamar Alexander, Too Serious to Ignore
2. John Kasich, Running for Running Mate
3. John Ashcroft, Shot in the Dark
4. Fred Thompson, Shot in the Dark
5. Paul Wellstone, Shot in the Dark
6. John Kerry, Running for Running Mate
7. Andrew Cuomo, Running for Running Mate

The stories.

If bloggers had votes, John Shadegg would be the next Majority Leader. We don’t and he’s not. In fact, as of now he’s only got a handful of public committments. So what’s holding him back? Among other things, the non-endorsement of conservative hero Mike Pence.

Writes Rich Lowry in today’s NRO, “his endorsement of Shadegg would be a significant boost for the underdog candidate… But Pence has been mum.” The reason: “More important to him than the horserace of public commitments of members at the moment — which has been sometimes silly, but is crucial to driving press coverage of the race — is the success of a RSC retreat scheduled for the end of the month.”

This strikes me as a bad move by Pence. No one’s asking him to work the phones, but at the very least he could have made a public committment. Does anyone really think that Blunt or Boehner are better than Shadegg?

I’ve gotta say, this is disappointing.