Talk:U.S. presidential election, 2008/Lists of potential candidates

Potential candidates for nomination in 2008

Numerous names have been floated as possible candidates for President or Vice President in 2008.

Democrats

• Max Baucus. U.S. senator from Montana.
• Evan Bayh, U.S. senator from Indiana and former governor of Indiana. Grassroots effort.
• Joe Biden, see active candidates above.
• Rod Blagojevich, governor of Illinois.
• Barbara Boxer, U.S. senator from California. A "Draft Boxer" campaign began on the internet in January 2005.
• Bill Bradley, former U.S. senator from New Jersey and candidate for the 2000 nomination.
• John Breaux, former U.S. senator from Louisiana.
• Phil Bredesen, governor of Tennessee.
• Jerry Brown, former governor of California, current mayor of Oakland, California, current candidate for Attorney General of California, and former candidate for the 1976, 1980, and 1992 presidential nominations.
• Wesley Clark, see active candidates above.
• Max Cleland, former U.S. senator from Georgia.
• Hillary Clinton, see active candidates above.
• Jim Cooper, U.S. congressman from Tennessee.
• Jon Corzine, U.S. senator from New Jersey, candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor of New Jersey in 2005.
• Howard Dean, former governor of Vermont, candidate for the 2004 nomination, and chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Dean would have to leave his term as DNC chairman early and break a key pledge of his campaign for the post to run for president in 2008. Unofficial site.
• Christopher Dodd, U.S. senator from Connecticut
• Jim Doyle, governor of Wisconsin.
• Richard Durbin, U.S. senator and minority whip from Illinois. He has said he would never run for president.
• Mike Easley, governor of North Carolina.
• John Edwards, see active candidates above.
• Russ Feingold, see active candidates above.
• Harold Ford, Jr., U.S. representative from Tennessee.
• Al Gore, former vice president and 2000 presidential nominee, former U.S. senator and representative from Tennessee. Unofficial website.
• Bob Graham, former U.S. senator from Florida, and candidate for the 2004 nomination.
• Tom Harkin, U.S. senator from Iowa and candidate for the 1992 nomination.
• Gary Hart, former U.S. senator from Colorado and candidate for the 1984 and 1988 nominations. Considered a run for the 2004 nomination.
• Brad Henry, governor of Oklahoma.
• Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, U.S. Congresswoman from South Dakota.
• Jim Hunt, former governor of North Carolina.
• Jesse Jackson, Pentecostal minister, civil rights activist, and candidate for the 1984 and 1988 nominations.
• Marcy Kaptur, U.S. Representative from Ohio briefly considered a run in 2004.
• Bob Kerrey, former governor and U.S. Senator from Nebraska, member of 9/11 commission, and candidate for the 1992 nomination.
• John Kerry, see active candidates above.
• Herb Kohl, U.S. senator from Wisconsin.
• Dennis Kucinich, U.S. representative from Ohio, former mayor of Cleveland and candidate for the 2004 nomination.
• Mary Landrieu, U.S. senator from Louisiana
• Carl Levin, U.S. senator from Michigan.
• Joe Lieberman. U.S. senator from Connecticut, 2000 vice-presidential nominee and candidate for the 2004 nomination.
• Blanche Lincoln, U.S. senator from Arkansas. A "Draft Blanche Lincoln" campaign began on the internet in February 2005.
• Janet Napolitano, governor of Arizona.
• Bill Nelson, U.S. senator from Florida
• Barack Obama, U.S. senator from Illinois. Has said he will not run in 2008.
• Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader and U.S. Representative, California.
• Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor and former candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor of Massachusetts. Considered a run for the 2004 nomination.
• Harry Reid, Senate minority leader and U.S. senator from Nevada.
• Ed Rendell, governor of Pennsylvania and former mayor of Philadelphia. Has said that he is "not really" interested in running in 2008. [1]
• Janet Reno, former U.S. Attorney General.
• Ann Richards, former governor of Texas.
• Bill Richardson, see active candidates above.
• Tim Ryan, U.S. Congressman from Ohio.
• Chuck Schumer, U.S. senator from New York and chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
• Kathleen Sebelius, governor of Kansas
• Brian Schweitzer, governor of Montana.
• Al Sharpton, Pentecostal minister, civil rights activist, former candidate for mayor of New York and for the Democratic nomination for U.S. senator from New York, and candidate for the 2004 nomination (New York)
• Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General of New York, candidate for 2006 Democratic nomination for Governor of New York
• Debbie Stabenow, U.S. senator from Michigan.
• Tom Vilsack, see active candidates above.
• Mark Warner, governor of Virginia (term limited, he will leave that office in 2006)

Republicans

• Lamar Alexander, U.S. senator from, and former governor of, Tennessee, former United States Secretary of Education, and candidate for the 1996 and 2000 nomination.
• George Allen, U.S. senator from Virginia and former governor.
• Haley Barbour, governor of Mississippi and former chair of the Republican National Committee.
• Sherwood Boehlert, U.S. congressman from New York.
• Sam Brownback, U.S. senator from Kansas
• Jeb Bush, governor of Florida (term limited, he will leave that office in 2007) and brother of President George W. Bush. Has said he will not seek the nomination [2].
• Herman Cain, 2000 nomination candidate, 2004 U.S. Senate candidate, former national tax reform commission member (Georgia)
• Saxby Chambliss, U.S. senator from Georgia.
• Norm Coleman, U.S. senator from Minnesota.
• Nathan Deal, U.S. congressman from Georgia.
• Elizabeth Dole, U.S. senator from North Carolina and chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
• Bob Ehrlich, governor of Maryland.
• Jerry Falwell, Baptist teleevangelist and former head of the Moral Majority organization.
• Ernie Fletcher, governor of Kentucky.
• Steve Forbes, businessman (publishing), candidate for the 1996 and 2000 nominations.
• Tommy Franks, retired Army general (Texas) and former commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East until July 2003.
• Bill Frist, see active candidates above.
• Newt Gingrich, see active candidates above.
• Rudy Giuliani, see active candidates above.
• Alberto Gonzales, U.S. Attorney General (Texas).
• Charles Grassley, U.S. senator from Iowa.
• Kenny Guinn, governor of Nevada (term limited, he will leave that office in 2007).
• Chuck Hagel, U.S. senator from Nebraska.
• Orrin Hatch, U.S. senator from Utah and 2000 nomination candidate.
• Mike Huckabee, governor of Arkansas (term limited, he will leave that office in 2007). (Official web site.)
• Kay Bailey Hutchison, U.S. senator from Texas.
• Gary Johnson, former governor of New Mexico and advocate for drug legalization.
• Alan Keyes, talk radio host, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, former ambassador to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, three-time candidate for the United States Senate, and candidate for the 1996 and 2000 nominations.
• Steve Largent, former U.S. representative from Oklahoma.
• Rick Lazio, former U.S. representative from New York.
• John McCain, see active candidates above.
• Bill Owens, governor of Colorado (term limited, he will leave that office in 2007).
• George Pataki, see active candidates above.
• Tim Pawlenty, Governor of Minnesota.
• Mike Pence, US representative from Indiana and Chairman of the Republican Study Committee.
• Rick Perry, governor of Texas.
• Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State, retired U.S. Army general and former National Security Advisor and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He has said he will never run for president, or any other office (New York).
• Dan Quayle, former vice president, candidate for the 2000 nomination, and former U.S. senator and representative from Indiana.
• Jack Quinn, former U.S. representative from New York.
• Ralph Reed, former executive director of the Christian Coalition.
• Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State (California). Rice has "ruled out" a bid in 2008 [3]
• Tom Ridge, first U.S. Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and former governor of Pennsylvania.
• Mitt Romney, see active candidates above.
• Mark Sanford, governor of South Carolina.
• Rick Santorum, U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, chairman of the Senate Republican Conference (third-highest rank in Republican caucus).
• Michael C. Smith, Forecaster, Planner and Businessman Oregon, see smithforpresident.com [4] for platform and background.
• Robert C. Smith, former U.S. senator from New Hampshire and candidate for the 2000 nomination.
• Olympia Snowe, U.S. senator from Maine.
• Ted Stevens, U.S. senator from Alaska.
• Pat Toomey, President of the Club for Growth and former U.S. representative from Pennsylvania.
• George Voinovich, U.S. senator from, and former governor of, Ohio and former mayor of Cleveland.
• J.C. Watts, former U.S. representative from Oklahoma.
• Christine Todd Whitman, former governor of New Jersey and former head of the EPA.

Libertarians

• Michael Badnarik, see active candidates above.
• Bob Barr, former Republican U.S. representative, Georgia, publicly endorsed the Libertarian ticket in the 2004 election
• Lance Brown, see active candidates above.
• Michael Cloud, speechwriter
• Michael Colley, retired Navy Admiral
• James Gray, judge
• Carla Howell, management consultant
• K. Judy, former Hawaii Supreme Court Judge
• Gary Nolan, radio host
• Ron Paul, Republican U.S. representative, Texas and 1988 Libertarian presidential nominee
• Aaron Russo, entertainment businessman
• L. Neil Smith, science fiction writer

Greens

• Medea Benjamin, founder of Global Exchange and Code Pink.
• Peter Camejo, businessman, candidate for governor of California in 2002 and during the 2003 California recall, and Ralph Nader's 2004 vice-presidential nominee.
• David Cobb, lawyer, activist, and 2004 presidential nominee.
• Matt Gonzalez, former president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
• Winona LaDuke, activist and 1996 and 2000 vice-presidential nominee.
• Pat LaMarche, activist and 2004 vice-presidential nominee. Has said she will not run for "any office [she] cannot win."
• Cynthia McKinney, Democratic U.S. representative, Georgia. [5]
• Cornel West, Princeton University professor of Religion and African-American Studies.

Constitution

• Don Dwyer, a Republican member of the Maryland House of Delegates
• Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project.

Other parties and independents

• Tom Brokaw, retired NBC anchorman (also mentioned as a Democrat.)
• Pat Buchanan, America First Party, 2000 Presidential candidate on the Reform Party ticket
• Ralph Nader, 1996, 2000 and 2004 Presidential candidate
• Donald Trump, stated to Newsweek Magazine in an interview that he planned to once again seek a Presidential bid in 2008.
• Jesse Ventura, former Governor of Minnesota and professional wrestler (who announced his intention to run in 2008 at WrestleMania XX on March 14 2004)
• Christopher Walken, actor [6]

It is also conceivable that a candidate for a major party nomination who did not win that nomination might seek the presidency as an other party or independent candidate; contemporary examples include John B. Anderson, Republican nomination candidate and Independent general election candidate in the 1980 election, and Buchanan, Republican nomination candidate in the 1992, 1996 and initially prospective candidate in the 2000 election primaries but then Reform Party general election candidate in the 2000 election.

Possible Constitutional amendments

There has been some discussion recently of amending the Constitution to remove the absolute requirement that only natural-born citizens may become President. It would require 2/3rds favorable votes by both houses of congress and ratification by 3/4ths of the states. This proposal has been advanced 26 times since the 1870's without even moving to a congressional floor vote. In the extremely unlikely event that a strong consensus developed and the amendment won swift enough passage to allow such a change to occur in time for the 2008 elections, possible candidates for President or Vice President who are naturalized citizens and who have lived in the United States a minimum length of time (20 years in Senator Orrin Hatch's proposal) would include:

• Democratic Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, born in Canada;
• Republican Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, born in Cuba;
• Republican Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, born in Taiwan;
• Democratic former Secretary of State Madeline Albright, born in Czechoslovakia;
• Republican U.S. Senator from Florida Mel Martinez, born in Cuba; and
• Republican California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, born in Austria.

Alternative proposals requiring 35 years residency or phasing the measure in 10 years in the future would effectively remove the prospects that passing the measure would benefit these prominent individuals in 2008.

The possible repeal or amendment of Amendment XXII to allow a President to seek election to a third or further term has also come under some discussion. One proposal would allow a President to serve only two consecutive terms but seek to return after a respite. The only living former president who has served two terms is Bill Clinton. George W. Bush is also unable to run again. If sentiments across party lines looked favorably on a contest between George W. Bush and Bill Clinton in 2008, when both men would be 62, 2012, when both would be 66, or at a later date, or a potential candidacy by either individually, a repeal or change to this term limit might find support.