What happens if no other Democrats run for Prez?

[patricia92243]

I assume there would be no televised debates - therefore no free publicity to help sway undecided voters.

It is not good for our party to not have a nice diversity of candidates. I, of course, will vote for whoever is our nominee. But we really do need choices.

[still_one]

1. That is up to the potential primary candidates

[hrmjustin]

2. I am sure someone else will run.

[mylye2222]

3. Kicked for visibility!

[yallerdawg]

4. Nobody ran against Obama last time.

He debated the Republican. He won the election.

Democrats beating each other up is not my idea of entertainment.

[patricia92243]

10. ? Nobody ran against Obama??? I think there were several -

Hillary for one.

[MoonRiver]

14. I think he meant 2012.

[yallerdawg]

16. That was 2 elections ago.

Obama ran virtually unopposed last election.

Very effective for not being sharpened in a primary. Some argue he got off to a slow start, but the crushed it in the end!

And we didn't have the spectacle the Republicans ran. Trump, Bachman, Godfathers Pizza boss...

That sharpened Romney?

[brooklynite]

5. We already have 2...we're likely to have five

How many do you want?

In 2000, we had debates with just Gore and Bradley. In late 2008 we had debates with just Clinton and Obama.

I think too many people are looking for something to worry about.

[patricia92243]

6. Who is the second one? I have not heard of anybody officially running.

I know Chaffee is seriously thinking about it - but so far not actually running.

[BainsBane]

7. O'Malley

[patricia92243]

13. I did not know that. Has he actually announced? I tried Googling

it but didn't see it.

[BainsBane]

15. No, but he's doing the stuff candidates do prior to announcing

exploratory committees, appearing on the news shows criticizing Clinton, etc....
He's the only one I know of who is likely to run. I would be very surprised if he didn't.
Sanders is still a possibility. He said he will let people know by the end of the month.
Warren is definitely out. m

[brooklynite]

9. "Lincoln Chafee: 'I'm running' and here's why"

Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee said Thursday on CNN that he's running for the Democratic nomination for president, just a week after announcing he formed an exploratory committee, his most definitive statement he's made toward formalizing a 2016 campaign.

"Yes, that's why I'm running. Because I feel strong about where we're going as a country," Chafee told CNN's "New Day" on Thursday, when asked why he's been so critical of Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. Chafee was asked by CNN's John Berman in the context of having not formally declared his presidential campaign.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/16/politics/lincoln-chafee-running-for-president/

[herding cats]

12. Webb and O'Malley both have exploratory committees

As does Chaffee as you mentioned. Sanders is supposed to decided what he's going to do by the end of this month, or the first of next month last I heard.

There will be more I suspect. It's still very early on, and no matter what anyone says here or in the media, there will be challengers.

[FSogol]

17. O'Malley will announce next month when HRC's initial popularity bump goes down, according

to his people in Iowa and NH.

[herding cats]

20. Funny you mention that. I read something about a May announcement by O'Malley recently.

It may have been he'd announce either in May or by May, but it was clear he's getting in the race.

It is a wise move to let the media have a bit of time with Hillary's announcement first. The last thing a candidate needs is to get lost in a media feeding frenzy. I suspect there will be more who make their intentions clear in or around May and June of this year.

[mimi85]

27. Chaffee - ugh. See below...

http://crooksandliars.com/2015/04/lincoln-chafee-wont-win-squat-talk

[treestar]

8. there are already 3 crazy ones

It may be like the primary between Gore and Bradley in 2000, quite unmemorable.

[NCTraveler]

11. What does history tell you?

When was the last time the seat for the presidency was open, and the democrats had a candidate go unopposed with no televised debates?

[B Calm]

18. I don't agree. Obama was reelected in 2012 with no problems. Let the

Republican clown show beat each other up and Hillary will be seen as the only sane one running.

[alc]

19. Hillary won't get to see what D voters really want

She'll have plenty of polling to tell her the issues that are important. But knowing which issues (and positions) really get voters to the primaries can't hurt.

When she starts running toward the middle/moderate/undecided/right for the general elections it would be nice to know which left positions she should not run away from because they got lots of primary votes.

It's also good for voter morale to let us vote for someone we're really excited about in the primaries. And then we can happily rally around the winner because that's what the majority wanted. It's harder (for me) to get excited about the general if I feel left out of the primary selection of the candidate. It is also important for me to be able to tell the primary winner what I think by voting for the primary candidate I prefer. Sure I can write letters or post on DU or do any number of other things to make my preferences known. But voting has a little more substance (even if only in my head).

[MineralMan]

21. Then Hillary Clinton would be the nominee.

The debates would be between her and whoever gets the Republican nomination.

That is unlikely to happen, though. Especially since Lincoln Chafee just announced that he will be a candidate. Shortly O'Malley will do the same. There will be other primary candidates. Be a little patient.

[pnwmom]

22. Same thing that happens when an incumbent President runs unopposed. And it doesn't hurt his chances.

Having a challenger in the primary makes it harder for an incumbent to win the general. In that sense, HRC would be like an incumbent. She doesn't need to make herself known through debating. The public already knows her and she has plenty of other ways to get her message out.

[Agnosticsherbet]

23. Don't worry, there will be other candidates.

Ours are just a bit slower getting started.

[Agnosticsherbet]

24. Lincoln Chaffee declared. He did not mean to, but he declared.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251403533

So now there are two.

[patricia92243]

25. Thanks guys for all the nice answers. I feel better now :)

[fairplay]

26. We lose

Lowest presidential election voter participation ever, especially if another Bush runs! Been there, done that.