What's your gut feeling as to who the candidates will be in Nov?

[Poiuyt]

I say Hillary vs McCain (with Lieberman as his running mate).

[TwilightGardener]

1. McCain-Obama, if Romney and Hillary don't recover this week.

[SharonRB]

2. Lieberman would become an instant Trivial Pursuit question

Who is the only person to ever have run for VP on both the Democratic and the Republican tickets?

[liberal N proud]

3. Hillary vs Huckleberry

[emilyg]

26. Agree.

[book_worm]

4. Barack Obama vs. Mike Hucklebee

I think that McCain will take Romney out in NH and then I think that Huck will beat McCain in SC (replay of '00) and then Huck will take out Ghouliani in Florida.

[skipos]

5. Huckster vs. Obama

I still don't get how anyone thinks McCain can win with a 3rd to 4th place showing in Iowa, Michigan, Florida and South Carolina, even if he wins NH. He won NH last time and that didn't work out very well.

Obama really needs to win NH to close it. I think he will.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

6. Edwards vs Huckabee

If the Huckster wins the Dem nod, and Edwards is not in the top slot, the nominee will need to have another Southerner ready to take the VP nod.

[Demeter]

8. Or Maybe Romney

He's from a political dynasty, has some built in support.

I do think Edwards will prevail. He's got the most positives and the least negatives, and he's been around this process once before and learned from it. Not everybody learns from experience.

[progressive_realist]

10. Not true!

Democrats can easily win the Presidency without carrying a single Southern state. Take only the states carried by both Gore and Kerry, add NH and Ohio, and it is enough electoral votes to win.

The idea that Democrats need to pander to the South is purely an invention of political consultants like Rove and Carville.

[Poiuyt]

12. I hope the Huckster doesn't win the Dem nod

[FrenchieCat]

22. Why? He's accepted matching funds.....

and two of our candidates haven't. We could bury him a la Dole (who had also accepted maching funds) while our candidate hadn't.

Plus, the Hukster looks like Nixon. All he needs is a 5 o'clock shadow and he's ready for his closeup. The only redeeming about him is a dimple...and that's not enough.

[Poiuyt]

37. I said that I hope he doesn't win the DEMOCRATIC nod (not Republican)

[Ytzak]

7. Obama/Webb Vs. McCain/Paul

[book_worm]

9. Paul? a big war hawk like McCain running with war critic Paul?

okay, but I think the person who posted McCain/Leiberman above is closer.

[MADem]

11. That's two "oil and water" tickets.

Frankly, McCain would be better off just killing himself than running with Paul. Or announcing, ahead of picking the guy, that he is choosing him because he WANTS to lose the race.

[Orsino]

18. And I'm uncomfortable with so many Dems being willing...

...to give up precious Senate seats. Do we really want to open another Virginia race?

[MADem]

30. Webb isn't a good fit on that ticket. I don't see it happening, myself.

There are people who are captivated by Webb (they PLAINLY don't fully understand the man, they don't realize the full scope of his views, which are well to the right of most on this board, and his background, they simply like the anti-war aspect--sorta like the Murtha fan club, here, actually) simply because he comes off as a "straight talker" who has talked back to Bush. They also point to Obama appearing with Webb to help put him over the top (like the DNC didn't have anything to do with that at all!).

Of course, Webb's conservative views might appeal to GOP-leaning, pro-military swing voters, as he spent most of his life as a Republican, served as a DOD ASD and SECNAV, and has that "Reagan Legacy" aura. It would be quite the triangulating move, that pick. I see where Andrew Sullivan is shopping the idea by linking to someone's musings in the ATLANTIC about the possibility (and he is FULL of LOUSY ideas, that fellow), so that's probably cause enough to discount it entirely!

The individual doing the analysis does make the point that "cocksure figures make lousy second bananas" and that does describe the junior senator from VA fairly well.

I think if Obama wins--no, if any of the three top tier Senators/former Senator wins--the smart pick is someone with executive experience. A governor always makes a good ticket-balancer. It's not quite a rule, but for some reason, there's this idea that there has to be balance, as if the candidate, whosoever that may be, has the brains to win the nomination, but not the smarts to hire decent people to assist in the formulation of executive decisions!

If Romney and Huckabee get bumped, and it's down to McCain on the GOP side, that old "Senators Can't Win The WH" paradigm that has existed for so many decades will be broken, no matter which team prevails...

[Virginia Dare]

34. I agree, leave Webb in there and let Mark Warner..

run for John Warner's seat.

[Ytzak]

13. Paul brings a rabid base with lots of money and a call to the libertarian...

side that would make him a natural to attend state funerals in a Republican administration. His ability to gather money from a gzilion small donors is too attractive to the Republican's. He brings a lot to the table. Of course, he might say no to an invitation.

Webb is a white Southern moderate that could bring an important state to vote for Obama and balance Obama's image as a progressive, a Northerner, and a black man. Webb will please the DLC, who are almost as cozy with Obama as they are with Hillary.

[The empressof all]

14. For the GOPPIES it will be McCain/Huckabee

I'm not sure yet who will stand for us but They'll be Awesome

[demnan]

15. I'll say Obama vs Romney

with Richardson and Huckabee as VPs

[Orsino]

16. I would have guessed that the Republicans will default to McCain...

...but good golly, their field is such a bunch of duds. They've got nothing, and one candidate is pretty much like another. I doubt they'll be able to set their cynicism aside for long enough to pretend to be theocrats and actually nominate Huckabee.

[TheWraith]

17. Obama versus Huckabee.

Obama wins NH and picks up the black vote in SC, then rolls into the big multiple primary days as the known winner, and cleans up.

Huckabee takes over the south, and his victories there undermine Giuliani's support in the big states, allowing him to swing it.

[LanternWaste]

19. Sen. Clinton vs. Huckabee.

Sen. Clinton vs. Huckabee.

Running mates are somewhat less clear to my amazing powers of prognostication. :)

[bowens43]

20. Obama vs McCain nt

[Occam Bandage]

21. Obama/Warner defeats McCain/Huckabee.

[RamboLiberal]

23. Obama vs. Huckabee if the Huckster doesn't self-destruct

I think Dems are feeling Hillary is not electable because of her war vote and all the negatives the Wingnuts have put on her.

I think the Huckster could well be the Repukes choice if he doesn't self-destruct. The Repukes are in deep doo doo with some faction of them having a problem with each of their candidates.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

24. Considering the likely candidates, my gut tells me to stock Pepto-Bismol.

[rucky]

25. Obama/Huck/Bloomberg n/t

[windbreeze]

27. Hillary vs Ghouliani n/t

[Kucinich4America]

28. Obama/McClurkin vs Huckabee/Hagee

Hey, at least the VP debate would be interesting for once. SUBJECT: What would Jesus do first. Cure homosexuals, or nuke Iran?

[youthere]

29. Don't know..but I'm for whoever has the D.

[AzDar]

31. Edwards/McCain.

[Virginia Dare]

32. Obama/Edwards vs. Hucky/Hutchison (Kay Bailey)

If it's McCain, I agree he'll pick JoeMoe as his running mate. Also, I think if it's Hucky Bloomberg will jump in with somebody like Chuck Hagel as his running mate.

[BootinUp]

33. Cinton v Romney. nt

[begin_within]

35. Edwards vs. Huckabee, with Edwards winning.

[natrat]

36. i think msm/corpgov will push obama and the repub will win whoever it is

[lutefisk]

38. I don't know. But hey, I predicted Gore vs Rice, so don't ask me.nt