2008 White House Derby: The Field So Far

[Ron Burgundy]

CQPolitics.com - The following are breakdowns of the current and potential candidates for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations in 2008.

The lists for each party are divided into the following categories: officially announced candidates, possible candidates who have formed “exploratory” campaign committees, political figures frequently mentioned as likely or possible candidates, and potential candidates who have officially announced that they will not run for president.

The lists will be updated promptly as developments warrant.

Read the latest 2008 Presidential Developments

Democrats

Officially announced (date of announcement)

• Connecticut Sen. Christopher J. Dodd ( Jan. 11, 2007)

• Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards (Dec. 28, 2006)

• Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (Nov. 30, 2006)

• Ohio Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (Dec. 12, 2006)

• Former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel (April 17, 2006)

Established exploratory committee (date of filing with the Federal Election Commission)

• Delaware Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (has publicly announced he plans to file with the Federal Election Commission later this month to establish a committee)

• Illinois Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) (announced Jan. 16, 2007, that he is setting up an exploratory committee for a possible presidential campaign, with an announcement on whether he will definitely run or not by Feb. 10)

• New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (announced Jan. 20, 2007, ending months of speculation and placing her as the front-runner in the race.)

• New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (announced Jan. 21, 2007)

Widely mentioned

• Civil Rights activist Al Sharpton

• Retired Gen. Wesley Clark of Arkansas

• Former Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee

Officially not running (date of announcement)

• Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (Oct. 12, 2006)

• Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold (news, bio, voting record) (Nov. 11, 2006)

• Former South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle (Dec. 2, 2006)

• Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh (news, bio, voting record) (Dec. 15, 2006)

• Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry (Jan. 24, 2007)

Republicans

Officially announced

• Attorney John H. Cox of Illinois (March 9, 2006)

• Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback (news, bio, voting record) (Jan. 20, 2007)

Established exploratory committee (date of filing with the Federal Election Commission)

• Texas Rep. Ron Paul (news, bio, voting record) (filed papers with state authorities in Texas on Jan. 11, 2007, to establish a campaign exploratory committee, but has not yet filed with the Federal Election Commission)

• Arizona Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) (Nov. 16, 2006)

• Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (Nov. 20, 2006)

• Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy G. Thompson (Dec. 13, 2006)

• Former Virginia Gov. James S. Gilmore III ( Jan. 9, 2007)

• Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (Jan. 3, 2007)

• California Rep. Duncan Hunter (news, bio, voting record) (Jan. 12, 2007)

• Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo (stated Jan. 16, 2007, that he is setting up an exploratory committee for a possible presidential campaign)

Widely mentioned

• Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia

• Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel (news, bio, voting record)

• Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee

• Former New York Gov. George E. Pataki

Officially not running (date of announcement)

• Former Tennessee Sen. Bill Frist (Nov. 29, 2006)

Clarification: Attorney John H. Cox of Illinois announced March 9, 2006 that he is officially pursuing the Republican Party's 2008 presidential nomination. The chart previously listed him as having a presidential campaign exploratory committee.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20070124/pl_cq_politics/2008whitehousederbythefieldsofar [link]