Sassenach wrote:I doubt she'll remain the only candidate. Whether she'll face any kind of meaningful challenge remains to be seen though. It's an odd situation this time around in that the current Veep, who under normal circumstances could be expected to run, is a clear non-starter.
I think there will be some who at least test the water. Sanders is making a lot of noise at the moment. People are talking about Elizabeth Warren but I think she's got time to bide. Still, if she gives it a go this time it should not counts against her if she loses.
I see from this
Wikipedia article that there are the following candidates:
Hillary Clinton
3 who declared in 2012 and are (to put it charitably) unlikely to get farJeff Boss (Truther, NJ)
Vermin Supreme (Performance Artist, Mass)
Robby Wells (failed to get on the Reform and Constitution tickets in 2012, declared as Independent for 2016 and then switched to Dem for this election cycle)
3 who have been 'formally exploring'Lincoln Chafee (former Republican Senator, then Independent Gov of RI, who switched to Dem after election)
Martin O'Malley (former Mayor of Baltimore and Gov of MD)
Jim Webb (SecNav under Reagan, Senator from VA)
3 who have 'publicly expressed interest'Joe Biden (I'm not sure he's that obviously not a potential runner)
Bernie Sanders (obv my favourite but has a snowball's chance in hell)
Paul Strauss (DC "Shadow" Senator)
Of those 9 alternates, I think a few have some promise, but not many. Cuomo is also mentioned, along with Cory Booker and Deval Patrick. They've been popping up in polls (especially the "no-Hillary" polls).
The Democrats could do with an alternative. And Hillary could do worse than to be seen to win against a field, rather than by default. She's far from my favourite Democrat - and about my third-favourite Clinton, so I'd like to see a viable option anyway.