Russ Feingold was a fairly special potential presidential candidate. It wasn't just that I liked him on the issues, or that I thought he could win (others disagreed), but that I really thought he'd be a great president. I believe that he has the combination of vision, courage, and integrity that result in a great leader.

And, he's not running, so why I am giving my Feingold for president spiel? Just to explain why I'm so ambivalent about the current field. I think all of the Democratic candidates would make decent presidents, maybe even good ones, but right now, I can't say that I personally think any of them would be a great president.

But enough with the vague talking about the field as a whole, onto specifics:

Dennis Kucinich: If I was making my decision based entirely on issues, he'd get my vote. But I'd still like to vote for someone I think has a shot to become President of the United States, and would do a great job with it. Right now, I can't see Kucinich meeting that first part. As for the second part, I don't know, while I agree with the spirit/philosophy behind most of his positions, some of them seem rather simplistic or unrealistic (I'm thinking specifically of his pledge to withdraw from NAFTA and the WTO). Still, if nothing changes come the Missouri Presidential Primary, he'd get my vote.

Barack Obama: Sentimentally, I'd really like to vote for him. I grew up in Illinois (lived there from ages 6 to 18, almost all my family is still there). And in summer 2003, I emailed the Obama for Senate campaign to see if they needed interns. Nothing really happened, I started doing Howard Dean stuff, and then the Obama folks kept calling my mom's house after I'd already gone back to college. I was first interested in him because I knew he'd worked with Senator Paul Simon's public policy institute on state campaign finance reform legislation; after the convention speech, I was a huge fan. I really wanted Obama to be a strong Midwestern Progressive in the Senate, in the tradition of Simon and Wellstone and Feingold. But the more I see of Obama, I feel that he's more of a moderate in the spirit of Bill Clinton. And he's intelligent and compassionate and charismatic...also, like Clinton. And in the 1992 Democratic Primary, had I been 18 rather than 11, I wouldn't have voted for Bill Clinton.

John Edwards: I like his rhetoric but right now I'm not convinced that he'd govern as progressively as he talks. That could be as much about me as about him. I look forward to reading more specifics about his policies.

Al Gore: I voted against him twice in 2000. But I'd really like to see him enter the 2008 race. I finally saw his Academy Award nominated movie two weeks ago, and I saw a passionate, intelligent, honest man who could make some interesting contributions to the 2008 race...if he doesn't get another group of advisors who tell him he must change everything about himself. If he ran, I'd have to see some more specifics on the issues before I could support him, but he's pretty much the only possible candidate I am entirely convinced would be up to the job from day one.

The others I don't have any real major thoughts about. Dodd seems like a decent guy, without much of a shot. Clark could get my support if he puts forward a bold agenda. Richardson has a nice resume but seems too fiscally conservative for my taste. Vilsack just reminds me of a white duck (thanks, Jon).    

So those are my thoughts, thanks to those of you who read them. If you skipped down to the poll, well you are almost there. I'm trying to be open-minded about all the candidates, if you don't like what I said about one of them, please try to change my mind. I'm going to wait until there are some debates before I choose who to support. I might even wait until the moment I go into the voting booth to make up my mind. But I hope not. Like any contest, a presidential race is much more exciting if you are rooting for someone.

About the poll: only vote in it if you would have voted for Russ Feingold in the Democratic Presidential Primary, had he chosen to run. C'mon, I'm probably the only person who cares about the results, what's the point of inflating them?    

Apologies to Clark or Gore supporters, I can't figure out how to make more than ten options available for the poll answers. So, since I think its only fair to include all the announced candidates (including Mike Gravel) Gore and Clark are relegated to the other/I don't know option. If you vote for that option, please leave a comment to say what you mean by it. I'm gonna vote it myself. And I'm voting for "I don't know".