The candidate no one has mentioned...

[AuH2O]

Don't worry, I know of him. I also think Wisconsin Gov. Doyle is a potential candidate. I actually like Doyle's chances better than Henry's; the latter is another possibility that sounds great in theory but would be less great in practice. Not to count him out, but I'm pretty skeptical at this point. I think the fact he's loved at DU and DKos says more against him than it does for him.

An optimistic view would be to compare him to Mitt Romney, and while they are no doubt fairly similar, I like Romney's overall package better and I think he could be a very capable "system" candidate (i.e. more or less a creation of the Party). The Democratic Party is less centralized and Henry might not be the kind of guy that would succeed in the primaries, even if he turned out to be a legitimate candidate.

[AuH2O]

I think the fact he's loved at DU and DKos says more against him than it does for him.

The state of Oklahoma thinks otherwise.  The point of discussing his popularity at those sites was to prove he can get out of the "brutal/liberal" primary.

The only downside I see is, he is up for re-election in 2006.  It will be kind of hard to come off a long gubernatorial campaign and jump right into a presidential campaign.

I would label him as a "sleeper" or "dark horse" candidate.

1) He didn't exactly waltz into office. Actually he could well lose in '06 so I wouldn't place any bets on him yet.

2) Voters have proven they will vote for certain types of candidates at the state level but not the federal level.

[AuH2O]

2) Voters have proven they will vote for certain types of candidates at the state level but not the federal level.

Im not claiming he will win Oklahoma in a presidential election.  I know that would be impossible.  But the fact that he was even elected Governor of Oklahoma as a progressive/liberal democrat proves he would put alot of states in play that most democrats could not.

Let me ask you this.  As a democrat I openly admit that there are certain republican candidates I would rather not see get the nomination because I know they would be extremley hard to beat.  As a Republican would you rather see him not get the nomination?

I don't know enough about him. My point is that I don't see him as very good odds-wise to get the nomination. IF he does, then that probably means he would be fairly formidable. Also note that if he even HINTS at a Presidential run before the 2006 Governor's race, he is done, over, through, kaput. So you certainly won't be hearing anything from him or his close supporters until at least late 2006- if he's reelected.

I think Democrats sometimes misunderstand the political divide, such as it is. There are always tradeoffs... if a candidate appeals more to people in Arkansas, he probably appeals less to someone elsewhere. I'm not sure running as a leftist out of Oklahoma is that much better than running as a leftist out of Massachussetts, though I understand why it would seem to be.

[AuH2O]

I don't think it's feasible to draw up maps at this stage. Too much we don't know about the next few years.

[AuH2O]

I don't think it's feasible to draw up maps at this stage. Too much we don't know about the next few years.

I agree, but I was just estimating what states he could compete in.

Both Republicans and Democrats compete in all 50 states, though obviously in some they have much greater success than others.

Sam's analysis is good.