A new era

I'm not sure that I will have the energy to keep up for 18 more months. First, the Clinton-Obama dustup. Now, this.

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack withdrew from the 2008 presidential campaign today, saying it was clear he would not be able to raise enough money to compete.

The first intra-party contest is still almost a year away, and the field is already narrowing. Now I realize that Vilsack was always a dark-horse (at best), but so were Carter and Dukakis at this point in their campaigns. Also, with a Democratic field with only one other governor competing (Richardson), I would have thought that the incentive to stick it out as long as possible would be strong. But maybe that was his point in quitting; it just wasn't possible because of the the money issue.

P.S. Initially, I thought that Sen. Dodd would be the first to go until I learned of his unexpected (to me) fundraising prowess.

(For cross-post at Centerfield and comments posted there, click here.)