Only 648 Days Until the Election!

A year before the Iowa caucuses, at least 20 candidates are already in the race or mulling it. Is this good for democracy?

Jeff Davis / Polaris

Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) announces that he will enter the 2008 presidential race.

The last time a little-known Arkansas governor ran for President, he waited until four months before the Iowa caucuses to make his announcement. That worked out pretty well for Bill Clinton, so it's understandable that until a few weeks ago, Mike Huckabee thought he had plenty of time. Buoyed by early encouragement from some Republican activists and savoring his last days in the Governor's mansion in Little Rock, Huckabee assumed that he would wait until at least the spring before announcing whether he would run in 2008. Better to move slowly and develop a sure message, he figured, than to rush...

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