Then There Were Nine

Bob Graham Ends Presidential Campaign

Bob Graham, a political veteran whose low-key style failed to gain traction in the crowded Democratic presidential race, said Monday night he was ending his campaign.

I really liked him but his initial low-key campaign was too low-key to get publicity.

Graham based much of his campaign on his vote against the military conflict in Iraq. Yet anti-war activists preferred Howard Dean's fist-pounding indignation to Graham's calm, measured arguments against President Bush's foreign policy.

Graham's composed manner camouflaged his harsh accusations against the White House. He accused Bush of endangering Americans by abandoning the fight against terror to wage war in Iraq, a country that he said did not pose an immediate threat to the United States.

He said the White House had a "Nixonian stench'' and a pattern of keeping information from the American people. He called Bush's tax cuts "immoral'' and "an economic dagger pointed at the backs of all Americans.''

He went so far as to suggest impeachment. "If the standard of impeachment that the Republicans set for Bill Clinton - a personal, consensual relationship was the basis for impeachment, would not a president who knowingly deceived the American people about something as important as whether to go to war meet the standard of impeachment?'' he asked in July.

I was torn between him and Howard Dean in the MoveOn primary and finally voted for Graham as more electable and making the most electoral college sense for Democrats. A few days laters I switched my support to Dean. Graham seemed to lack the passion and conviction needed and it looked like Dean had those and internet smarts enough to get supporters and money.

"Homeland security for all Americans is only achievable if our nation stays focused on the war on terror until it is won,'' he said in a written statement accompanying his announcement. "We must reject distractions from that victory. The quagmire in Iraq is a distraction that the Bush administration, and the Bush administration alone, has created.''

Unless there is a big change, I don't see any more dropouts until the primaries next year. Lieberman should be next. Kerry is also looking weaker. Edwards has shown his committment by announcing he won't run for reelection and is looking OK in some Southern states. Gephardt is fighting for Iowa but he needs another state soon after that. The three real liberals are not in it to win but to move the party left. There is a suggestion that insiders who have over a third of the convention delegates are migrating to Clark. The big controversy next year might be the DNC urging people to drop out because they want an early candidate. I would prefer choices and even a convention fight.