Retired General Wesley Clark was interviewed this week on his presidential aspirations. He's thinking hard about it, promising a decision by the end of the summer.

Clark would be "honored," he said, to be considered for the No. 2 spot, but right now he is pondering the presidency. "Those young kids who organized the draft movement, I have to give them an answer," he said.

We think Clark is a strong possibility for the VP slot. If he attaches himself to one declared candidate now, and that candidate doesn't get the Democratic nod, it might lessen his chances of being chosen by the winning candidate.

By launching his own presidential bid, he remains available to be chosen for the VP slot by any one of the others. So, we're leaning towards thinking Clark will announce his run for the Presidency.

John Kerry on medical marijauna Tuesday night :

After the opening of his New Hampshire campaign headquarters last night, U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) told medical marijuana advocate Linda Macia, who suffers from nerve damage, fibromyalgia, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, and degenerative arthritis, that he favors legal access to medical marijuana for seriously ill patients and a study to determine appropriate federal policy.

That makes two of the Democratic contenders (Kucinich is the other) who support medical marijuana. On the other side....

Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who worked to kill a medical marijuana bill in Vermont last year, has said he favors an FDA study but has refused to protect patients from arrest. In May, U.S. Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) told the San Francisco Chronicle he has no objection to the Justice Department's arresting patients. U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) and U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-MO) have previously supported legislation condemning state medical marijuana laws. The rest of the Democratic field has yet to take a position.

Daily Kos' Cattle Call is up. Interesting to see we agree on the candidates moving up: Dean, Kerry, Edwards and even Kucinich--as well as those going south. We also agree with his views on Wesley Clark. As to Joe Biden, we say, forget about it. Al Sharpton would beat him. We're not forgetting or forgiving the (formerly named) Rave Act tacked on at the last minute to the Amber Alert bill --and that's for starters. Not to mention that he's also part of the "old boy" network, like Lieberman and Gephardt. We don't want him as a VP either.

We want someone with refreshing, new ideas and a passion for civil rights and individual liberties -- and for ending miscarriages of justice. We're not quite sure who that is yet--it appears to be an evolving process. Particularly since our ideals have to be blended into the bottom line, best summed up as "You can't always get what you want" (Rolling Stones) and "Anyone But Bush in 2004.

Columnist Richard Cohen takes Howard Dean to task today for his change of heart on the death penalty--as expressed on Meet the Press last week.

In all my years writing about the death penalty, I have never heard any politician admit that he would countenance the death of an innocent person in order to ensure that the guilty die. Dean is maybe the first to acknowledge the unacknowledgeable.

First, we're not sure that's what Dean meant. But second, Cohen is wrong. Another politician did say it --Al Gore. We remember because we took him to task when he did it, and then wrote about it again a year or so later here on TalkLeft:

In February, 2000, Gore was interviewed in the San Francisco Bay Guardian. The article was called "15 Minutes of Al." When asked about his support of the death penalty in light of the rising number of innocents on death row, Gore said he is so strongly in support of the death penalty that he's willing to accept a few wrongful executions. Here's a portion of the interview.

"BG: What do you think about the Republican governor of Illinois calling a moratorium on the death penalty because there has been so much evidence that innocent people are on death row?

AG: Well, I support the death penalty.

BG: Well, so does he.

AG: I understand, and I also understand that the high-profile cases that have put a new spotlight on the error in capital convictions have put this issue in a new light. In Illinois, I don't want to make a judgment on what the circumstances are because I don't have the expertise. Nationally, I would not be in favor of a moratorium. The "Hurricane" notwithstanding.

BG: Are there people on death row elsewhere, or federal death row, who are innocent? Isn't that something we should be worried about?

AG: I would hope not. But I'll tell you this: I think that any honest and candid supporter of the death penalty has to acknowledge that that support comes in spite of the fact that there will inevitably be some mistakes. And that's a harsh concession to make, but I think it's the only honest concession to make, and it should spur us to have appreciation for habeas corpus, for the procedural safeguards for the accused, and for the fairness that's a part of the American judicial system and to resist efforts to take away the procedural safeguards. " (emphasis supplied by us)

The mainstream media continues to assess the effect of Howard Dean's successful second quarter fundraising effort. The Washington Post reports on what advisors to the other candidates have to say:

Advisers to Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) long have assumed those two candidates would face each other in the showdown for the nomination, in part because Gephardt is favored to win the Iowa caucuses and Kerry is favored in the New Hampshire primary. Not surprisingly, those Kerry and Gephardt advisers now see Dean as a bigger threat to the other.

Gephardt adviser Steve Elmendorf said Dean is now a threat to finish ahead of Kerry in Iowa and defeat him in New Hampshire. "There's a greater likelihood of that happening now than there was two weeks ago," he said.
Kerry campaign manager Jim Jordan disagreed, arguing that Dean's rise has come at Gephardt's expense. "The race is turning into essentially a Kerry-Dean race," he said. "We're very comfortable with that prospect."

Three other Democrats may face an even larger problem because of Dean's success. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.) leads the Democrats in many national polls, but has not developed a significant following in Iowa or New Hampshire and now trails Dean in fundraising. Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) raised $7.4 million in the first quarter but raised about $5 million in the second quarter, and has yet to show the kind of grass-roots support Dean has demonstrated. Sen. Bob Graham (Fla.) got a late start and will find the field even more crowded with Dean in the top tier.

We think Lieberman and Gephardt can kiss the race goodbye. We put Graham in the same place as Kuchinich, which is only one step above Mosley-Braun and Sharpton.

We think its down to Kerry, Dean and Edwards for the top spot. Any one of them would be a giant step forward for the country and vast improvement over Bush. We think each of them would be smart to woo Wesley Clark as a VP candidate, and begin to be seen conferring with Gary Hart so as to create speculation that Hart would join the team as Secretary of State. We'd like to see Kucinich be appointed Drug Czar because he would advocate for the legalization of medical marijuana and end the War on Drugs fiasco. That leaves Attorney General....any suggestions?

Howard Dean has collected more than $7 million in donations this quarter, making him the winner among the candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination in the second quarter.

John Kerry and John Edwards said they would likely reach $5 million, while Dick Gephardt said he thinks he will come close to $5 million.

Look for the field to thin out after this--Joe Lieberman particularly may be in trouble.

And remember that Bush has raised over 30 million so far, so it's all relative. Then again, the full power of the Internet in campaigning has yet to be seen. We note that this post on Howard Dean's blog received 670 comments.

Tom Squitieri of USA Today says Ralph Nader is seriously considering another White House Run.

Nader says he has moved closer to a repeat run as the Green Party nominee after concluding that Democrats have no one who can defeat President Bush.

"It is quite clear that the Democrats are incapable of defending our country against the Bush marauders,'' Nader, 69, says. ''They have been unwilling to go all out to stop the destructive tax cuts for the wealthy. They have been soft on corporate crime. They have gone along in almost every issue except judicial appointments. They have cowered, surrendered or divided themselves.

Nader has not taken any formal steps such as creating a campaign committee or registering with the Federal Election Commission. However, he is doing what he did in 2000: He has told Green Party officials he is interested in running and is encouraging ''Draft Nader'' movements.

Monday's New York Times reports that Howard Dean, who has raised over $9 million to date for his presidential campaign, has moved into the top tier of contenders. Much of the money was raised on the Internet.

Dr. Dean's aides said he would report raising at least $6.2 million in the three-month period that ends at midnight, on top of $2.6 million he raised over the first three months of the year. Dr. Dean announced the figure 36 hours before the filing period ends, timing the release for a slow-news Sunday afternoon.

What does this mean for the other candidates? Analysts say it looks bad for Joe Lieberman and Dick Gephardt because their poor showing in the fundraising department this quarter will cause the perception (we'd call it a reality) that they are not viable candidates.

As to John Kerry, some analysts think Dean's progress is bad news for Kerry because he and Dean will be competing for the same voters. But, Kerry's campaign says it's not a problem because it will reduce the race to two contenders and it's easier to run against one person than eight.

If their fund-raising projections are accurate, then perhaps it makes it a two-candidate race," Mr. Jordan said. "If so, it makes it clarifying and helpful to us."

A week ago, Dean had raised only $3.2 million. Why the big increase? A large part may be due to the MoveOn internet primary in which Dean made a strong showing.

Joe Trippi, Dean's campaign manager, thinks Dean was helped by his appearance on Meet the Press last week( full transcript here) while many others thought Dean's performance was poor because he didn't know the answers to some questions and changed his position on some issues. If there's one interpretation we are not buying into, it's this one:

"My own theory of it is when Howard Dean says things like, `I don't know the answer to that,' the echo chamber in Washington says: `Oh my God; he doesn't know the answer!' " Mr. Trippi said. "But the guy at home says, `Hey, someone who admits he doesn't know the answer. We haven't seen that before!' "

That may be true in a municipal race, but we doubt anyone wants a President who doesn't have answers.

On the other hand, as we have done before, we congratulate Dr. Dean for his success. He's been determined and dogged on the campaign trail, his staff is fired up and it's clear his heart is in this race. He's not our first choice right now, but that could change, and if he's nominated, he'll have our full support.

Howard Dean has raised $6 million in the past three months. That sounds like a lot, but consider that Bush raised $27 to $30 million in the same time period, even though he got a late start.

Edwards and Kerry took in $7 million in the first quarter--we don't know yet how much they took during the second quarter.

Responding to an email sent to his New York office, former President Bill Clinton had this to say about a Wesley Clark Presidency:

"While I cannot take sides in the Democratic primary, I believe Wes, if he runs, would make a valuable contribution because he understands America's security challenges and domestic priorities," Clinton said. "I believe he would make a good president."

Update: Daily Kos takes this as a sign Clark will enter the race.

Our congratulations to Howard Dean for winning the internet Democratic primary held on MoveOn.Org. Dr. Dean came in with 44% of the votes. Dennis Kucinich followed with 24%.

Brian Linse at Aint No Bad Dude says "At this point, I'm ready to trim the field down to Dean, Edwards, and Kerry." Us too, although we'd like to see Wesley Clark attach himself to one of the three above as a VP candidate--or jump in the race himself.