The Race is On, Pre$ident 2008: I know that these people need lots of cash to run an election, but the recent fund raising on both sides of the aisle really have me scratching my head. How much does one really need? I heard one of the contenders today on a podcast who got about 20% of what the top money getters in his party got and he said that he wasn't concerned because his position was about his ideals and not how much people will see his face on TV. Kudos to him!

What is the most interesting to me is how early things are heating up. Each party has identified its top 3 candidates and that is who they are pushing. But, there are still some great folks who are sitting on the sidelines who might make a viable candidate. Of course some of these people are going to fizzle out, and fizzle out soon. I have to think that if I have raised $3 million and the top guy in my party has $30 then it might be time to reevaluate things. Add the money from the top 3 Democrats and the top 3 Republicans and you will see fund raising in the neighborhood of $115 million for the first quarter. That just seems excessive.

A couple of things that have really made me curious is that there is not one clear third party candidate. No Ross Perot, no Steve Forbes. I guess when a couple of the richest guys in the country can't pull it off a guy like me would have little chance (although I would NEVER want to be President).