Ten Months Before Primary Season, A Candidate Becomes a Casualty

With over ten months before the Iowa caucuses kick off the 2008 presidential primary season, the campaign of former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack (D) has already been claimed.

Vilsack attributes the end of his campaign for President solely to one cause: a lack of money.

"This process has become to a great extent about money, a lot of money," Vilsack said during a late morning news conference at his campaign headquarters in Des Moines.

"And it is clear to me that we would not be able to continue to raise money in the amounts necessary to sustain, not just a campaign in Iowa and New Hampshire, but a campaign across this country," he said. "So it is money and only money that is the reason we are leaving today."

The majority of the blame for the lack of ability to raise funds resides with the fact that polls in Iowa show former Senator John Edwards and current Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton ahead of Vilsack and that he is much less known outside of Iowa, especially compared to those three aforementioned opponents.

Vilsack said it had been difficult to tell potential donors "that you're not the prohibitive favorite in the caucus process."

Vilsack got a head start on other contenders for the Democratic nomination when he announced his candidacy on November 9th, a full three months before the much-publicized formal announcement of Obama's candidacy and a decent amount of time ahead of other candidates. The campaign has raised over $1 million, although the majority of those funds came from a fundraiser in Des Moines, Iowa during the week he launched his campaign.

When the 2008 presidential campaign is expected to be a billion-dollar industry (yes, something this dragged-out and massive can qualify as an industry instead of merely a campaign), a fundraising sum of $1 million, even this far before the first votes are cast, would not be enough to sustain a candidacy. Additionally, looking ahead to only four states that will vote early in the primary season, as his "state pages" show (although there is a link for the "50 State Campaign), will most likely not be able to launch Vilsack's candidacy nationally.

It is obvious that Vilsack hoped to use home-field advantage and win the Iowa caucuses, launching him into contention in following states and pulling off an upset over his rivals.

With his candidacy now over, Vilsack's endorsement and advice will be a valuable tool to whichever candidate he may support. Vilsack did offer a piece of advice aimed at the other candidates, especially the frontrunners:

But he advised the still large field of candidates organizing in Iowa to avoid blockbuster campaign events and meet party activists one-on-one.

"Here's my hope and my prayer, that you understand that it isn't just about large crowds. It isn't just about the cameras," he said, speaking to the Democrats who remain in the race. "It's about ordinary folks in living rooms, and kitchens and church basements, who genuinely care about this country who need to be listened to and need to have an opportunity to interact with candidates."

If only voters in other states were so lucky as to be able to vet each candidate so elaborately. But the early primary and caucus system is for a different discussion.

Vilsack called for serious consideration for a national public financing system that would have allowed candidates such as Vilsack to have an opportunity to be on a more level playing field with those candidates that rely on star power for fundraising and name recognition.

Vilsack said public financing for campaigns would have put him on a more level playing field with his better-financed rivals.

"I think we have to have a real debate about public financing and the ability for the primary and caucus process to be about ideas," he said.

Perhaps he is right, especially his suggestion that the campaign be about concrete ideas and less about party juggernauts. A public financing system, with restrictions on fundraising, is an area worthy for debate. However, given that presidential campaigns have become an industry of its own, the chances that the industry will voluntarily dismantle itself are very little.

Tom Vilsack's candidacy was struggling from nearly the start and although it could be said the loss of his voice in the campaign (especially this early) is lamentable, his campaign was not on a level to give strong competition to other candidates (even though, again, ten months from the first votes cast is still extremely early). This does not mean that his call for a debate on public financing is merely the little guy crying to have a seat with the big boys. There should be a debate on this matter. However, that debate likely won't come until after this presidential cycle, perhaps much later.

Until then, Vilsack could still be a possibility to be on the ticket as a vice presidential nominee, to provide an executive portfolio (the frontrunners for the Democrats are all current or former Senators) and to give representation to the Midwest on the ballot. We will see if he is tapped to be the nominee in a year or so from now.

And I for one hope that his dominant V used for his campaign signs stays around since it will likely kick the ass of all other letters in the campaign (with the exception of the almightly D and R).