One down...

Amidst the larger stories going on, one being the California recall and the other being the Cubbies, Bob Graham ending his presidential bid seemed to get, well, somewhat lost.

Not that this wasn't typical for his campaign, nor is it very surprising that it happened at all. Although Bob Graham seemed to be a well-intentioned guy, he just didn't say anything that would lead some one not from Florida to vote for him above the other candidates. Everyone seemed to know this, so it was more of a matter of when rather than if. As it mentions in the story though, everyone also thought that he was mostly in it just to get some exposure for the Vice-Presidential nod. However, if Clark doesn't win the nomination, I would say that he is the better bet, even with Florida being the key state that it is.

In the end though, it will make the debates slightly better with fewer people sharing the same time. Unfortunately the marginal benefit is always the smallest with the first person, so it would be better if others make the same decision and let the people with a real chance at winning share more of the spotlight. In case you were wondering, that would be anyone other than Dean, Clark, Kerry and Edwards. Then we would have the time to see each of them perform at a higher level with more questions, all of which will be valuable experience for one of them when they eventually take on Bush.

Unfortunately it's unlikely that we're going to see this happen to a great degree soon, since both Liebermann and Kucinich are going to be around to represent the far left and far right, and one of either Sharpton or Moseley-Braun is likely to stick around. Dick Gephart, if he ever gets the union endorsements, will also be around, but I don't think his support is wide enough to pull through in the end. Hopefully though this will be the beginning of a trend so that the party can get down to the real business of figuring out who is the best candidate for the nomination.