I was pleasantly surprised to see the results of DailyKos' July poll for the Democratic Party presidental nominee in 2008. Currently, Wesley Clark is in the lead with 37% of the votes. He also won the June poll. Of course, this does not make him a shoo-in for the nomination. As Kos writes, "Right now, the Clark people are the only ones with any sembleance of online organization." This could easily be causing a beneficial effect on his standing in the polls.

It is however, likely that General Clark will attempt to secure the Party's nomination again. Unlike many of the other Democratic nominees, who have faded from the public eye since losing in the primaries, Clark has remained busy since dropping out of the primary campaign in February of last year. He campaigned for Kerry and founded his own PAC.

The most interesting part of the '08 primary campaign will be the impact (if any) of the blogosphere on the nomination process. In the '04 primaries, I think Dean's status of the "darling of the blogosphere" contributed to his portrayal by both mass media and the Republican Party as the candidate of the urban liberal elite. If Clark or another candidate who is not so easily pigeonholed gains the endorsement of liberal bloggers and an early lead in the race, it will be interesting to see how the Republicans and media react. Of course, it is likely that the Republican Party will also have a contentious primary campaign, as there seems to be no clear successor to Bush on the horizon.