It’s getting crowded in here

I can understand the powerful temptation to throw one’s hat into the ring, but the Democratic field for next year’s presidential election is getting mighty crowded. So far, we’ve got Dean (unelectable, but I’d vote for him), Edwards (probably unelectable), Kerry (too soon to tell), Lieberman (who I might have been willing to vote for if he hadn’t proven himself to be a whore in the 2000 campaign), and the ever-popular Al Sharpton.
Now, we also have good old Dick Gephardt, Dennis Kucinich (“I’m stepping forward because someone has to say, `Hold it! Everything needs to be changed at every level of society.’ “— and we know that Big Brother’s gonna do the changing, right?) and Carol Moseley-Braun. Wesley Clark is rumored to be interested, too.
Hasn’t it occured to any of these people that crowding the field like this is bad for the overall chances of the Democratic Party? I mean, c’mon: there’s just about zero chance that Gephardt, Sharpton, Mosely-Braun, Clark, or Kucinich could get elected. All they’re doing is depriving the other candidates in the field of support. Which, given the overall caliber of those running, isn’t necessarily a bad thing… if you’re inclined to support the Republicans, that is. When a front-runner does emerge, it will be after a long process of internecine sniping; all that’s going to do is allow President Bush to stand above the fray.