It’s hard to remember interest in a presidential election beginning to build so early. Wide-open presidential contests—that is, those without an incumbent seeking reelection—aren’t that infrequent; they’ve occurred a total of six times in the post-World War II period, four of those in the past 50 years. However, all the speculation about “will Hillary run” among Democrats and the curiosity on the Republican side about Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Marco Rubio of Florida, and, most recently, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is rather extraordinary a year before even the midterm elections. CONT.
Charlie Cook