Up For Grabs

(AP)

Is there a perfect storm brewing for political junkies who think they've seen almost every conceivable political drama over the past decade except a brokered political convention? The list is fairly long of major stories beginning with the 1992 elections and the most serious third-party presidential bid in the modern era and stretching through the dramatic GOP sweep in 1994; the impeachment of President Clinton and the contested 2000 election. Now a too-close-to-call nomination battle?

The chances remain slim, thanks to the nature of the primary calendar, but one of these races appears to be so wide open that nothing should be counted out – and it's not the one we thought it might be six months ago.

Once upon a time, at the dawn of this never-ending campaign, it appeared that the Democratic race would be the one destined to go the distance – or at least further than we've become accustomed to in recent cycles. Just the amount of money being raised and the pure level of excitement generated by the Democratic field looked to be setting up a protracted battle. Now it appears that Hillary Clinton has solidified her position as the front-runner and that either Barack Obama or John Edwards are likely to emerge to make it a two-person race that could be decided relatively early.

Not so for the GOP field which at the moment appears more wide open than ever...