Field Of Dreams

In her latest Political Points commentary, CBS News Senior Political Editor Dotty Lynch looks at the newest entry in the 2004 presidential stakes and some other likely contenders.

It's a Washington legend that every member of the U.S. Senate looks in the mirror and hums "Hail to the Chief," but for a long time the assumption was that Joe Lieberman would not share this fantasy. Until Al Gore asked him to share his 2000 ticket, Lieberman, an Orthodox Jew, was not thought of in presidential terms because many – including many Jews (and possibly Lieberman himself) – thought his religion would preclude him from getting on the field.

But a funny thing happened in 2000. The hostility to Lieberman's religion came not from anti-Semites but from liberals who felt uncomfortable with his overt use of God and religion in political speeches. Lieberman's comfort with the relationship of his religion to his political values and his support of policies with strong moral components continue to make some on the left uneasy. It's unclear whether his Orthodox observances will be an obstacle as he embarks on another history-making crusade. (Lieberman is not the first Jewish presidential candidate – former Pennsylvania Gov. Milton Shapp ran for the White House in 1972 – though he would be the first serious contender.) But a barrier was smashed in 2000 and somehow it doesn't seem all that impossible to think of a White House with a glatt kosher kitchen.

This was supposed to be Lieberman's week. His announcement on Monday morning was tied to the release of his book, "The Amazing Adventure" about the 2000 election, which he coauthored with his wife, Hadassah. But another centrist candidate, this one from Florida (a state with three times as many electoral votes as Connecticut) is grabbing the attention of politicos and pundits. Democratic Sen. Bob Graham has gone from dipping a toe in the presidential waters to announcing full "fire in the belly" and political professionals are taking him very seriously.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that Graham was a client of mine in the political polling firm I worked for in the 1970s and I've followed his career closely since his election as governor of Florida in 1978. Since 1985, when I joined CBS News, the rare personal contact I've had with him has been in the green room prior to an appearance on "Face the Nation" and other CBS News broadcasts.)

Graham is a formidable politician. He has been extremely popular in Florida, holding office there nonstop since 1966 and statewide office since 1978. He's a two-term governor now finishing his third U.S. Senate term in a state that is critical in a presidential election. And he has established himself as a serious player in international affairs, having just stepped down as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. The Harvard law grad is the half-brother of that late Phillip Graham, former publisher of the Washington Post. That has brought him credibility in national circles and entry to people like Warren Buffet, whom he described after their well-publicized breakfast meeting last week as a "family friend."

Graham is also a former governor running for an office where governors have done well; a centrist who has good ties with liberals; and a southerner with foreign policy credentials. His 66-year-old face is not as fresh as 49-year-old John Edwards', but in the dangerous world in which we now live the chairmanship of the intelligence committee is something a rookie member like Edwards has to worry about.

Graham is reserved and methodical but he is not averse to shtick. In the 1970s, with the help of his friend and media adviser, the late, great Bob Squier, he perfected the gimmick of "workdays" – a way of relating to average (or, as John Edwards would say, "regular") guys and gals. A week ago he refereed in the Orange Bowl and he's never without his Florida tie. He consistently makes the short list of vice-presidential candidates, but in 2000 his stature was diminished when one of his personal peccadilloes – writing down everything he does and eats – raised the specter of the "weird factor."

Graham is still a few weeks shy of announcing but you have to assume that he fits the prototype of the experienced senator who looks at the field and says to himself, "Why not the best?"

After Lieberman, the next dreamer up is Al Sharpton who is planning to use the backdrop of the Martin Luther King Day weekend to declare his candidacy. Democrats are taking note of him, too, although mainly as a lightening rod. Most New Yorkers will tell you that Sharpton has cleaned up his act since the Tawana Brawly days but he doesn't have the electoral legitimacy of the other candidates. He was defeated in three New York primaries and a lot of African-American elected officials are not on board. He will bring the issue of race home to the Democratic Party, and black operatives, especially Donna Brazile, are spending a lot of time thinking about his candidacy,

So, if you build it they will come. Some won't make it to the ninth inning but with a year to go before any real votes are cast, anything is possible.