IF THEY SHOULD BAR WARS, PLEASE LEAVE US THESE:

Washington Wrap: The More the Merrier (Dotty Lynch, Douglas Kiker and Steve Chaggaris, Feb. 13, 2003, CBS News Political Unit)

With former Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun planning to file presidential committee papers with the FEC next week and others getting close to following her, the six-pack of Democratic candidates may be a keg by springtime.

Florida Sen. Bob Graham, retired Gen. Wesley Clark, Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich and former Sen. Gary Hart all are all making loud noises about running. Two other senators, Joe Biden of Delaware and Chris Dodd of Connecticut, have repeatedly been mentioned as possible candidates; Dodd says he'll decide in the next few weeks but Biden says he'll wait until the fall.

Clark, the former NATO Supreme Commander who's been working at an investment firm in his native Arkansas since retiring from the military, has been the flirtiest of the prospective candidates so far, possibly because his job as a CNN military analyst would be in jeopardy if he declares his candidacy.

Last week, after AFL-CIO political chairman Gerald McEntee told the AP that the retired general would announce plans to run within three weeks, Clark told the AP: "I'm not a member of a political party, I'm not a candidate, I haven't raised any political money. I don't have any timeline."

On Monday, however, Clark is heading to every Democrat's favorite winter hotspot, Manchester, N.H., for a meeting with Democratic activists, according to the political website PoliticsNH.com. A cynic might argue that's an odd trip for a man without presidential ambitions.

As we reported earlier this week, Graham plans to file presidential committee papers with the FEC in the next two or three weeks. He also plans to start hiring key staffers and has been actively lining up key Democratic wallets for a campaign. Graham, still recovering from Jan. 31 heart valve replacement surgery, has said he'll make a final, definite decision on running by mid-April. Filing papers with the FEC will allow him to start raising money, however.

Kucinich - a liberal House member, former Cleveland mayor and ardent opponent of war against Iraq - starts a five-day visit to Iowa over the weekend. His associates tell the AP that he plans to announce his decision in the next week, which would allow him to have a speaking slot at the Feb. 20-22 DNC winter meeting in Washington.

Hart - who ran for president twice before, in 1984 and 1988, before his political career was derailed by the Donna Rice affair – has spent the last few months traveling the country making policy speeches, focusing particularly on what he considers the Bush administration's lack of focus on the threat of new terrorist attacks. Hart has said he'll make a final decision on making a third presidential bid in April.

The Democratic presidential primaries are starting to resemble the barroom scene in Star Wars. Posted by Orrin Judd at February 13, 2003 1:04 PM